Kindle: Amazon's e-reader

For over two weeks, I have had the pleasure of reading books from Kindle's eye-friendly e-ink pages, instead of the more traditional paper pages.

Ordering books from Amazon is very simple. You just browse for the book you want and if your Amazon account is configured correctly, your order is just one click away. Whispernet will take care of the delivery to your Kindle in minutes. In Europe there is an added charge for delivery through Whispernet, amounting to around $2.30, so copyright-free books (see Gutenberg project for loads of those) still cost to order from Amazon.

Reading the books in Kindle format is a delight. Normally when I read in bed, for example, I have to keep the book in one hand to prevent it from closing. And when I turn the pages, I have to turn myself also to stay comfortable. Not so with the Kindle. The leather cover is strong enough to fold into a pyramid form, so the Kindle can be read without having to be held. Turning the pages is a simple click. The letters are kind to the eye, contrary to reading from a computer screen.

I use the Kindle to read professional books as well. Be careful that those are really not very well suited for the small-sized Kindle. You can landscape the screen and it becomes manageable, though reading will still feel like hard work. The courier font is shown in too light a shade, so again, that is hard to read. If a book contains lots of code snippets, the laptop is suddenly not such a bad alternative for reading the book. The Kindle DX with its larger screen is a much better alternative for IT books. Too bad they don't sell in Europe yet.

The available Kindle catalog from Amazon underwhelms me. Obviously, they have a tremendous job in front of them to Kindlelize as much books as they can, but for now it suffices to say that the Kindle library compares pretty much to my local town's library -- no Long Tail yet for Kindle.

The quality of the books varies. I have bought a number and some books have the wrong end of line demarcations resulting in sawtooth sentences; a horror to behold. Others are sloppy in the sense that illustrations have been left out. It seems that the books that sell better have received more attention to detail than those near the end of the tail. Understandable, but frustrating nonetheless.

I am very happy that the Kindle does not have a backlight. A lot of people I hear really dislike the Kindle not having a backlight, but I think it is a blessing. Let's face it -- you either want a book or a computer screen; what's it gonna be? External light works better for me.

Battery life is excellent. The Kindle can be used extensively for over a week, with WiFi on, without its battery running empty. Pretty weird is that Amazon ships its European customers with American power supply connectors. You need either a converter or power up your Kindle through USB.

Besides the downsides, on the overall I give this piece of technology a big thumbs up.