: Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Rating: - Love the Kindle
I have been using my kindle for a little over a month now. I really like being able to read anything I want on demand. I live out in the country and was worried about picking up a signal, but that has not been a problem. The only complaint I have is about holding the device. I frequently hit the page forward button by accident. I guess this is one of those things that takes time getting used to. I enjoy not having books cluttering up the house and saving paper as well. I would highly recommend this product!

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Rating: - Disappointed - but hopeful
My wife bought me a Kindle for my birthday - and I know that she was excited to give me such an innovative gift. I love gadgets and because I travel a lot - she thought that the Kindle was perfect for me. I could carry several books in a small space - download from the web - it sounded great!!

I opened it yesterday and within about 10 minutes of playing with it I knew that it just wasn't ready for prime time.

1. Ironically, like other reviewers, I found that reading the instructions that automatically load on the Kindle was harder than reading the printed instructions that came with it.....that was my first clue!!!

2. The amazingly irritating screen "pop" that, although probably meant to simulate turning a page,is more like a blinking light, and as I flipped back and forth between pages it sometimes took a few seconds - which, given that at this point I had downloaded nothing into it - did not look promising for when it was fully loaded!!!

3. As other reviewers pointed out - the design is cumbersome - the keys at the bottom are hard to read - and the "next page" buttons are VERY badly located - I turned the page three or four times by accident just picking up the Kindle!!! Getting back to the right page took a few moments - much longer than going forward - which seems ridiculous!!

4. As I travel on planes a lot - it seemed like the compact design would be great. Then as I realized that the airlines are decades behind the real world in understanding that using electronic devices does not interfere with the plane's navigation system - it dawned on me that at times when I would most like to read from the Kindle - I would be reminded by the Flight Attendant that electronic devices must be switched off after the doors are closed!!!! So, I would literally be unable to use it during the extended wait times before take off!!!

5. I like to read in the bath and while eating - the prospect of reading through a zip-lock bag did not appeal to me!!

6. As it was a gift I was not aware of the price of the Kindle. At $359 it is too expensive - probably $100 too much. If the display was in color - note to Amazon - some good books are illustrated - not to mention magazines etc.

7. The selection of books although extensive, over 10,000 titles - the list is missing some significant content. Other reviewers have discussed this also.

So, I am disappointed - I had hoped that the Kindle would live up to its hype. It's current version (1.0) doesn't do that. BUT --- it has promise and I'll probably look seriously at Version 2 or 3.

Amazon, nice try. The Kindle has a lot of potential - keep working on it.

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Rating: - Awesome
It's like carrying my bookshelf around I have already purchased books I have read already just to be able to carry them around and show people. I do believe you need to add more reference books like sports encyclopedias and baseball card and coin price guides these books are so large but they would be awesome on the kindle also just a dictionary and encyclopedia versions. Overall great Job looking forward for new releases added.

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Rating: - Best Toy
This is the best adult toy ever made to date. Easy to use. Charges fast and last long.

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Rating: - What a convenience the Kindle is
I recently bought a Kindle and am very happy with it. When I heard Steve on the video saying that wireless downloads of books take 30 seconds or less, I remember thinking, "He's full of it." Boy, was a surprised! Less than 30 seconds was right. I couldn't believe it. Downloads on my computer can take an hour!

I like to go on ocean cruises, and I bought the Kindle mainly so that I could have lots of books to read without having to lug them on a flight to get to the ship. It's wonderful! Now I can do the same thing I do at home and be reading several books at a time, without having to carry them all. Before I used to wind up leaving books on the ship because I simply didn't have the room in my luggage to bring them home. With the Kindle, I don't have to worry about that.

The only downside to the Kindle, and something Amazon may wish to address for any future upgrades, is to move the buttons for next and previous. I don't know where to ... your engineers would have to figure that one out. But where they are currently located, it is very easy to hit one of the buttons by mistake and flip your page. No big deal, but it can get annoying.

Of course, like others, I would like to see color on a future Kindle release. I realize the technology is not out there yet for color, but when it is, it would be nice ... especially for books that have photos in them.

As I said, I consider the Kindle to be one of the best purchases I've made in a long, long time. It's wonderful.

--rita m. ippoliti
Happy Kindle Owner