Just got my Kindle 2 from Amazon.com today: my first, after not having been at all curious about the first Kindle.

To summarize some of the points of this Kindle:

• About the size of a larger paperback book, but very thin. Comfortable fit in my hand, but maybe not for people with smaller hands.
• Screen is very nice, easy on the eyes, refreshes at an acceptable rate for reading books (but not for anything else). All of my friends try to touch the screen. No, it is not an iPhone – it does not have touchscreen. 8 colors of grey.
• Has a number of buttons, but they feel a little cheap and are hard to press. I’m pretty sure I’ll break one of them.
• The Kindle Whispernet is solid – it’s almost too easy to buy books (the device came preconfigured and directly connected to my Amazon.com credit card).
• Long battery life, but battery is not removable (unlike Kindle 1).
• No expandable memory storage (unlike Kindle 1).
• Thin, but also large. Too much wasted white space, but looks okay overall.
• Can’t flip through the pages like a real book. Actually forces you to read.
• Has a web browser! But pretty bad – web browsers need much faster refresh.
• Text-to-speech is terrible. They should have just left this out. Low volume, robotic quality, very slow.
• Can upload documents to it through e-mail (10 cents each) or for free via included USB cable.
• Can upload PDFs to it after conversion with software such as PocketMobi.
• $359 for the Kindle only. Books are a few dollars cheaper than their normal prices, except for the $3 Stephen King exclusive, UR. Should probably also get a case for it, which is around $30. Definitely not cheap for a book reader.

Altogether, the Kindle is nice for reading, but it’s not one of the multifunction devices that we’ve gotten accustomed to. Get it if you normally carry your paperback novels but want an eletronic alternative that can download books anytime, (just about) anywhere. (People in the Midwest don’t fare so well with coverage – See Coverage Map).

The Kindle 2 is not “cool” and “hip” technology. It draws curiosity, but usually because people are thinking, “what the heck is that giant white thing?” I can upload my class readings onto it, but I’ll more likely return it or gift it.

XKCD:Kindle