Here's Lookin' At You, Kindle

[x-posted from First Edition]

Originals, today I wanted take time to introduce you to someone very special in my life.

This is my Kindle, Eleanor.

For the past month, Eleanor and I have been joined at the - er - hands. I've taken her everywhere: on car rides, to doctor's offices, coffee shops, and everywhere in between. Now, I know we're technically supposed to be reviewing our favorite books on Fridays, but...today I'm proclaiming my love and reviewing my favorite book reader instead.

When Amazon first announced the Kindle, I was skeptical. As far as books go, I'm a traditionalist. Yeah, there were these odd little e-books out there, but had I ever read one? Egads, no! Why would I when I could have the feel of real pages in my hands?

And then came the book club meeting. Every few months, I drop into my mother's book club - which is less a formal club, and more just a handful of smart, snarky women sitting around laughing and talking books. This fateful meeting was in August at a snug little Italian restaurant with wine casks on the table and Frank wafting from ivy-covered speakers. Over dessert, the Kindle came up in conversation. We debated the pros and cons - one woman already had a Kindle and said she couldn't live without hers, while most of us were traditionalists - and at the end of the meal, my mom was sold on the idea. Enter her birthday in November and our grand present - a Kindle, what else?

Cue my huge amount of electronic envy. In the month that followed, I swiped her Kindle whenever I was home, amazed at how much it felt like reading a real book. Once I had a chance to try it out myself, all my concerns disappeared. True, there are a few cons about the device, but the pros have outweighed them tenfold. And since I could probably wax on for eons about it, here are those Ps & Cs all organized in my favorite old friend, the bulleted list:

Pros:

• It's Not A Book - Now, call me coldhearted, but books drive me crazy. I love them, really I do, but they're such fragile little things! Their pages crumple, spines break, and if the glue is faulty whole chapters can drop out at a moment's notice! And hardback books? They're the worst! If their book jackets aren't getting creased, they're falling off or picking up any sticky residue in a 10-mile radius. And if you do manage to keep that jacket pristine? Chances are your reading experience suffered - you worried over how to fit it into your too-small purse, schlepped its one-pound-plus weight down endless flights of stairs in your tired arms, and most likely removed and replaced the cover each time you opened it. Don't even get me started on the trials and tribulations of marking your page. With the Kindle? Well, I flip on a switch and then I read. Oh, and it automatically remembers my place...
  
• Wireless - One of my favorite things about the Kindle is its complete lack of a need for a computer. Since it comes automatically hooked up to Sprint's wireless service (which is included in the cost of the books), there is no need to download e-books from Amazon, load them into bulky software, then fiddle with wires like other e-book readers. You can go directly to Amazon with just a click of a button. Even more, once you've chosen a book, it shows up in your Kindle less than a minute later! The instant satisfaction of reading a review about a book, then having that same book in hand moments later is starting to spoil me.
  
• The Samples - Most readers like to get a feel for a book before they buy it, but how are we supposed to do that with an e-book? The good news: most every Amazon e-book has an option to send a free sample to your Kindle, before you buy a book. The samples are normally the first dozen or so pages of a book, but I've had some go for two or three chapters. More than once has this feature saved me money, especially with books that had glowing reviews, but that I just couldn't get into.
  
• Amazon - Did I mention that the Amazon Kindle is hooked up to, well, Amazon? One of the things that infuriates me about the publishing industry is how difficult it can be to find authors' backlists. Sure, the newest book in a series may be out, but what if I want to read books one and two? Not a problem if you're carrying the world's largest book retailer in your pocket! Publishers are now actively getting most every new release in digital format, but I'm constantly surprised by how many older books are available as well. Lately, I've been on a Gaelen Foley kick, mostly encouraged by the fact that once I've finished one in a series, I can't resist clicking a button to get the next. Gone are the days of forcing a bookstore clerk to order an older book, or waiting until it's shipped from an online retailer.
• Battery Life - Amazing. With the wireless service running (which can deplete the lifespan of any battery-run electronic) and heavy reading going on (4+ hours/day), my Kindle can go around 3 days between charges. Without the wireless? Over a week. Add into that a total recharge time of 2 hours and it's one of the most efficient devices I own. When first reading about it, I was worried about overseas travel and long flight times draining the battery, but Eleanor is more than up to the challenge.
• The Storage - The Kindle alone can hold roughly 200 books, but has a slot for an added memory card, which can hold over 4,000. Now, personally, I don't like to keep 4000 books on me at all times, but it's surprisingly nice to know I could. There's no doubt I'll never completely transition my library over to paperless form, but if you're looking to "go green" or streamline your life, this is a great way to do it.
  
