Amazon Kindle Review: It'll Make You Smarter and Richer, Kind Of, But Not Really
Here are the two things Amazon Kindle can do for me, and I think it's possible it can do them for you, too: Over a period of time, I think that Kindle can make me smarter and richer.
No. I don't think that.
What I do think is that Kindle can make me less stupid and less poor.
Bold claims, perhaps, but I've got little reputation to defend, so who cares? Let's have another: I believe that Kindle reminds most people of an Etch-A-Sketch and inspires a powerful urge to shake it vigorously, like one would a hastily removed jacket with a rodent -- a varmint -- in it.
What happens when you shake a Kindle? I don't know and I don't want to find out. Frankly, the little machine makes me nervous like a smart friend does, and as a rule I never shake my smart friends. On to the facts:
First impressions
When I received Kindle, I opened it and found what appeared to be mostly recyclable packaging -- great. I have no use, of course, for the instruction manual, so I leave that in the packaging and turn the slim, white machine on. It's very thin. I could hand this to my friends or my parents or just about anybody and feel confident that they could read with it -- it might be easier to use than an iPod (but, importantly, it's not easier to use than a book).
In almost no time at all, I've figured out how to navigate it with the thumb-roll thing and I'm in, yes, the Kindle Store. I have (hypothetically) bought Kindle for $349 and I must now (hypothetically) buy something else -- a book, a magazine subscription, a blog subscription.
Here already is how it passively makes me smarter and richer.
The money
I'm a little behind in my technological consumerism. I was supposed to -- supposed to, as though compelled by some unseen force -- buy some righteous-looking video games a while back, but I was learning, which is expensive, so I didn't. So, when I got out of grad school, I looked forward to picking up an Xbox 360, which is just a fancypants way of playing slightly-changed versions of video games I've been playing since 1992.
The hardware would cost me -- thanks to a recent price reduction -- $299. Kindle costs -- thanks to a recent price reduction -- $359. Easy call so far, right? Video games beat e-books. But video games themselves cost a ton, maybe $59 a pop. Books on Kindle cost around $10. So $450 could score me an Xbox and two games or a Kindle and nine books. Spread that over a longer term and I don't have to argue the money point anymore. I give up on the Xbox for now.
As for becoming less stupid, it depends a bit on my book selection, I guess. As long as I read halfway-decent books, I'll at least feel smarter than I do after a three-hour video game sit-down (not that there's anything wrong with sitting down for video games for a few hours).
But my book selection depends, too, on Kindle's book selection.
The selection
It's the weakness of Kindle.
I'd never read The Hobbit before, so I searched the Kindle Store for it. It wasn't there. Maybe my search was glitchy? I searched "Tolkien." Just books about Tolkien. I tried a nonfiction book I'd been meaning to read, The Predators' Ball by Connie Bruck. No dice. I handed Kindle to a co-worker who searched for David Sedaris. He found a few titles, but not as many as he'd have liked.
These are not obscure titles. It's not like searching Netflix for Koyaanisqatsi (which they have).
Amazon's response:
Publishers don't always have the electronic or photo rights to all of their books, so in a few cases publishers are not able to participate. We expect this to change as more and more publishers consider these issues when they negotiate rights for their content.
Makes sense, but it doesn't stop me from going to a bookstore -- yes, one outside my house -- to buy The Hobbit. (I really did this. Like, really. I left my desk and went outside and....)
What can you get on Kindle? Well, plenty of things. New York Times Bestsellers, for example.
You can get Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe, by one Arianna Huffington. You can get two books by Dan Solin, who writes insightful, reasonable investment blogs for us here at Huffington Post Business.
You can get 16 magazines. You can get 21 newspapers. You can get 370 blogs (including The Huffington Post's feed).
But the selection experience for me was marred by having to zip past my first several choices. Later searches, with my expectations lowered, resulted in finding things I was looking for -- Mark Haddon, Haruki Murakami. Lots of Murakami.
You can also email your kindle text files and Word docs, and there are sources of e-books online in these formats.
The screen, the use-in-public, the staring, the sex appeal
I won't spend much time here. The screen is readable. It's readable in average light, in better-than-average reading light, in bright light. Trust me, it's readable, and at greater lengths of time than you think it's going to be.
The device is easy to hold, comfortable to hold and I read the Wall Street Journal on it several days in a row, holding Kindle in my right hand while holding a subway pole with my left, on the way to work in the morning. The newspaper-reading experience is satisfying, and the environmentalist in me was thrilled about that.
Of course, people stared on the subway. Some people pointed. The wireless connection -- for use with the store or downloading the latest issue of magazines or newspapers -- works most anywhere a cell phone works. I downloaded a newspaper on an above-ground platform in the little time before my train came.
