The kindle has a lot of great features:
- Comfortable form factor
- Read in full light
- Take notes while you read
- Highlight important passages
The Kindle is actually more comfortable to read than a regular book. It's easier to hold, and I find I can actually read faster. The ability to read in full light (reflection based display rather than ray based) is just a necessary prerequisite for everyday reading. It's the last two on the above list that make the Kindle a winner for me. When reading, I often want to highlight a passage or write a note, but I rarely have a pen and an extra paper with me. Plus, it takes too long to make an index so I know to what each of the notes refer. With the Kindle, you can type up notes, and they are hyperlinked into the text of the book. Also, you can export all the notes into a single file. That way, one can review the notes all in a row. I find that I remember more about books that I've read and reviewed than the ones I've only read. Thus, the ability to take notes and then review them in a summarized format is a huge gain in the efficiency of knowledge transfer.
What it is not (but could be):
- A web browsing device
- An app platform
I've read elsewhere that the reason the Kindle is not a good browsing device is because of the page refresh speed, this is patently false. Even in a 3G zone with full bars the data speed is horrendous. If the pages downloaded faster, the screen refresh would be fine.
The kindle is not currently an app platform, but could be. There are lots of great apps that could work for the kindle. For instance, it would also be good to have a timer app. But the apps I imaginatively favor would be educational - such as workbooks, crosswords, word searches, etc.
Conclusion
The Kindle, and e-ink in general are a huge step forward for the avid reader. Though I am excited about the future of apps on e-ink-reading devices, I believe these devices should be kept relatively simple for the time being. People need to get used to reading devices in a way that they can understand before embarking on more complicated applications. If the first set of smart phones were as capable as the current set, they might not have taken hold. Imagine it's 10 years ago and someone asks you, "What does an iPhone do?" Sometimes devices can be ahead of their time, the iPhone is right in it's time in the smartphone technology development, and I believe the Kindle is the same.
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