• Online Backup - Oh, Amazon you know us booknerds so well. I'm constantly losing (or giving away or accidentally selling back) books I want to reread. Amazon has solved this problem. Now, everything I buy is backed up forever in my Amazon account. I can resend books to my Kindle, or even replace everything if - God forbid - it gets lost or stolen.
  
• Google/Wikipedia Hookup - One of the "experimental" features of the Kindle is its browser feature. Though the interface is rudimentary, it is lovely to have Google, Wikipedia, and other websites at my fingertips if I need them. I wouldn't want this as my sole internet link by any means, but when I'm reading a book and just have to know the name of Henry VIII's fourth wife, this is a great feature.
  
• Size/Weight - The Kindle is roughly the size and weight of a small trade paperback. It's perfect to fit inside a purse or just to carry with you on the subway to work.
• E-Ink Screen - When I first picked up a Kindle, the thing that hit me the most was how much the screen looked like a real book. With prior e-book readers, the screens never let you forget you weren't reading on paper - there were glares, backlight problems, eye strains, etc. Troll the Amazon forums long enough and you'll be battered by a storm technical jargon about why the Kindle doesn't have these problems, but - basically - the screen looks like an actual book. No eye strain. No glare.
• Adjustable Text Size - This is the feature that sold my mother on getting a kindle - every single book's text size can be adjusted. So, if wearing reading glasses is the bane of your existence - fear not! - the Kindle has six different font size options to suit your preference
  
• Lower Book Prices - Most hardcover books are $9.99 and below in the Kindle store. Compare this to list prices topping $25 and the Kindle is well worth its own sticker price. Paperback differences aren't as drastic, but I have been surprised with some bargains - even free! - books in my short buying history.
• Dictionary Look-Up - So, my mother may have been sold on the adjustable text size, but this is the Kindle feature that made me sit up and take notice. I'm a lazy reader. When happening upon a word I don't know, I normally just get my context clues and move on, not wanting to pull myself out of the pages. Enter the Kindle and its built-in dictionary. Now, when I don't know a word, I can look it up without having to leave my page at all - it's right there on my scroll bar options! I love it.
• Document Reader - A convenient feature for writers, the Kindle can also read Word and PDF files, so it can make revising a manuscript much easier from a visual perspective...and save a lot of trees!
  
• Durability - Okay, it's time to fess up - I'm a gadget dropper. If something is expensive and remotely technological, chances are I'll drop it down a flight of stairs. Apparently, I'm not alone in this, because the people at Amazon put the Kindle through some pretty rigorous testing before shipping it out. Whatever they did? It works. I may have dropped poor Eleanor on my hardwood floor a few times already...with absolutely no side effects whatsoever. Not even a dent or scratch!
  
• Ease of Use - Neil Gaiman called the Kindle's design "intuitive." He's (as always) exactly right. If you can read a book, you can read on a Kindle. Unlike other e-book readers, the Kindle doesn't have a million buttons or a convoluted interface to navigate. The page-turn buttons are large and perfectly placed just where a reader's fingers go when turning a page, and the small keyboard is just the right size to be useful, but not interfere with the overall experience. Before I received my Kindle for Christmas, I shopped around for other readers and they all failed to compare. Most of them seemed more impressed with the number of buttons they had or looking the most like an iPhone, rather than with their true purpose - to ease the of reading a book. Kindle's creators never forgot that purpose and it shows in every facet of their design.

