For what its worth:
There are different schools of advertising targetted at different audiences.
There is brand-image advertising (pretty much what this ad seems to be aiming for).
There is spec-sheet advertising; Sony's ad and pretty much every late night infomercial.
There is lifestyle advertising; Apple's usual approach for iPhone.
There is bash the opposition advertising, if you have nothing to say about your product.
And then there is the product awareness ad to draw the attention of the audience at any price.
The difference between brand image and product awareness is slight and mostly is one about subtlety. Product awareness is about the product; the car, the TV, whatever. Not the brand, not the customer.
The Kindle ad is pretty straightforward; You see the Kindle upfront, you see how Kindle is supposed to make you (the target audience: young working women) feel.
Its not a guy ad.
Its not a techie ad; techies *know* about Kindle.
Likewise, it is not an Oprah-viewer ad; those people already know about Kindle.
It is a very specific ad aimed at a very specific audience.
Not being part of that demographic I can't judge its effectiveness but I *can* tell who its aimed at and what it is selling; Kindle as a road to (literary) adventure for women 20-35.
Which, if you look at reports of Kindle sales demographics, is actually a good target as Kindle sales seem to skew more "Cadillac" than "Scion" in car terms.
It is an... interesting... approach.
For a more male-focused, techie-friendly ad, there is always this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPdXBqCRp04
Different audience, different intent, no?