1st kindle book completion

I know I forgot to write about this, but I got my kindle about a month ago (YEA!). I was super stoked, and was anxious to try it out. One of the reasons was because I was ready for Twilight book #4 (Breaking Dawn) and was not thrilled about carrying around a 5-6-700 page book. The Kindle was going to facilitate my frivolous (but so addicting!) reading choice.

To start, I read book #1 in less than 48 hours. Book #2 took about a week and a half, and by #3, I was burnt out. I trudged through the darn thing, and felt like I might throw up if I had to read anymore about vampires et. al. After a hiatus, book #4 wasn't too bad. Actually I may like it the most. I really enjoyed the new dynamic of the Cullen family, but that is all I will say so as to not ruin it if you.

What I did want to write about is the experience of reading on the kindle itself.
Pros:

• Like I said before, I really enjoyed having the book in a more portable form. I could easily fit it into my school bag, diaper bag, or purse, and I didn't feel like I was carrying around a brick.
  
• I also liked that it always kept track of where I was in the book
• The dictionary feature is nice (though I didn't use it much in this book) as is the wikipedia function
• I only had to recharge the kindle 2 (maybe 3) times throughout the entire book. I mostly had the wireless feature turned off, and that obviously helps.
  

Cons:

• I couldn't easily go back to something I had read a few pages or chapters before. I suppose I could have used the "bookmark" feature, but sometimes you don't know you want to re-read something until you read something else. That was a little disheartening.
  
• Even though at the bottom of the screen has a "progress indicator" I wasn't really sure how far I was in the book. Of course, it was the first book and I had nothing to compare it to, so I imagine this won't be much of an issue in the future.
  
• I did miss a teensy bit having a physical book in my hands. The feel of the paper between my fingers, the smell, the way it gets "broken in" as you tote it around with you everywhere you go. I did miss it- BUT! having a library with me wherever I go is so...enthralling!

Some things I plan to experiment more with in the future are the annotation and highlighting capabilities- something I hope to find useful for our book club selections!

Well, if you are intrigued by the kindle at all, I just found out that Amazon just started pre-order for the Kindle DX, a text book edition that is the size of a standard sheet of paper. The device is targeted at the student/academia population, and is going to be field tested soon at a few universities. They added a few addtional functions, but from what I could gather, it looks like a bigger version of the K2, larger screen, more memory, and pdf reader capabilities. At $489, I am glad I went with the K2 :)

Kindle 2 Madness

It is here! To mark its release (Feb. 24) I am writing a post as an ode to this newest technological sensation that is plaguing my every waking thought (well, not quite...). If you don't know anything about the Kindle, you need to go check it out here. 1,500 books at your fingertips, a little over 1/3 of an inch thin, 10.2 ounces, and the capability to connect wirelessly to the internet with no monthly charges. I know, I probably sound like some shameless plug, and I just can't help it. I want one badly. Those who know me, know that I am a voracious reader, and lover of technology (well, maybe that last part is a stretch...). Anyway, I have justified the $359 expense for the last...hmm....9 months? I have insisted on less for my birthday, christmas, V-Day...any conceivable holiday with gift-giving involved, I have opted for less in hopes that I will someday (soon?) be able to experience the next generation of e-readers. I'm hoping that when I have a guaranteed job for next year that this purchase can be made... sigh...