The Amazon Kindle FAQ

The Amazon Kindle FAQ
by Bristlecone Pine Press

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Reviewed on Oct 9, 2008

In response to question: Amazon Kindle?

I have a Kindle in my possession right now, though it is borrowed. The text is wonderful and it feels like reading from a book. One incorrect expectation on my part was eye-strain, for two reasons. First, you can resize the text to your comfort level. Second, the display is not backlight, just like a real page. It requires reflected light to see the words, so you never have an intense light shining into your eyes, like reading on an iPhone.

The wireless radio (on the Sprint Network) is very fast since its data is mainly just text. I purchased two books from my computer, and the Kindle had them in a minute or two. It was very fast.

Getting around the interface is easy. The scroll/push wheel plus a full keyboard make it simple to search for and scroll through selections.

The battery life is around 6 days for me. Charging is fast. Battery life goes up if you leave the radio off and turn the Kindle off when you are done. I left this one running for the first three days.

As far as the experience goes, it is cool. It is also convenient to have so many books on-hand. But the opportunity cost here is visiting the book store. I love to browse around, looking for those gems that are lost in banner ads or sheer volume on websites.

comments

Thanks for posting - I've been mighty curious about the Kindle.

#1 - posted on Oct 12, 2008 (4:38 pm)

Been battling with this product myself.

I'm not exacatly old school, but I can't imagine losing the touch, feel and even the smell of a new book.

Does the kindle smell like a new car?

#2 - posted on Oct 16, 2008 (9:31 am)

Maybe a new one does. The one I'm using has been in service for about a year.

#3 - posted on Oct 16, 2008 (9:55 am)

I've been using a Kindle for about 3 months and really enjoy it. I get two daily newspapers on it as well as the books I've been reading.

As a book reader I've found it to be great. It's easy to set the text to whatever size feels right. I also like being able to look up a word in the dictionary with a click of the wheel. I wish it didn't take 5 seconds to get the definition, but it's fast enough that I use it when I'd never use a real dictionary. The biggest downside for me is the big next button on the right hand side that feels chintzy and that you press most of the times you grab the device. They'll definitely have to improve that in V2.

Compared to printed newspapers, it has advantages and disadvantages. You get no photos, no graphics and no tables. If reading the articles is what you enjoy in a newspaper, it's great (even better than the paper version), but I miss the box scores, standings, weather and occasionally the photos. On the plus side, you don't have to go outside and get it, the sprinklers don't get it wet and it doesn't use any trees or oil for delivery.

All in all I've been impressed.

#4 - posted on Oct 16, 2008 (9:34 pm)

I've had my Kindle since January. I use it regularly and find it easy to read on. The text is clear and it has good battery life. It's not hard to configure to get your gmail on either.

I have a few books that have graphics in them. It's not super great, but good.

I liked it better before Oprah recommended it... but that's another story....

#5 - posted on Nov 20, 2008 (8:14 pm)

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