Me with my Amazon Kindle 2 Book Reader - Australia version

I love my new gadget- The AMAZON KINDLE eBOOK READER

As the Amazon Kindle 2 makes it onto our shores (wireless version) I was asked to review one of the most exciting gadget of 2009.

For those who don’t know what the Kindle is, it is a popular ebook reader that has most recently become available in Australia with hopes it will become a mainstream device.

ebook readers are not new, they have been around for years but the Kindle is different and I will explain later. For now I want to talk about a situation for me where I think the Kindle will be invaluable.

As you know  I do a lot of traveling. I like to research the destination country as much as possible and my research of choice are the Lonely Planet Travel books. These books are awesome and I must admit my travel plans wouldn’t be the same without them. However Lonely Planet books can be very bulky and heavy and if you ever get the chance to see my recent one (to Indonesia) you will see a lot of scribbling, markings, folded pages and also photocopying sections of specific travel sections.

In comes the Kindle. The Kindle will allow you to download the book, make all the markings and scribbling you want and whats more all the text are searchable, no more wasting time flipping back and forth.

Amazon Kindle

Kindle allows the browsing of web via wireless and blogs but not in Australia at this stage. The reading of word and PDF documents is all very neat, particularly with the decent sized screen, but viewing of graphics is average, this is a strictly gray scale device.

The best feature about the Kindle is the special e Ink. Unlike the many ebook readers of yester-years, Kindle’s e Ink is what make the Kindle possible. Like the many of you, I don’t like reading anything on the computer screen for too long, its a strain on the eyes and the reflection is annoying. The eink makes reading a pleasure!

Amazon claims that Australians will have access to almost 300,000 titles for download from their store with more being added regularly. These will come at a cost of roughly $9.00 U.S. and a deal with AT&T allows free downloading of the books via a provided Sim Card. There will be no download costs, contracts or subscriptions for these downloads.

How it works

As mentioned above, Kindle allows you to read not just electronic books, but also magazines and newspapers. You can also read any PDF files too.

• You charge your Kindle via a USB port in your computer (unlike the US version, we are unable to charge it from the mains).
• When you start your Kindle, you can browse through books that you can download via wireless 3G connections.
• You can also browse Amazon.com for Kindle Books from your home computer and push Kindle content to your Kindle
• You can read all pdf files from your Kindle
• You can tilt your Kindle so you can get a landscape view
• Use the electronic book marks
• You can link your amazon profile and get recommended books.

Positives

• It’s cool
• Students in secondary and tertiary education see the value of Kindle which is easy on the eyes and allows them to carry thousands of texts in a magazine sized device rather then lug around bible sized books and notes. The Kindle is also a valuable tool for professionals where having access to an enormous library of texts is crucial and lets not forget the avid reader of several books per week
• It’s light. Size and weight of a paperback
• Kindle fits up to over 1000 books. Thus, I can travel light and minimise the space in my house for an additional book shelf.
• I can download many travel books without having to photocopy pages because I do not want to carry the whole book with me when I want to travel light. I can also search on keywords. Perfect :)!
• Kindle makes me smarter - We know reading broadens your vocabulary. I love the fact it has a built in dictionary. When I am reading, as a highlight the word, on the bottom of the screen, it tells you what the word means
• Amazon backs up all your ebook purchases. Ever left a bunch of books in a hotel before? Well all you have to do now is recover it from Amazon
• Batteries last for days

Negatives

• Not all books, newspapers, and magazines in the word have been ‘Kindle-ised’. This is an on-going conversion worth waiting for. Having said that, there are plenty of books you can choose from.
• eBooks that you buy are not cross platform so unless you have a Kindle you will not be able to read the books
• There are of course some things which the Kindle or any other eBook reader will never be able to replicate with hard copy print. People establish personal connections to books on their shelves, like a collage of feelings, times and memories. Books are passed on from friends and family, messages scribbled on pages and feelings expressed.
• There is no backlight and some may argue that real books don’t have backlights either and sunlight or reading lights are still a must with a real book. The gray scale graphics is also a problem when it comes to photos and pictures in newspapers and other print.
• The kindle is not cheap at more then $300 Australian dollars once you factor in delivery.

Overall

As far as eBook readers go, the Kindle holds the trump card. I don’t necessary think its a showdown between the Kindle vs. Physical standalone books. I mean nothing can ever replace books and you can surely have both.

The Kindle has however has made a huge splash with a decent feature set of which more improvements could be made via software updates. The display with its crisp text is still its finest asset edging it closer to the advantage of a physical old fashioned book providing readers with an easy on the eye display aimed at mimicking real paper with no glare even in bright sunlight.

The size of a paper back

Special Kindle e Ink - The photo might not do it justice but does this photo look like a book?

Reading a pdf file via Kindle - you can tilt Kindle into landscape mode to allow more comfort reading

Amazon Kindle's leather cover. Worth the $19. You don't want your new Kindle scratched now do you?

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