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snookums · 01-19-2008, 03:50 PM

I haven't received my Kindle yet so I may change my opinions once I have it in hand. So what I say is not qualified by experience but by what I know about the device.

To me the wireless isn't something that you should be using all the time. It's one of those seamless things that you don't have to think about. The ability to just pick up the Kindle, read a preview chapter, decide on it, pay for the the book, and have it downloaded in less than an instant no matter where I am is the feature that made me want to buy the Kindle. I liken it to my experience with mp3 players. It's cool on the first day because I'll rip a bunch of my cds and transfer them over by cable. After a few it starts seeming like a hassle to find that special cable, the one that will of course be different from every other data cable I have, and sit down to buy new content and transfer it over. After a few weeks, I'm not sure where the cable is. Maybe it's fallen down in the seat cushions of my couch. Maybe the cat has knocked it off of the table, and I don't want to have to pull it out to search. And I never seem to remember all of those cool songs that I wanted to download when I'm sitting down at home. So I start trying to write the names of the songs down right after I hear them so I won't forget. Of course that never works because I always lose the scrap of paper that I've written them on. Eventually I just stop buying songs because I don't want to go through the hassle of organizing and maintaining my collection. Every now and then I may hunt down the cable and buy some new songs to transfer, but I mainly end up listening to the same songs over and over. I get bored with them, and it ends up on a shelf collecting dust.

This is why I gave my iPod to my sister. Now they have the iPod Touch that allows you to buy songs right from the player. I might end up back in the fold eventually. My point is that there are different types of people who want different types of eBook readers. Up until now, the devices have been slanted toward the hardcore audience, people who like to have their entire book collection alphabetized and laid out in rows like soldiers on the battle field. Those are the people who research their books and plan on buying them well in advance. To those people, I have nothing but love. I on the other hand am casual hardcore. By that I mean that I'm a avid reader. I've probably read just as many books as any individual here. I'm just more explorer like in my reading. I've been known to walk into a book store and buy a hardback bases solely on a blurb and the cover. Sometimes I'm disappointed. Sometimes I find something new and exciting. With the Kindle I can indulge myself, and that is what an eBook reader is - an indulgence. I can skip wildly through a field of bare bosomed books available to me from anywhere. I can rip open their tight bodices and preview to my hearts delight.

01-19-2008, 03:50 PM	#22
snookums Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 100 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Kindle	I haven't received my Kindle yet so I may change my opinions once I have it in hand. So what I say is not qualified by experience but by what I know about the device. To me the wireless isn't something that you should be using all the time. It's one of those seamless things that you don't have to think about. The ability to just pick up the Kindle, read a preview chapter, decide on it, pay for the the book, and have it downloaded in less than an instant no matter where I am is the feature that made me want to buy the Kindle. I liken it to my experience with mp3 players. It's cool on the first day because I'll rip a bunch of my cds and transfer them over by cable. After a few it starts seeming like a hassle to find that special cable, the one that will of course be different from every other data cable I have, and sit down to buy new content and transfer it over. After a few weeks, I'm not sure where the cable is. Maybe it's fallen down in the seat cushions of my couch. Maybe the cat has knocked it off of the table, and I don't want to have to pull it out to search. And I never seem to remember all of those cool songs that I wanted to download when I'm sitting down at home. So I start trying to write the names of the songs down right after I hear them so I won't forget. Of course that never works because I always lose the scrap of paper that I've written them on. Eventually I just stop buying songs because I don't want to go through the hassle of organizing and maintaining my collection. Every now and then I may hunt down the cable and buy some new songs to transfer, but I mainly end up listening to the same songs over and over. I get bored with them, and it ends up on a shelf collecting dust. This is why I gave my iPod to my sister. Now they have the iPod Touch that allows you to buy songs right from the player. I might end up back in the fold eventually. My point is that there are different types of people who want different types of eBook readers. Up until now, the devices have been slanted toward the hardcore audience, people who like to have their entire book collection alphabetized and laid out in rows like soldiers on the battle field. Those are the people who research their books and plan on buying them well in advance. To those people, I have nothing but love. I on the other hand am casual hardcore. By that I mean that I'm a avid reader. I've probably read just as many books as any individual here. I'm just more explorer like in my reading. I've been known to walk into a book store and buy a hardback bases solely on a blurb and the cover. Sometimes I'm disappointed. Sometimes I find something new and exciting. With the Kindle I can indulge myself, and that is what an eBook reader is - an indulgence. I can skip wildly through a field of bare bosomed books available to me from anywhere. I can rip open their tight bodices and preview to my hearts delight.