As a Canadian, we're limited to pretty much just the Sony reader, which as good as it may seem, is the only choice we have. I'm curious about the fact that e book readers don't seem to be tangible at this point in the buying process. Call me crazy, but before I buy, especially given the cost of them, I'd like to be able to actually try it out. I don't know of any stores that have them sitting on shelves to hold and actually try using. Perhaps that may take the edge off of wanting one, but I doubt it. I think we all so love the idea of downloading a book from amazon, whether we're tethered to the computer for the download or wireless, the selection of books is so much better than Sony to be sure. So, we wait and hope for a uniform formate and broader selection, which will hopefully come with time. As hard as it is, I'm trying to be patient.

I have been reading about the pros and cons of the Kindle for months and I felt it was time for me to put in my two cents worth. I have owned a Kindle (1) for about a year and love it. I find that I read much more with it because I am now never without a book. I have been a frequent visiter to Barnes and Noble when I have the opportunity. However, sometimes in the past, many days or even a week or so may pass before I get the chance to go there. With my Kindle I can get a book instantly and find that I never go more than a few minutes without a book. I can read the NY Times best seller list or Bookmarks and find a book, order it and have in less than a minute. Also, since I am 64 and my eyes are not what they used to be, I can increase the size of the fonts so I can read more comfortably. The books always weigh the same, so Ken Follett's tomes are the same to hold as a small paperback. I, too, felt that I needed the "feel" of the printed page to be comfortable. Once I got used to the Kindle, I don't "feel" that way any more. I must add two caveats, however. If you like to lend or give books away, you will be unable to do that with a Kindle. I miss that. Also, I have noticed lately that many of the books are priced beyond the $9.95 that was originally advertised. That is disappointing, given the initial expense of the Kindle. I have read about 20 books on it and still love it. Enjoy.
Jeff Meltzer
Syracuse, NY

I have never read so many MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmore books now that i have the Kindel2.
I find reading on the kindel very easy especially very long books since I have a problem with one of my wrists,
It would be nice in your posting if you would mention if a book is available on the kindle.
i enjoy your magazine very much and look forward to each issue.
thanks so much for all the info and keep it coming.
rusty franklin
boca raton,fl
--
lower casing please

I read somewhere that Kindle abbreviates books. Is this true? I was interested in Kindle - it sounds really convenient - but I don't like to read abbreviated books.

I waited and waited for the Sony reader then found out it wasn't compatible with MAC. I bought a PALM and loved it until it died. I bought and returned a Kindle. The screen would black out when it refreshed to a new page and not only was it too slow, the blacking out was giving me headaches.

now what?.... I found the perfect reader but it was too expensive and ended up purchasing an iTouch. I get to download palm doc books, ereader.com will upload personal content for me, Kindle has an app so I can read Kindle books on my iTouch! Now I have an address book, calender, games, palm books and kindle books PLUS music, WiFi and photos, all in a cute package that fits in my pants pocket.

I did see a Sony in a store. It felt breakable without the battery and one of the buttons was broken. I visited with a woman I met on amazon so I could touch and 'play' with her kindle. That was very helpful.

I'm sure there are many of you thinking about eye sight and small text. I don't have that problem yet so I'm happy with my iTouch. Find someone with one and download a couple of free apps and a couple of free books to try it out yourself. (Kindle and eReader.com)

--
...because books are a treasure worth protecting

I've owned the Kindle 1 for a year and love it. I love having paper books, but the beautiful thing about the kindle is the books are usually cheaper. I find that I will try reading books that I normally wouldn't because it costs less to buy. then, if I really like it, I can always go and buy the paper version for my bookshelf. Also, there are websites, such as feedbooks.com that have the classics for free for any e-reader, they are public domain now, so as long as they are old enough, you can download them right there.

