The Kindle Arrives!

Well, after much debate, I finally decided to get a kindle. I have been mostly using my iPhone for reading news, and, though it works fairly well for that purpose, I longed for a larger screen. The Kindle, with its 6" screen and cellular wireless data connection, seems almost ideal - if you don't mind paying for your news. I liked the idea of buying newspapers on-demand from my Kindle. So far, in the past 3 days that I've owned the device, I have purchased 2 newspapers (the Wall Street Journal and Investors Business Daily). The electronic purchasing experience is fantastic except for one detail- I wish I could see a preview of the newspaper or magazine headlines before making the purchase. The form factor is nice- compact, thin, with a useful cover for carrying it. I think the Sony PRS-505 looks cooler than the Kindle, however, the Kindle's wireless data network won me over as being more useful- I just saw myself using the Kindle a whole lot more due to the convenience factor.

The Kindle screen is nice, though I do wish it had even more contrast. It is about the contrast of a traditional newspaper, and it is black and white (plus greyscale). In bright sunlight and outdoors, the screen is extremely readable, unlike most other display technologies. Indoors, in more dimly lit situations, you need a light source (it has no backlighting built in). The audio playback capability is very rudimentary- I was hoping for a bit better, as I tend to listen to quite a few podcasts. Browsing the web is possible with its built-in experimental web browser, however, this browser is extremely rudimentary, and has a hard time properly rendering most sites. If possible, go to mobile-optimized web sites, or you'll find it a frustrating experience.

So far, the Kindle has been a mixed bag- some nice positives, some disappointing negatives. I'll give another update after about a month of use....