Kindle and Me

This is a geeky post wherein I describe my experiences with the new Amazon Kindle E-Book. Here goes.

You all know that I am something of an early adopter of technology. I got the first iPod. I got the first Macintosh back in the 1980s. I had anywhere wireless service in 1999, with Metricom (wireless at dial-up speeds!!!) I had early TIVO service. I've had a few palm pilots, a few gaming systems, and of course, I was VERY early into the virtual synthesizer game, retiring my hardware keyboards (my first virtual was back in 1998)

Sometimes my experiments are good (iPod), sometimes they don't work out (Roku media player? Metricom? Chapman Stick?) So it was with some interest that I noticed the announcement of the Amazon Kindle.

I've always been interested in E-Media: I have many books in PDF form on my computer, and I've tried various ways of "enjoying" them in any way... but everything has been been too complicated, too many issues. Reading long documents on a computer is completely ridiculous. Palm Pilots were interesting, but it took work to move the documents TO them, and once loaded, they had this tendency to turn off the screen after 60 seconds on inactivity (apparently it couldn't SENSE my eyeballs reading). Plus, traditional backlit screens are just a bit rough on the eyes. Finally, there was the battery issue - when scrolling through text, the screen, hard drive, everything is working... so you're stuck with 6 hours MAX on either a Palm or a computer.

Add to this, that Palms and Computers are primarily for other things... they're not tuned to the reading experience, and they suck you over to their other uses... oh, let's check mail, surf the web, check our calendars clean up my contacts... You CAN read on them... and you CAN store recipes on them too, but who does?

So along comes the Kindle. On one level, it's a reader to beat all: A crisp high contrast screen that uses "E-Ink" technology: What this means is that once the page is "set", it takes NO electricity to keep it. It's matte, with no backlight, and is perfectly readable in sunlight and candlelight: Wherever you could read a real book, you could read this. The other advantage to this technology: Almost 30 days of reading on a battery charge.

Next, it's light and compact: Smaller than a laptop, bigger than a palm it's exactly Moleskine sized, with a reading area a little smaller than a typical paperback. Around 10 oz, it's easy to handle. It has dedicated buttons for turning pages, and a really cool navigation wheel to get you around.

But the BEST part is that it has an integrated bookstore: It has a cellmodem, which connects you to the Amazon Kindle bookstore, where you can buy books (it's tied to your Amazon account), and have them immediately sent to your Kindle, no computer, no wifi, no nothing needed. Using the modem burns battery faster (you need to charge every other day when it's on). Also, you can subscribe to newspapers and magazines, and they show up overnight.

Ok. I haven't told you anything that you couldn't get from just going to the Amazon site and reading. But I just wanted to introduce the technology to you. Now, let me tell you about two days with it.

Sunday Morning: A crazy runaround - Bella and Isaac had cabin fever and needed a lot of attention. Isaac in particular needed to escape the kitchen, and had a running circuit from the dining room to the fireplace and back. And I was the sentry keeping him away from the fire.

In my right hand, the Kindle, with the Sunday NY Times loaded. As I walked with Isaac, keeping an eye on his mischief, I browsed the news, the editorials, and the NY book review (they liked "Options" by Fake Steve Jobs). When both hands were needed, I set it down anywhere. It was perfectly readable at full arm length, and the page forward and next buttons made it a strictly one-handed affair.

End result - MOST of the NY Times were read while I was on my feet. I'm not sure that Erik and Pamela were able to consume as much of the Sunday paper. One downside - can't do a crossword or sudoku on this: It's strictly for reading.

My first bought book is the Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - the movie opens next week and I wanted to re-read it. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, when I had a free 5 min, I'd pick up the Kindle and do a chapter or two... sitting, standing... no matter. I put it down, and it stays in the right place. I switch to the Times, and come back to the Compass, and it remembers where I was.

Monday I popped into a favorite place to grab a quick lunch before a meeting... I'm told there's a 15 min wait. I can do that. I stand against a wall, load up the Golden compass, and read... and read... and get so lost in the actual book that by the time they call my name, I realize I've been waiting a full half hour, and didn't even notice. The Kindle offered a fully immersive reading experience.

I now have 5 books on it: One is a Japanese Language primer (while my verbal is good, I need to work on my reading...). I switch over to it for a little review. Also, I check the headlines on the Times. Now, if this was all paper, it would have been a full satchel. As it is, it's still a small compact device.

So far so good, I say. My goal was to take this technology out for a drive and see if it delivers on the promise. And so far it is. There are issues, and I'll get into them in the next update.

If at the end of 30 days, the Kindle is seeing daily use, it will stay in my home. If not, that fancy package will make its way elsewhere....