So, I have had my Kindle 2 now for about 6 months and I have mixed feelings on it. I am currently on my 4th Kindle 2 because all of mine have had battery issues. I would charge the night before and by the next morning the battery would be nearly dead. While Amazon was good about replacing it each time, it has been quite a hassle especially since I live in a small town and have to drive an hour to mail off the package at a UPS each time (the only carrier they will pay for). However, Amazon has paid for overnight shipping each time and 2 of the 3 returns has given me a $20 credit on my account.

My latest one seems to be working fine so far so I will give my opinion on the Kindle excluding my battery issues. But, before I do that, I have to say that it cheeses me somewhat that only 2 months after buying my Kindle 2, Amazon lowered the price and wouldn't reimburse those of us who bought it at the inflated cost.

Anyways, I have also used both of Sony's ebook readers so I know what I'm comparing the Kindle to. So, IMHO:

Pros:
- Screen is awesome! Much better in my opinion than the Sony (especially the touch-screen version which tends to have slightly muted greys). Touch screens are overrated. Its a book reader, not an iPhone.
- It looks and feels very high quality. To me this is important and I personally feel that the Sony readers look cheap (this has nothing to do with ACTUAL quality).
- Even though I never use it, it is nice to know that if I want a book wirelessly delivered then I can do that over "Whispernet". There are other much cheaper ways to get ebooks though so this isn't a huge deal to me).
- Built-in dictionary, annotations, and notes is a huge plus for me. I use the keyboard all the time to make notes in my books.
- Amazon's ebook store is the best there is. They aren't the cheapest but the selection is great.
- The read-it-to-me feature is actually better than I expected. I rarely use it but if I were really lazy then I might.

Cons:
- There is a ton of wasted real estate on the Kindle. Why not make it smaller and cut off some of that white space!?
- No native pdf support. Most types of files can be converted for a small fee or for free if you send it to your Kindle email address but PDFs are not handled well, especially if they have pictures or tables.
- Price is ridiculous. Books are way too expensive too. I would pay $5 for an ebook but not $9.99+. I can still get books cheaper at a used book store.
- Kindle freezes if wireless is kept on all the time. They know about it but just claim that its not supposed to be left on. Sounds like poor development to me.
- No cover included. For the amount I paid, I should have had a nice leather cover included as well as a free spa treatment.
- Charger is not a USB standard. It is a micro-USB which means you can't use other chargers with it. Sounds like a small thing but that means that when you travel you have to take an extra cord with you. Also, if you lose it, they aren't cheap to replace.
- Search function is slower than molasses. Don't even think about using it in a study group of some sort. You'll be waiting more than studying.
- AZW format is dumb. Why not use a standard format so that customers can use their books how they want to. Essentially "buying" books from Amazon is nothing more than renting them.

Anyways, overall I'm happy I got it. Would I buy it again? Probably not until the prices drop to under $100. But then again I wouldn't buy a Sony until then either. Wait a year or so and see what happens. Until then, buy used books for $1 and think of all the money you saved.

I have had my Kindle for about six months. It's great for buying books that I am also listening to on audible.com. I read about two or more in a week if I am also listening to them while driving back and forth in my car. I have taken it on several trips and turned on the speech option while on a long drive. Granted the listen was not as clear or as interesting as audible.com, but at least I was listening to something interesting. Because most of the books for the Kindle are about $10, I feel that I am not being extravagant when I also purchased an audible version. I never have time to lose interest in a book because I listen and read, rather than let a book sit on my bedside table for a week. I have several books ready to read loaded on it that I have chosen from Bookmarks.
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Paraskevi

I have a current rant: let's make everything a computer (sarcasm). I struggle all day at work, throw things at my PC; the very large company I work for is constantly jamming new software, applications or security controls down my ...pc. They don't even ask; all of a sudden, it's "you must reboot". Doesn't even tell me what it did! Excuuuse me! And the Help Desk, and all my co-workers with the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD, our new acronym), then next thing you know, you have to be re-imaged. And slow. Something happens at about 6pm Eastern time (I live on the west coast and work at home remotely from THE SERVER) so that Word can not pro cess this must hang can't even save. Hard down.

