I am not someone that reads a lot of books. I go through phases, and recently got back into reading completely not-in-any-way-ever-contributing-to-the-quality-of-my-life books. A long time ago I was reading using a Dell Axim X5 PDA. I really enjoyed it, and to have something that automagically downloads books directly to the device, like the Kindle, would be great.
I have found a few times I have settled down to read a book and then discovered I was closer to the end that I thought. Usually at that point I would have to haul my saggy, pale, sorry backside out of what ever I had draped it over, and go back to Amazon and find either the next one in the series, or worse still, try and find a book that is similar.
WAIT!
I am not moving from where I am to browse Amazon.com for similar books and then play the 'Do I want to pay for super-speedy shipping that never actually delivers it in super-speedy times which would have been a $3 saving by just ordering standard delivery?'. So being able to find it from the book (meaning the device I already have in my pudgy fingers) I am already looking at is kewl. To have the Kindle deliver content over the cell network works for me. No computer needed, no expertise of any sort at all. Just (say this in your best drooling idiot voice now) "WANT BOOK, PRESS BUTTON, HAVE BOOK NOW". Then you can get back to reading. Some bright spark decided that SD Cards can be added for extra storage, plus adding a USB cable to the included stuff in the box means you can put what ever you like on the thing.
I would definitely purchase one of these readers if it wasn't so expensive, maybe $200 and I would have purchased it on pre-order, but $400 means I will have to wait for my workplace to be convinced (by yours truly) to purchase one for every student, in a way to save on books, and administration. Shipping and then tracking all those dead trees really gets tedious after a while.
I don't tend to care too often about the look of a thing, because most of my life is spent within secret hidden fortresses of solitude/secrecy/lots-o-expensive-stuff, and so nobody else ever sees the equipment. For me to shudder uncontrollably about the look of the Kindle means it could actually be pretty hideous. It comes with a cover, designed to be left on while you're reading it, or carrying it around, and maybe that's enough to be able to quickly flap shut before the whole room shows you using something that isn't an IPhone. Certainly enough to be able to quickly stuff it in a bag without fear of keys or pens ruining the screen. You KNOW you want to stuff it in a bag with broken glass, shards of metal, miniature versions of that friend of yours that likes to tell you how your gadgets should be set up and break it faster for you without telling you, on a plane with the flight attendant using the smush technique for getting obviously too-large items into the overhead storage compartment, and then sit on the bag. Not sure if the cover would actually protect against all that, but normal hauling should be ok.
The batteries last for days, you don't need a computer, and you can use it in ordinary lighting. I am sure any geeks reading get tired of informing people that putting a PDA, laptop, or phone, under a desk lamp will NOT enable you to see the screen better (in fact the darker the room the better for those). It looks like a book, acts like a book, just doesn't weigh the same as a book. It even has huge flaps on each side for you to turn pages. You can make notes on the pages, as well as bookmark sections etc. I think it's great, but I am nobody.
For those that don't know what this piece of $400 equipment is. It's a small screen which displays the text of complete books (but you CAN make the text huge if you don't want to bother with your glasses), page by page, allowing you to flip through it just as you would a real book. It keeps your place automatically, and weighs much less than a small paper back book, but can hold the equivalent of 200 (even more if you put an SD memory card in the thing) without you having to really carry all those books. No computer needed (or smug know-all friend that insists that they didn't break it, honest) because it works completely by itself. Once you work out which thing to press, there is nothing more to worry about, except maybe which books you want to read on it.
Isn't this one of those weird things that Android could be used for?
Someone, please buy me one :)
