<p>Redondo Dave, I like your attitude and your vision. The words and ideas aren’t going away. The way they are presented is going to change. Change for the better.</p>
<p>dstark:</p>
<p>Here’s another source for free book downloads. They claim to have over 20 thousand free downloadable books - [Main</a> Page - Gutenberg](<a href=“http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page]Main”>http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page)</p>
<p>In thinking about the Kindle a bit more last night, I’d like to see them come out with a lower-cost lower-tech version of it that doesn’t have the cell phone connection but could be loaded from one’s PC. I think a significant percentage of the marketplace that would buy an electronic book likely already has a PC with internet connectivity from which they could download the book files to their PC and then transfer them to the reading device. Since the Kindle holds around 200 books it’s not like one would need to be downloading a new book every other day. Amazon would have to work out the content rights management to secure the book so it couldn’t be loaded to multiple Kindles but I’m sure they could work that out. It seems that removing the cell phone circuitry would decrease the cost of the device. This could be the lower cost entry model with the current Kindle being the higher cost full-featured model.</p>
<p>dstark - Did you buy one yet or get on the waiting list?</p>
<p>justanothermom,
Looking forward to your comments. I too like the feel of a real book and try to use the library as much as possible, but there are advantages to an electronic delivery system as well. I was reading somewhere (WSJ?) that even before it came out Amazon already had 400 reviews on the Kindle, mostly negative. Don’t think I’m ready to take the plunge quite yet, I’m looking forward to continuted improvements in the technology and reduced downloading prices.</p>
<p>UCSD…, I have not bought a Kindle; although, I have a good friend that ordered one and is waiting for it. I am sure many of my friends will get one. </p>
<p>I like libraries. 
I will probably get a Kindle someday. If they put textbooks on it, and I think they are, my kids will probably get one. E-books are the future. </p>
<p>Sony has one that does what you want. You download from a PC. It’s $299. The reviews I have seen say Kindle is better. You can download a book on a Kindle in a minute from many places. But maybe the Sony fits your needs better.</p>
<p>I don’t commute on a bus or train or fly a lot so I don’t have a pressing need for a Kindle. </p>
<p>I don’t have an IPod.</p>
<p>dstark,</p>
<p>Nothing from Amazon other than the initial welcome letter.
My Kindle account has been created and appears ready to accept orders, though. :)</p>
<p>You should probably not order anything until you actually get the Kindle. :)</p>
<p>A friend of mine is getting one around Dec 6th, except it is a present to his wife, so I really won’t know how it works until after Christmas.</p>
<p>I’ll pass. I like the feel of a book and my eyes get tired if I spend too much time reading the computer screen. When my d was applying to musical theatre programs, I printed out the entire musical theatre forum here and read it on paper. I’m sure that my kids will like this product, so I’ll wait for the price to come down and then put it on the Christmas lists.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree! Actually, I was planning to first test the Kindle by loading some Dickens and Austen from my computer. If it works, easy and…free.</p>
<p>“I’ll pass. I like the feel of a book and my eyes get tired if I spend too much time reading the computer screen.”</p>
<p>Supposedly, it’s as easy as a real book on the eyes, not at all like a computer screen.</p>
<p>I normally just lurk here, but I had to delurk just long enough to talk about my Kindle! I love books, I have books everywhere, I have an entire room in my house devoted to books, and have no intention of ceasing to acquire many many more in the future. That said, I love my Kindle – to me it’s just another way to enjoy books, not the ‘last word’ so to speak, in book reading.</p>
<p>What I love about the Kindle: First and foremost, my tired eyes love the Kindle! Reading the Kindle screen is nothing like reading a computer screen, it’s much more like reading paper, with no glare or eyestrain. I have over 100 ebooks on my computer (just another way of enjoying books!) that I read with Microsoft Reader, but the glare and eyestrain just becomes too much in a very short period of time. I have no such problem on the Kindle. Best of all – you can adjust the font size! Oh heaven! I have entire books in my house that I am unable to read because the font is just too small, and magnifiers are either too unwieldy or distort the print. I can up the font size on my Kindle and even my old eyes can read comfortably.</p>
<p>I love that I can load free content via Gutenberg and other projects; Kindle accepts any .txt or .html file. Much easier to read them on the Kindle than on the computer screen.</p>
<p>I love that if there’s a word you don’t know in the text, you press a button and a dictionary comes up and gives you the definition. I love that you can search on any word in the text - maybe there’s a character or place you can’t remember details about - or search all the books in your collection. </p>
<p>I like that you can bookmark pages and highlight text. I like that I can take 20 books with me on my business trip next week! I like that the battery lasts for days as long as you don’t leave the wireless connected. I like that most of the books I want to buy from Amazon cost around $5. </p>
<p>Things I don’t like: The price, of course. Very spendy. I’m usually not an early adopter but I got caught up in the whole book thing and decided I had to have it. It’s a Christmas present to me, an extravagant one, but I do love it.
I don’t like that the cover that comes with it has no good way to attach the Kindle (use Velcro!), otherwise it does really help to hold it whle you’re reading. Keeps you from inadvertently hitting the next page buttons.</p>
<p>There are some features I haven’t really used that much, like web browsing and the mp3 player. I think it performs best at it’s intended function, a book reader. Some people seem to want it to be some sort of mini-laptop or glorified iPhone but that’s not its mission. As a book reader it is tremendous, like an iPod but for books. Honestly I couldn’t understand why anybody would want an iPod until I got one, I kind of feel the same way about this. It won’t replace my beloved books but it is an additional way to enjoy them. Like I needed that! Well back to “Murder on the Orient Express”</p>
<p>-Sharon D</p>
<p>Chuwo,
I’m glad you like it. Thanks for sharing your experience.</p>
<p>After saying “no, I will never get one”, yesterday, I read a bunch of reviews and articles and ordered myself one last night. Amazon is backordered, and cannot say when it will ship. I leave on a cruise on Dec 21, but doubt it will be here by then. I was looking forward to having a smaller load of books than usual when I travel.
I really struggle with reading and my vision and I have high hopes for it. And despite my better judgement, I preordered 4 books for it, so as soon as it arrives I can get started. Yes, that was probably a dumb idea. Impulsive? That’s me!</p>
<p>Just a quick update. I receievd my Kindle on Dec 24, but was not home until January 4th. I have been using it for a few weeks and am kind of underwhelmed. Yesterday I had to reset it, as it would not turn on even though I had charged it, which meant that I lost my bookmarks in the book I was reading.</p>
<p>I have used it while flying- but a downside is you cannot read during take off and landing, when I like to take my mind off the fact that somehow this huge metal things is going up in the air against imposisble odds.</p>
<p>I miss being able to quickly flip bck in a book to review names of characters and such. I do use the bookmark feature, but there is something reassuring to know, hey I should keep reading I am almost finished with this chapter, v.s. I will read til I cannot hold my head up any longer.</p>
<p>I like the velcro idea for the case, because it does tend to fall out.</p>
<p>Even with the largest font I still need to use my reading glasses…I guess that is my weakness rather than the Kindle’s.</p>
<p>I was reading reviews of it on another forum and discovered some people had quality control issues with their unit. One of my buttons is not in line with the others, and I saw photos on the web of other machines that looked much worse. I think Amazon rushed to get them out too quickly to people and did not pay attention to quality control.</p>
<p>I do like the fact that when I take a long trip I can carry a bunch of books in one small place, but given my druthers I would read real books instead. I guess I am in like with it, but not in love.</p>
<p>That’s my two cents…off to bed and my Kindle.</p>