Kindle First Impressions

I had been wondering about the Amazon Kindle since I first read about it. I've always laughed off all of the electronic book readers that have come and gone, but something about this felt different. People I really knew and trusted all seemed to want one. Those that had one liked it. With all the traveling I do I don't like carrying books with me. It is a pain. I usually end up reading magazines, but lately I've been running out of those as well. It was because of this that I wanted to check one of these out for myself. I'll also give blame to Rick Klau for finally pushing me over the edge. His post talked about the good and the bad and what he wanted out of it. All of that together made me get one.

So what do I think of it?

I've had it less then 24 hours, but I already really like it. The screen scares me because it is so clear. It looks almost fake when you look at it because I've never seen a screen like this before. From any angle it is crisp and clear. Last night I even kicked back with it on the bean to read a chapter of Child 44 and I found that I liked it. Plus it was the first work of fiction I've read in a long time so that alone made me happy!

This morning I kicked back with my coffee and the Kindle and read through today's Boston Globe. It certainly will not replace my Sunday morning paper, but for a day to day type of read where I mostly scanned all the headlines rather then reading any articles, it fit the bill perfectly.

I know that on my next flight it will really get the test and based on the smallness of it I'm sure it will pass. My big question right now is the battery life. Books don't ever run out of batteries. I'd hate to be flying along, getting to the good part and the battery dies. That is one thing that paper will always win in.

I like it so far. I still find it stupid that you have to pay to read blogs on it. I don't expect to be doing much of that. I also want to try the e-mailing files to it to read on the go. That has potential. I also see volume controls on it so I'm guessing it is only a matter of time before I can listen to music while reading on it? Audio books too I would assume.