I’ve had my Kindle DX for a couple months now. Here are some of my thoughts so far.
If is definitely too pricey. But because I’ve been experimenting with an e-text version of Reading the Old Testament for years now, I felt I needed to get some experience with this new delivery technology.
I love it for reading fiction. I’m a fan of procedural thrillers the likes of Michael Connelly (though his most recent work lacks the old punch and compelling character development) and Robert Crais. No need to keep books like these laying around when you are done, and saves a trip to the library. Delivery of these books from Amazon is virtually instantaneous. Those that are not new releases are $6.39.
I’m really surprised at how fast I can read from the Kindle. This is subjective, haven’t made a quantitative study of it, but my impression is that my mind is so attuned to the format and font right now that the medium does not interfere with absorbing the content. Right now I attribute it to that fact that every book, no matter who publishes it, appears in exactly the same font, page size, and page layout. The mind doesn’t need to adjust to every new format.
Keeping my place was never easier. When I stop reading and turn the device off, then next day turn it on, it goes directly to the page I was on. The lack of page numbers took only a little getting used to. Instead there are line numbers, and position is indicated as a percent of the total number of lines. I used to get a sense of reading progress by feeling the bulk of pages between thumb and index fingers. Very tactile. But seeing 90%, then 95%, etc. is becoming just as satisfying.
NY Times “Does the Brain Like E-Books?”
USA Today “School chooses Kindle; are libraries for the history ‘books’?”
EDUCAUSE “E-Books for Academe: A Study from Gettysburg College”