Looks nice. Have you seen xkcd's comic about the kindle? http://xkcd.com/548/ amusing :)

Do you have a link so I can see if my textbooks are available?

Can you transfer pdf/other format books from your pc to the kindle or are you locked into the wireless amazon system?

Whats the range like of Downloadable books?

i like the idea but i might wait until third party makers step in, competition will bring the price down of the unit and the book price a lot i think. I detest DRM heavy and locked in to a particular format/source media items.

I'm seriously considering buying one, so please excuse the questions.

Is it comfortable to hold? In some of the pictures it looks like all the buttons on the front make it inconvenient.

Have you tried the PDF converter yet? I hear it doesn't read PDFs, but you can convert them for 10 cents.

@sean

That's probably the biggest thing holding me back.

I have tons of PDFs I'd like to use. Honestly, I don't really care if it wants to covert them, but in my experience, converting PDFs usually results in a mess.

It just seems too expensive I think. It's not like the main cost of a book is the stuff it's made out of, they still cost a lot even digitally. If it was DRM free and removed publishers from the equation, allowing people to sell books at their own price, maybe it'd become more economical. Problem is the hardware is probably subsidised by the book costs, so it'll take even longer for something like this to be DRM free

Anything like this makes me sigh sadly, and be pleased at the same time. An odd reaction you might say. Here's why:

Personally, I love books. I am a voracious reader, and tend to devour books very rapidly - sometimes three or more books in a week. Yet the thought of reading off a screen fills me with horror! What about the feel and texture of a book, the old musty smell, or just the pleasure of having the ability to pick up an old book off a shelf and re-read a good one. I spend all day at work reading off the screen - doing it off a screen at home or on the commute... well, my eyes would go square! Also, staring at a screen for too long gives me headaches.

Despite saying all that, I realise that there are people out there who will get into reading because of the technology, so I won't begrudge the development. I just hope it doesn't kill off the book!

Abgemacht: http://www.amazon.com/kindle and you can browse the selection.

as for comfortable to hold: yes and no. If you only use one hand, and don't have anything to rest it on, your arm will get tired. If you use both hands and/or have something to rest on... it's very comfortable. All the buttons seem to be very excellently placed. The only nitpick I have is the five way toggle button is a little bit hard to push up or down rapidly. You don't need to do that often (ever?) when reading though, so it's not a big deal.

Sean: I believe you have to email pdfs to the kindle and they'll be converted for 10 cents. I haven't tried though. You _can_ store the book files on your computer though, and transfer them over the usb cable (included). I'm running windows XP and it recognized it as a standard usb flash drive, and it's very obvious where I would put the .amz files. You also have the option of downloading the books straight to your computer instead of straight to the kindle. Easy peasy.

as for the range of books, you'd have to look through the link I gave above. So far the only thing that I would like to get that I can't is a spanish newspaper. Every book I've looked for I've found easily.

And yes, I hate the DRM too... sadly, I'm pretty sure the DRM is why publishers are willing to have their books converted to Amazon's format though... they still have control. So, I'm not too bummed out about it.

kestas: I thought so too at first. Then I thought about it... if I buy 30 bestsellers... that's about $300 saved. They're half price. I'm SURE I'll buy more books than that.

cgwhite: Oh I know exactly what you mean. A small part of me died when I started reading and didn't get to feel or smell (mmm, old book smell) the book. As for the screen: this one is different. Really. It doesn't refresh like a traditional screen does... it's more like staring at an etch-a-sketch. There's no backlight, and you have to use a traditional lighting source to read it. You almost feel like you're reading straight off a page.

RBerenguel: oh yeah, I completely forgot about that... I love xkcd.

I didn't say this either: the built in web browser is very basic, and does not have javascript, java, or flash support. Which means you can't play diplomacy on it (first thing I checked!). Wikipedia access rules though, and so does fast googling. The free wireless is seriously one of the best features.

in fact, holy crap: I just read an xkcd post on my Kindle! <3

seems a bit rich, amazon charging me to convert my pdf's so i can read them on MY kindle!

but yes im sure the price of the dl books...about $10? is subsiding the price of the Kindle, but look at the rate MP3 players dropped in price over the last 5 years so im sure the Kindle unit and book price will come down quickly.

that said my next big electronic purchase is already decided- want to get great speakers for my pc and my laptop is 5 years old, need to think about getting a new one.

Chalks, I'm not sure where in the world you live, but when you said this:

"Then I thought about it... if I buy 30 bestsellers... that's about $300 saved. They're half price. I'm SURE I'll buy more books than that."

I thought: Join a local library... It's free, and you have thousands of books to read. My local one is very good, and I can take books out of any of 18 libraries in our London Borough or request them. It's also just been refurbed, with nice coffee machines and good lighting, and you can take 10 books out at a time!

How big are the files for the books? I mean, how many books can you store on the kindle, and how big would an 'average' classic like a Hardy or George Eliot be to store on a reader/computer?

I did join a local library. I promptly read all the sci-fi they had, and I now owe them $40 or so. Way to return books. >.<

File size: the whole Bible, NIV is 4.5 MB
Isaac Asimov's Prelude to Foundation, 335 KB

They're small. 1.4GB free space = 700 - 1000 books? Something like that.

I think the Kindle is a great concept, but I'm with sean. I hope it doesn't kill books, and I'll be waiting for third parties to come in and for prices to drop.

I'm not willing to jump through the early high price hurdle for the Kindle and it strikes me that they're holding out on us. They could totally fit more than 1.4GB on that thing, even though most of us would never use that much, and they could totally sell books for far cheaper. I definitely think the price will drop significantly in a couple of years for both the Kindle and for the books they're selling, and at that point I might consider buying a Kindle.

you're probably right. In fact, I'm sure you're right. I didn't want to wait a few years though. :)