My wife gave me an Amazon Kindle for Fathers' Day. By this time the initial excitement has worn off so I can comment calmly, and it's a break from real-time, so...

I spend more time reading the newspaper on it than reading books. I like getting the newspaper delivered in a format that's easy to carry around in the morning, and with no advertising clutter. The only newspaper I get on the Kindle is the New York Times, but I could get a mountain of them. I think I could have the paper edition of the NYT delivered the morning it's printed, but I don't think everyone could, and I'm sure most of the papers I can get on the Kindle aren't available for local delivery in the Pittsburgh suburbs. I can get many newspapers online, but they're cluttered with bothersome ads, and even a laptop is nowhere near as easy to carry around and read as the Kindle. The newspaper thing is a huge advantage of the Kindle that doesn't seem to be emphasized in most reviews.

I've read a few books on the Kindle. If I had more time for recreational reading I'd probably buy and read more. There's a problem here that most people don't seem to notice. Books on the Kindle are less expensive than their physical competition, but the Kindle is expensive and it doesn't seem especially rugged. If I lose the Kindle or get it wet or step on it, it will cost hundreds of dollars to replace. Books can stand a lot of abuse, and if I break one (perhaps by getting it soaking wet) I can replace most books for less than $25. The Kindle is light, and small enough to put in a big pocket, but a paperback is about the same weight and I can put it in my back pocket and sit on it. with no worry.

I want to make my book about the RTSJ available on the Kindle, but I don't think I can. The book is full of figures, tables, and code. I could simplify it into something that would fit the Kindle's formatting language, but it would lose a lot. I could also make each page into an image and publish it that way, but then it would be unreadable on the Kindle's small screen. It would be nice if the Kindle had a screen the size of normal technical books and was good at displaying PDF. But, if its little e-paper screen cost $200 (as I've read), we'll have to wait a while before a screen that would display my book (6 x 9 would be nice) will be reasonably priced. Technical text books probably have the same problems as my book, plus a lot of them use color; I don't think color e-paper is commercially available yet.

Although the Kindle's keyboard can attach marginal notes to books, it's not ready for active reading. I need to be able to write on the page with text and lines, and I need to be able to do it without breaking my stream of thought. The Kindle's minimal keyboard is nowhere close to enough.

My wife wants one too. She's probably the exact type of person for whom the Kindle was designed. She inhales books, sometimes several per week. The Kindle would let her carry a pile of books in her purse, and get more books in seconds without paying for shipping or driving to a store.

I like the resizable text. I usually set it to one of its smaller sizes, but when the light is poor or my eyes feel tired, I can push the size up to huge.

In summary:

• It is the best way to read the newspapers. The only possible downside is that you couldn't clip coupons from the Kindle, but I don't do that from physical papers so it's no loss for me.
• It doesn't seem to be ready for technical material yet. Its screen and formatting are too limited, and it doesn't support active reading well enough.
• It seems perfect for heavy consumers of light reading.
• It's easy to use. My mother is in her eighties and is a bit leary about cell phones, but I would not rule out a Kindle for her.