Tech Review - Kindle

In the past few months I’ve had some experience with rather leading technology and tools. I wanted to share some of my thoughts.

Kindle

bottom line: e-book reader that is easy on the eyes

pros:

Easy to use. Good battery life. Buying a book takes 1 click and a few seconds to download. (no more trips to the bookstore or shipping&handling charges!) Prices very reasonable. Mimics the book experience since it looks like printed word on paper. Font size is easy to adjust. No need to setup wi-fi or internet connection or anything. Awesome function to look up unfamiliar word in dictionary. Light weight.

cons:

No frills besides e-book function. In today’s market, everyone wants multi-tasking tools. Although Kindle has beta music and internet capability, they are very limited. i.e. music doesn’t do playlist and internet doesn’t work with every website, etc.

notes:

I subscribed to the New York Times and bought a few books (free and regular priced). Since the newspaper is organized nicely (by category, headline, etc), I actually read through all of the Sunday Times from front to back successfully. No ads either! can I go back to not having a kindle? I actually use the local library a lot for many newer books, so I was hesitant to use the kindle at first. I think it’s the best way to read the NY Times and longer (heavier) books though. I also like browsing a physical bookstore. I can see how a kindle can be useful for out-of-print books and new books (that are flying off the shelves).

unexpected effect:

Well, for one, I actually read much faster now (even on regular paper) because it’s really fast to skim on the kindle. Maybe people should train their kids to speed-read by getting some kids books on the kindle.

tip:

Download samples of books if you’re trying it out! Also there are many free books through Amazon and other websites to get you started.