Oh, and there was no sex appeal. That was a misleading sub-head. Sorry. I just rode the subway and looked like a nerd who didn't know how to spend his money. There's more latent animosity toward e-books out there than you'd think.
About the name
Amazon refers to the Kindle as Kindle. To be clear: It refers to Kindle without an article. Therefore, it is proper to say "I am playing with Kindle," which unfortunately sounds horribly improper. "I am using Kindle" is hardly better. "I am learning Kindle." No. "I am Kindling" means something else altogether. So: "Kindle and I are reading." I say, if you're going to sound off, sound way off.
In sum...
I like the device. I think it's cool. I wish there were more magazines and more books to choose from, and while that's not Kindle's fault directly, I'll cite my roommate's (admittedly unreasonable) initial reaction:
"Wait, isn't it made by Amazon.com? Dude, it's Amazon.com. They can do anything. What the hell are they doing? What do you mean you can't get Tolkien? It's Amazon.com" and so on. (By the way, have you seen "Epic 2014?" That's what he reminded me of.)
I... don't think I'll buy one. Not yet. But if I have to move again and get rid of my small library or tote books across a thousand miles or so, Kindle might be in my future.
FINAL SCORE: FOUR OUT OF FIVE LEGO-LOOKIN' FUTUREBOOKS
or EIGHT OUT OF TEN BOOKSHELVES I CAN USE FOR SOMETHING ELSE NOW
Follow Dave Burdick on Twitter: www.twitter.com/daveburdick
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When Im traveling overseas and its hard to get a book in english, this would come in handy. Try a year in ch!na with only english text books and the $349 might become worth it. ...But $10/book? Ouch.
How many books can this Kindle actually store?
I LOVE my books...my books are like my friends, but I have moved so many times over the years and have not taken all of my books with me each time, so over the years I have lost so many of
those "old friends"...with the Kindle I guess you'd never have to get rid of them, but is there a limit to what it stores?
(I'm not much of a tech geek, and this may seem like a real dumb question.)
Depends on how large a memory card you add to the device's built in memory - thousands? & all the books (etc.) you buy are always available on Amazon for re-installation.
Gee, great new device. I use a slightly older devise, my community public library. I go on line, and search the catalog for books (by title, author, subject) I want. I reserve them, also on line. The library searches the entire county system for the books (some will also do larger inter-library loan searches). When the books are located, and/or returned by other users, they are sent to my local library, and I am noticed by (amazing) email. I go to the library on the average of once a month. I check out several books. I renew them on line, and repeat the process.
By the way, books are also easy to read in bright light.
Reading by candle light works, too. & if you ride in a buggy, the countryside goes by so slow you can enjoy every inch...:)
Yeah, I wasn't in awe of the kindle, either. The library I use has subscriptions 15,000 periodicals and a couple million books. I had hoped that the kindle would have a few more magazines, news papers, and journals available to users. Also, it would have been nice if it were compatible with PDF files; a large number of the articles I download from the available databases are in PDF format. So if I don't want to just read TIME and People (just guessing), I have to use my PC anyway. The display on this thing sound wonderfully readable! I would really like to have something like this for skimming articles from psych journals after mass emailing them to myself. Alas.
Kindle hit the market with over 135,000 books available. There were also magazines, blogs & newspapaers. Its true, that doesn't cover all world literature, but then, Barnes & Nobel doesn't always have the title I want when I want it, either. Kindle is comfortable to hold, easy on the eyes, & puts thousands of books at your finger tips anywhere your cell phone works. At $350 its about the cost of a new Ipod, a device I would bet everyone reading this blog has & fills with music, etc. While it is true that new releases cost $9.99, it's also true that books which have been out for any amount of time cost $6.00 or less. In my opinion, Kindle's only real short coming is the placement of the on/off botton - it's on the back. So, buy a Kindle, shop at the store & in time all those books which aren't there now, will be. In the meantime there are thousands to choose from, including Sadaris' latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames - its on the first page of the Kindle books store.
Guess the author's friend didn't look too hard.
In fact, I'm so pleased with Kindle, that I hope it does replace the need for all those bookcases being mentioned - & I own a custom cabinet shop...
Awesome summary, with the added benefit of considerable hilarity.
I have one. I enjoy it a lot. It is disappointing that I can't get every book I want electronically, but I think the selection will improve over time. I've got a lot of favorites that I'd like to get for the Kindle, so I can give up my bookcases.
I would love to get one of these but the price is still way to high for my budget. Sure the investment would be good but still aren't enough books out for it that I read. I'd also like to repurchase my older titles so I can get rid of them or put them in storage so I can have more room but they don't seem avaliable.
Interesting info. Thanks for the review.
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