The Long Awaited Kindle 2 Review

Some of you may recall that, approximately one year ago, I received Amazon’s Kindle 2 e-reader for Christmas. Now that I’ve been using the reader for nearly a year, I feel I know enough about the instrument, its functions and how I use it to share my impressions and opinions. I will divide my critique into two sections, Pros and Cons, then give a brief conclusion. I’ll begin by listing some Pros, good points and advantages that I’ve found in using the Kindle 2 reader.

PROS
There are several features I like very much about this e-reader. The most obvious of these is having hundreds of books right at hand in one compact, lightweight container. For someone whose work and living spaces have overflowed with books all of my life, this is a very attractive feature. Another feature I like is that many classic works are available at low cost, or even free (as I will point out in the next section, however, book prices are not an entirely consistent benefit). For example, I bought the complete works of Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain and some others, for under $5.00 apiece – some for only $2.00 – $3.00. I also like the fact that books can be purchased and delivered quickly, via the Kindle itself, or via computer (with no pesky sales taxes or shipping charges). Most deliveries take less than a minute via wireless connection (I believe Amazon uses the Sprint-Nextel network). Software upgrades are also delivered wirelessly. The Kindle’s text display is easy on the eyes – black type on a light gray background, and the font sizes are easily adjusted. If you prefer reading blogs, newspapers and magazines, rather than books, plenty of those are also available, with monthly subscription fees.

I’ll close this section with some logistical points. First, the Kindle 2′s battery life is pretty good (mine goes 6-7 days between charges), and one can continue reading while the machine re-charges. Also, backup copies of one’s library are stored at Amazon. So, if one deletes a book, then decides to reload it later, that’s easily done. A relatively new feature that I’ve not used much yet is a computer to Kindle synchronization feature. If one reads something on one’s Kindle, then, sometime later, wants to read the same book on the computer (or vice versa), both machines can be synchronized so that the book will open to exactly where one left off at the last reading. This bookmarking feature also works within the Kindle; one does not have to thumb through the pages to find one’s place – it is electronically bookmarked. One of my favorite features is the built-in New Oxford English dictionary. This is very easy to use; one simply places the cursor in front of the word one wants to look up and the definition appears at the bottom of the display. One can also navigate from that point to the dictionary for a more complete entry about the word. Another feature that is nice, but slightly awkward to use, is the search function. One can search the Kindle (or the Kindle store at Amazon) by typing the search term on the miniature keyboard located at the bottom of the machine.

Having covered some of the Kindle’s good features, I’ll discuss some of its weaknesses next. Please bear in mind that I am discussing only the Kindle 2 – not the Kindle 1 or the newer Kindle DX. Some of the features (good and bad) that I’m discussing here may not apply as readily to the other models.

CONS
Two weaknesses that I find with the Kindle 2 are its inability to display color graphics, and its iffy support for graphics generally, particularly tables, charts and the like. Some illustrations display adequately and others are useless – they’re entirely too small to read. This latter drawback is more serious, in my opinion, than the lack of color display. Nevertheless, upon learning that Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth had numerous color illustrations that I didn’t want to miss, I skipped the Kindle version and bought the hard-cover version instead.

I mentioned above that Kindle’s pricing is not a consistently attractive feature. Most recent publications sell for $9.99 (or, sometimes $7.00 and above), which is a lot considering the fact that electronic books don’t require paper, glue, covers, shipping boxes, etc. Also, scholarly works for the Kindle often don’t sell for much less than their paper & glue counterparts. Since overstock books are frequently at lower prices than the electronic books, I often buy whichever book is less expensive, which is not always the Kindle book. Another drawback to the Kindle 2 is its high price – currently $259.00 USD, not including the costs of literature (one can buy some books with the initial purchase, so that the Kindle will come out of the box with some pre-loaded literature all ready for one to read).

One good feature that is awkward to use is the “search” feature. This is a great idea, but the keyboard at the bottom of the machine is very small – even smaller than that on many cell phones, so typing errors are frequent and frustrating. I’ve also had two or three instances in which the machine has “frozen” to the point where I’ve had difficulty re-booting it. These have been breathtaking occasions when I’ve wondered whether I would be able to resuscitate the machine or would end up burying it someplace nasty. These are not pleasant experiences (I’ve endured too many computer crashes to take these events too lightly).

The final features that I’ll discuss here are the “highlighting” and “comments” features, which are supposed to allow one to mimic the underlining and margin notation practices in which many readers engage. The difficulty I find with these features is that there are only two ways to retrieve one’s notes. First, by physically going through the book again, or second, by going to an area called “My Clippings” where the notes are stored. I find it cumbersome to navigate through “My Clippings,” (and the books too – perhaps I just need to master the “search” function better) so I don’t do much highlighting or note-taking on the Kindle anymore. If I want to “clip” something, I just type it into a computer file and save it there. Another reason I don’t use the highlighting feature is my discovery that, if the battery is getting low, trying to highlight a passage is a good way to freeze the machine.

CONCLUSION
I like using my Kindle 2, but I haven’t abandoned paper & glue books yet. I’ve taken the Kindle on trips within the USA and have loved its lightweight, easy portability. Nevertheless, I will not be taking the Kindle to Italy this spring (although the deacon intends to take his). For that trip, I’m just more comfortable with the idea of buying some paperbacks to read on planes, trains, etc. If I leave a $7.99 paperback behind, I won’t miss it much. In fact, I may leave it behind intentionally once I’ve read it. I won’t feel the same way if I leave my Kindle behind.

I imagine that electronic books will be the norm in the future. Shortcomings of current readers will be corrected and improvements to the technology will continue to develop. One day, perhaps even within my lifetime, it is likely that paper & glue books will be antique pieces, much like vinyl records and record players are today. Until that time, I’ll keep straddling the fence between both types of books and taking advantage of the particular strengths of each medium.

– the chaplain

Advertisement