http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33298480...h_and_gadgets/
The article surveyed students actually using pre-loaded Kindles and reported a "lukewarm response" to the experience.
Pros: light weight, TTS, portability, music downloads, minesweeper.
Cons: keyboard, PDF handling woes, no page numbers, clunky highlighting & note taking, lack of sticky notes & color highlighting.
Obviously a work in progress. At least the students get to keep their Kindles.