So! Let's make a car a computer! Let's make a simple oil change into a software download/re-image/sorry the help desk is taking other callers now.

Let's make my toaster a computer so it sings songs to me! Let's make roller skates into computers with cameras so they can film your trip down the sidewalk and e-mail it automatically to Facebook!

Let's make books into computers! I'll hold off as long as I can. I love print, paper and ink.

Sorry for blogging all over you.

This is in reply to whether you should get a kindle vs going to the library or bookstore for a book; I have had a kindle2 for about a year now! a belated christmas gift to myself-it didn't come in until almost march; because the demand was so great. so far, I love my kindle, but I admit that I use both the library and my kindle. Im retired now so I'm currently in 4 bookclubs, and reading about a book a week. I love my kindle, but knowing what page im on is a detrament, I have also spoke to other women that have a kindle and they say the same thing. It's somthing that I guess you have to get used to. But I have to admit the different sizes of the types are nice since I'm older now and wearing reading glasses all day gives me a headach, being able to adjust the type size helps when I just cant wear my glasses at the end of the day. Also the books that are speech enabled are a joy to read along with the computer generated speech. I admit I still use the Library; but sometimes living in New Orleans, the library doesn't have the popular fiction titles available that I read for bookclub. Being able to download them in a minute for less than the bookstore price has been a pleasure. My bill to Amazon will prove that! LOL But, just a while ago I have been discovering that people have been voulenteering to put the Old Classics up in digital format-with text to speech, that are free of charge! what a joy that is, since now I'm living in an apartment; far away from my home, and don't have the room to stack a library. Amazon keeps a record of all of your purchases-even if they are 0. so when your done reading the book, you can just archive it. and if you want it back, call it back!!! Also, if you have a family-or group of friends that are readers, you can share one copy of a book on 6 different kindles, so that is a real savings, if you have a bookclub that wants all of the latest-new books, the drawback is that one person has to be the facilitator of the account and take the responsibility of monitoring the charges to that account. I hear that Amazon is comming out with a international version of kindle for this christmas season. I hope this review helps!!! Bshimoura

I am not a "early adopter", at least I don't think I am. But I don't fight technology. If it can help me, I use it. If not, I leave it alone. I love to read, and I love books. I bought the Kindle with an eye on buying French and German books for downloading eventually, but until the publishers in these countries come on board, or should I say, get their act together, there are plenty of books in English available to satisfy just about every interest. And I am really impressed! I bought it just before Christmas, and took it along on vacation to Thailand. I was able to buy books right there, on the beach!! And reading was not a problem, even in the bright sunshine. I need glasses to read these days, so being able to adjust the font size is definitively a plus. I read quite a bit, probably more than I would have normally, because I took the thing with me everywhere. There was quite a bit of interest from people around me, on the plane, or at the local Starbucks. Contrary to most of my friends, I don't write in my books. It's anathema to me! So having now a way of annotating the books electronically is really interesting. The one drawback so far is remembering what page I was on, if I inadvertently loose it (it happened a couple of times). Otherwise, when you close and reopen Kindle, you are right back to the last page you read. All in all, this is probably one of the best investments I've ever made! Let's just hope now I don't go broke downloading everything in sight!!

-- Patrick

I'm keeping a close watch on the e-reader developments since my husband has a Kindle and I'm envious. However, I've not decided on the Kindle yet as so many e-books are available in Adobe's digital edition format which the Kindle does not support. I want to do two things: buy books from an online source for my future e-reader AND I also want to be able to check e-books out from my local library. The Kindle is a dedicated shopper e-reader (even though classics are available free); no library compatibility.

Yesterday, I read about the Alex, a promising e-reader from Spring Design that they are developing in conjunction with Google. It will support the ADE (for library checkout) and also let me purchase books from Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/ . It should be available in the next couple of months. http://www.springdesign.com/us/index.action

I also want to see the iTablet, though it will be much more than an e-reader so will have battery issues, I think.

Seems like a lot of stuff is happening right now in the world of e-readers. Can't wait for the dust to settle.
Jan