I Love My Kindle
I’ve been using “Kindle technology” for some time now – first on my iPhone, then on my Mac laptop. Kindle is a great service – books are cheaper, and it’s convenient. So why own a Kindle? (Note: Kindle for Droid came out a couple of days ago).
It’s meant for reading. Reading books, blogs and newspapers. I *almost* bought an iPad a week ago, but (luckily) they were sold out so I got a Kindle instead. I was about to go on a trip and really wanted some kind of media device.
I have a laptop, which I take with me everywhere more or less, which I can watch Netflix and DVDs on, and a Droid, so I can always get a connection to read my email or surf news sites or whatever. So I really don’t need an iPad. Dut I do need a dedicated reading device. Why? Because I’m a voracious reader. So’s my wife, and my eldest daughter. (Daughter #2 will probably catch up soon).
The Kindle is great. It’s one of those devices that does one thing, and does it really, really well. (As opposed to the iPad, which is a lousy device for reading as it has terribly low resolution, which will hopefully be fixed for version 2.0.) I had my doubts about the e-ink technology, but it’s great. Very easy on the eyes – I’ve read it for about 6 hours the other day (ah, vacation!) while laying around the pool and the beach. Yeah, it’s great in daylight (unlike backlit devices). So it’s only grayscale – you still read books with pictures? And with the new price decrease, I don’t get nervous about it getting wrecked.
The built-in 3g for free is awesome. Turn it on and get updates to your newspaper and blog subscriptions. While the monthly price for the Times is high ($20), it costs a buck to buy it when you want it. And it’s a much better experience than using the web site. Considering the 3g option, the Kindle is about 1/5 the price of an iPad. ($629 for the 3g model, figure another $300 for the minimum 3g service plan for a couple of years). While waiting for our flight to take off the other day, my daughter realized she didn’t have a book. 90 seconds later, I had the book she wanted on the Kindle, for $9.99 (instead of $16.99 for the hard copy). Kindle to the rescue!
So I’m carrying around a dozen books, 4 newspapers and a couple of blogs in a device the size of a trade paperback. Oh yeah, it weighs half of what the iPad does so it’s much more comfortable for long reading bouts.
Bottom line: the iPad is a cool device, but it’s expensive and badly needs an upgrade (to the same screen resolution as the new iPhone). It can do everything, but if you have a laptop and a smartphone, you really have no need for one. But if you love to read, you gotta get a Kindle. Do your kids love to read? Do you own an XBox, a Wii, Nintendo DS’s, etc? How can you justify not getting them a Kindle?
PS: the Kindle has an “experimental” section where you can listen to Mp3s and read web pages! It’s all pretty, “experimental”, as they say, but it’s very cool that you can use the Kindle as a web browser.