The Amazon Kindle
I realized the biggest impact the Kindle will have as I looked out the window one morning and saw the neighborhood kids walking to their bus stop. On their backs were these huge backpacks, I assume, full of books. I thought, they could get rid of that thing and carry one little device!
The future of reading is here in the Amazon Kindle. It won't be long before everything we read will be stored in one of these little devices. Imagine what that will do. First, they will help the environment by saving all of the material and effort it costs to produce all of those books, magazines, and newspapers. Think of all the wood and material spent to make the bookshelves to hold our libraries. Second, not only can you get your book in less than a minute, if there is ever an update it is simply downloaded.
But most important of all is that you can take just about all of your reading material with you (I am cautious here because I have heard of people who have 30,000 books or more in their home libraries). No matter where you go you will always have something to read. How many times were you getting ready to leave for vacation and trying to decide which reading material to take with you? Why not just take it all?
Is the Kindle really that fabulous? Let's find out.
Size of a Book
The Kindle measures 7.5 inches by 5.5 in its case. It isn't much smaller out of the case, which is about like a thick book cover, and you will probably keep it in there most of the time anyway. The case is soft and feels more like a book cover. It is an inch and a quarter at the binder, the thickest part. It's about the size of a medium paperback.
The screen is approximately 4.75 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide; 800 pixels tall by 600 pixels wide. But don't compare it to a computer screen - this is a book and the size of the screen is quite adequate. The text is as clear and legible as most books. Unfortunately, it is not a white background but more of a light gray. I imagine the gray blended better with the black text to smooth out the characters. But still, it is very easy on the eyes with good lighting like any book - it is not backlit so lighting is required.
The screen is not color nor lending itself to displaying images very well. This version will not do well for picture books or material that you must have for the images like graphs, charts, etc. Everything I have seen is possible to make out but the details are not clear at all, in most cases muddy.
Wireless Download
Years ago I loved to go to the book store and browse through as many books as I could. But like everything else they became too business like, the atmosphere changed, the novelty wore off. New technology came along where I can browse online without spending money on gas or fighting traffic to get there. Getting a book or other reading material to your Kindle is even easier because you get it in less then a minute after you order it.
The Kindle uses a wireless system similar to cell phones. It really does work as promised, at least in big metropolitan areas like Seattle. But it may not always be available, in fact, I read that it may not be available for an entire state like Montana. However, that does not render it useless. You can connect the Kindle to your computer with the included USB cable. Most important - NO ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE IS REQUIRED! Once connected you can purchase and download items through your computer.
I haven't taken it camping yet so I don't know how it works in rural locations. I probably won't care to read the paper that morning anyway but will still have plenty of material to read. A friend of mine took his to China. Although he didn't try to download anything, he did notice the time changed automatically.
Try a Free Sample
To help you decide, you can usually download a free sample of the book or material you might be interested in. The only problem is some samples don't contain much more than the introduction or preface. I haven't been able to determine who is responsible but I did read something that suggests Amazon's system creates the sample by taking the first small percentage of the book. This can also lead to getting only part of the first chapter.
Most samples are more than enough. In fact, one book I sampled,
Americana: Dispatches from the New by Hampton Sides, I received the first complete story. But with Hampton Sides you can't go wrong anyway. However, some books like computer books, you get very little in the sample that is worth while, usually nothing to use at all. And like their paper counterparts, they are still expensive. Most books, even the thick ones from such authors as David McCullough, are less than $10. But computer books are still expensive even though you can find most of the material for free online.
You can also try fourteen day samples of newspapers like the New York Times. Everyday a new edition is automatically delivered to your Kindle (once turned on of course). Just remember, if you are trying the sample, in fourteen days you start getting charged so don't forget if you decide you don't want it at that time.