I received my Kindle 2 on Wednesday, February 25. First, this was a brilliant marketing and customer satisfaction tactic on Amazon’s part. I originally ordered the Kindle late last year and knew, from the product page, that it would be weeks before my order was delivered (the original proposed delivery date was in mid-March). It was to be a late Christmas present.
First it was announced on February 9 that they would start shipping on the 24th. Since I subscribe to the Prime 2-day shipping service, that meant that I would get mine on Thursday, February 26. However, on Monday the 23rd I received a mail telling me that mine had shipped and I would receive it on the 25th. I was thrilled! Then I thought how sharp this was: to be placed on a waiting list for months, then to have a date announced followed by the arrival a day before that. The anticipation washed away the memory of waiting.
I have now been using the Kindle 2 for 10 days. I am very satisfied with the purchase. Here is a list of pros and cons to date:
Pros
I like the size, weight, relative performance and ease of use for the act of reading. The non-reflective screen is wonderful, as I tend to read in rooms where the light always reflects badly when I read glossy magazines. The portability of my reading material has allowed me to read more often and more broadly. When I exercise on the elliptical machine, I find it easy to read with and enjoy having a variety of items to choose from, instead of having to decide before I exercise and then wish I’d picked something else to read.
The navigation buttons are clear and the menu is context sensitive (provides a different set of menu options depending where you are….inside a book, on the home page, in the Kindle store, etc.). The joystick takes a little getting used to, but is unobtrusive enough that it doesn’t feel like it’s in the way. The 16 scale grey electronic ink is very easy to read and easy on the eyes, which is important to me.
I am trying out the New York Times subscription and am enjoying it. I have observed that I do not go to my usual web news sites as much during the day or in the evening, except for current updates. Since the Times is delivered in the morning, staying current is the only real issue there. I tried the Seattle Times for a few days, but was unimpressed by their formatting compared to the New York Times.
I like the sample chapter service available from the Kindle Store. There does seem to be a bit of variability in the amount of sample made available, which sometimes means that, even after reading the sample, I don’t know if the title is one I’d invest in.
The battery life seems to be good. A friend of mine who owns a Kindle 1 advised me to keep the wireless turned off when I’m not specifically using it to save on the battery, so I have followed that advice. When I turn it on in the morning is when I sync it to receive updates and the New York Times.
Cons
The device is too expensive for broad adoption. In fact the price held me off from purchasing one before now. While the selection of content is broad, it is still a very small percentage of what is out there. I have spent some time on the Amazon site going through pages of books I’d like to see on Kindle and clicking the link to send that information to publishers.
There are some books, like the Bible, that are much more easily navigated with a physical book in hand than on the Kindle. Navigating periodicals is likewise a nuisance. One can go page by page through the article, use the joystick to go the next or previous article, or click on the “View Sections List” to go to a table of contents. Still, this is a version 2 device and I will expect this capability to improve with more user testing in future versions or software upgrades.
The prices of Kindle books should be lowered. While they average about $10, I cannot sell them back to a bookshop, which I regularly do with physical books. There are several books that I have in hard bound and paperback editions that I would like to have on my Kindle, but many of them are even higher priced that the average, some as high as $25 (if they are even available). That is too expensive for bits versus atoms.
Tests to come
I am enrolled in the Master of Communications in Digital Media program and the University of Washington. One of the next big tests for the Kindle is the availability of the texts for my class for spring quarter and how easily the annotation and highlighting tools work.
I look forward to my first long trip to test out the general convenience of the device and the concept on the road. Like many, I take a number of books with me when I travel, loathe as I am to run out of the things I wish to read. I may even be able to pack less which would really be nice.
Summary
Amazon has done a great job with the Kindle 2. Keeping the device targeted at reading and away from becoming a net book helps focus on the target audience and their habits. They should keep enhancing the reading experience, expanding the content available and making the entire package more affordable.
Stay tuned for my next review after spring quarter on what studying on the Kindle 2 was like.
