IT'S AWESOME! No one should be without one.
Let's get the negatives out of the way--they're minor and quick.
- If you're going to the beach or the pool or outdoors, bring a plastic ziploc to protect the device from the elements. (No biggie.)
- If you are just running around doing errands, you can't really just leave your book on the seat in the car--your run-around paperback is now worth $300. And don't leave it on the table at the restaurant, or the counter at the store, etc...
- The only medical journal available so far is the New England Journal of Medicine. I'm sure this will change, though. Journal reading would be the PERFECT use of this device. WHY aren't publishers all over this?!
- Related: why, why, why aren't .pdfs better supported? They're not bad, but it costs money if you want Amazon to convert the .pdf and send it wirelessly to your device. You can convert it free, but to avoid the delivery charge (admittedly nominal) you have to upload it to the device via USB cable.
- Detailed graphics (e.g. charts, medical images) are hard to view. If I really needed to read a chart from a NEJM article I'd have to go online.
Now for just some of the positives:
- Instant access to something I actually want to read (rather than whatever happens to be laying around--which occasionally is nothing, and frequently is some crap I don't really care about.)
- Related: I haven't found anyplace that didn't have connection to the (Whispernet) wireless provider.
- The books are cheap--NYT bestsellers are $10, classic books are free (I'm reading the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.) However: BEWARE OF IMPULSE BUYING! The library is still a better value.
- Related: you can buy Kindle stuff from the website, and it gets sent to your device wherever it is. (I bought a medical ethics text the other day from a computer at work, and when I got home, there it was on my Kindle!)
- Read in any position--turning pages is never fumbly, the book never accidentally shuts.
- Easy on the eyes--font sizes scale across a big range of sizes. Text is as crisp & clear as you could wish (see caveat above about graphics.)
- Battery life is insanely long--the thing draws NO POWER except when you change the page (assuming wireless is off.) I took it to Disney and left the power cord home. I read quite a bit there, came home with more than half the battery left.
Do you really need more? Well, I'm sleepy and want to read my Kindle before I nod off. So tough noogies.
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2 comments:
Thos, you've ruined my day! I wanted to hate this thing and I think you've convinced me to get one. I get most of my books and magazines in PDF form so this thing (or something like it) is probably a good idea.
Most of the diagrams are line drawings which I doesn't sound like it's a problem to read.
Thanks!
So sorry! But there may be hope...diagrams may be hard to see.
Of course, there's the Kindle DX, but now you're getting into big money.
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