Cons:

• It's Not A Book - I wasn't lying about being a traditionalist. Despite my loathing of book jackets, I do love the feeling of a real book in my hands and turning the pages myself. Since buying a Kindle, I still go to bookstores and have continued to buy paperbound books. That being said, however, if it's on a Kindle and it's also in printed form, chances are I'm going to buy the Kindle version. I may love the feel of a real book, but I find the ease and price difference of a Kindle winning out more and more. Plus, if the story's good, I'm not thinking about how I'm reading the book anyway, am I?
  
• You Can't Cheat - As we all know, I'm a literary cheater. When I'm stressed about a character's happily ever after, I'm in the habit of flipping through the book and making sure everything works out in the end. With the Kindle's table of contents, I can still flip around in a book, but it does take a bit more effort than just flipping a few pages. If I'm determined to cheat, I will, but I'm trying to use this feature as a way to break this habit.
  
• Book Selection - Most every new fiction book is coming out on Kindle. In fact, of the 30 or so books whose release dates I've been anticipating in the last month, only one didn't make it to Kindle format (Evermore by Alyson Noel). With nonfiction books, the Kindle store's coverage is a little more spotty. Evolutionary Biology and History books seem to be well represented, but Writing books have surprisingly dismal digital showings. When a book doesn't make it to digital format, this is always the publisher's decision and Amazon makes it easy to get your opinion heard. On the bottom of every Amazon book page there is now a "I would like to read this on Kindle" button, which will send your request directly to the publisher. Normally, I'd be a skeptic and say such a thing is just for the costumer's peace of mind, but I've had quite a few books come available on Kindle that weren't available just days before. It seems publishers are actually listening and that they are, slowly, but surely, catching up to the digital age.
  
• The Carrying Case - This is just a nitpicky thing, but I'm unimpressed with the Kindle's standard carrying case. I like to read in bed, where I tend to sleep on my side. With the Kindle's default case, the bookreader is only secured on one side, so it's constantly slipping out of the case and accidentally going to the next page whilst I wrangle it back in. Fortunately, there are tons of other Kindle case options out there that fix this issue. Personally, I've got my eye on this little green number.
• No Light Supply - Because of the E-Ink techonology, the Kindle is just like a book in that you need your own light supply to read on it. It makes it easier on the eyes, but you might want to invest in a booklight to take on those overnight camping trips!
  
• Makes Reading Too Fun - I know, this shouldn't be a con, should it? Well, when you're a poor student who already has a book buying compulsion, encouraging more book purchases isn't the best idea. Luckily, my wonderful relatives were all clued in to my Christmas surprise, so I got quite a few Amazon gift certificates along with my Kindle. I'm just now running out of store credit, but still can't seem to resist the pull of the Kindle store...
• Sticker Shock. Though well worth it in light of the book price differences, the Kindle's own sticker price is still a bit high for a one-purpose device (at $359), which makes it a purchase only for the true bibliophiles. In which category, I know all of us fall. If the price is getting you down, I do know a slight discount trick - because of Kindle order delays (thanks Oprah!) over Christmas, I hunted down one of the refurbished Kindles that come up for sale on Amazon. They sell for $329 and have the exact same warranty as a new Kindle. There is also no indication on the Kindle that it was refurbished, so no one will know but you! Unfortunately, this secret has made the rounds, so they are hard to come by. My best bet is, if you're adamant about tracking one down, using the Wii Alerts website to send a text to your cellphone when they become available and bookmarking this link to take you straight to the order page. It also helps if you've enabled one-click ordering on your Amazon account, so you can snag yours before those other Kindle hunters!

So, there you have it - the pros and cons of the Amazon Kindle. Like I said, I'm in love with mine and can't recommend it highly enough. There are probably a million things I've forgotten to mention, or questions I've left unanswered, so I'm opening it up to you, Originals. How do you feel about digital bookreaders? Are there any burning questions you have for a Kindle owner? Does anyone else have a Kindle and love it, or - conversely - does anyone else scoff at the transition from paperbound books?