12 Comments
I have had the kindle 1 since August and have taken it around the USA and to Africa. I have thoroughly enjoyed having all my reading material with me and have acquired lots of free books too. I found out the hard way one time that I need to take the charger with me on trips just in case. I flew to Oregon one time and on the way, I could not get it to turn on. I had fully charged it a couple of days before and called Amazon to figure out what was wrong since my Kindle was only a couple of months old. THey told me to charge it for awhile then it would be fine when i turned it on. Unfortunately, that trip, I had not taken the charger since I was only going to be gone overnight…I won’t travel again without the charger. It was a one time learned lesson.
Terrific post Jeff, and a real service to the community! I’ve been agonizing for months on whether to get a Kindle, especially for travel. I think I may hold off just a bit longer.
I borrowed my dad’s Kindle (v1) for my business trip last month and ended up not taking it for a couple of reasons.
1. PDF support was awful. After jumping through hoops to get it converted and delivered, the final version was horrid – it was a 2-page-up scan of a book chapter, and the Kindle rendered it exactly like that. 2-pages, sideways, without any decent zoom / move functionality. Since a lot of my trip readings were PDFs from COM 546, this was a no-go.
2. Same complain as Jeff – $10+ for a book is too much for me. I’m a library fan, myself, but wouldn’t mind paying a couple of books for a book on a trip. For that price, though, I’ll buy the paperback and pack it along.
Thank you for this post since I have been debating on getting one to curve my physical book addiction. I have online bookstore that allows me to sell new and used books.
One of the big sells for me is the traveling light ability so that I do not have to carry so many books when I travel abroad or nationally.
I will check out the features based on your recommendations.
Thanks again
Thanks for the review, Jeff. Per our conversation Friday night, I think the point about DRM (inability to sell books after reading) is a major sticking point. I don’t know if the DRM decision is Amazon’s or the book publisher or the author. Anyone?
I was impressed with the form factor of Kindle2, compared to Kindle1. I have heard additional kudos, such as being able to read at night in bed without bothering a light-sensitive partner! 🙂
I’m still on the fence and, as I wrote last week, worry about the possibility of “newspapers” using devices like the Kindle and mobile phones as their sole distribution method because they can charge $ for the content.
Thanks Jeff for bringing the Kindle 2 to show-and-tell in class on Tuesday! The text display is pretty amazing!
I’m thinking about Kathy’s comment above about newspapers using Kindle. In the Journalism on the Brink forum two weeks ago (http://flipthemedia.com/index.php/2009/03/journalism-on-the-brink-video/), one of the attendees brought up the idea of having libraries assist in the distribution of news. Library are tax-payer funded, already administer aggregate content and can be hyper-local in serving their community (or not!) Libraries have high public trust as well. By keeping their current distribution model (expiration of content, levels of renewal availability), they could maintain the existing level of competition with companies like Amazon. Also, it would help keep news from being held captive.
Kindle should be a great partner with publishers, including magazines and newspapers. It may impact the future of the publishing industry and related industries.
A couple questions:
1. Do the books carry a serial number, or digital signature?
2. Is it possible to sell your copy of a book to another Kindal owner?
3. Are your books backed up by Amazon in a similar way that iTunes maintains a download list?
4. Are books available for download from third parties?
5. How many formats are supported?
I would like to see a “second-hand” digital book store before I buy one of the devices.
Thanks! Before that, I’ve never heard of such tools. I will probably think about getting a kindle. Because I’be been enjoy travelling while reading some nice books, that will make my luggage lighter and my trip more easier.
I do every single task in my life with my computer but when it comes to ‘reading’, I mostly prefer old print technology. I am so glad to hear your experience with kindle and already curious for your future posts about it. I, as a consumer, am looking forward to affordable ‘wireless reading device’ and hoping it will replace the old technology. I love these disruptive innovations!
I just got the kindle 2 but had been reading books on my iphone for a couple of days before it arrived. I am not very overwhelmed out the gate but I have not actually begun reading on it yet. I am not sure if I got the device because I thought it was worth the investment or if I am just really into gadgets. I have enjoyed reading on my iphone and I love listening to audio books. That is what caught my attention about the kindle 2, audio reading.
Thank you for the great post on Kindle! Though I have yet to see the Kindle up close. Being in Asia it’s was just fundamentally harder for me to get my hands on english books and the Kindle would be a great substitute to buying books with insane shipping rates.