Three weeks with a Kindle.

I've had an Amazon Kindle, latest generation, for about three weeks. What is a Kindle, you ask? It's an e-Ink reader which means it mimics paper and ink pretty well. A very cool thing about e-Ink is that the reader only uses power when you turn a page or move the cursor. So when you're reading, no power. That means you can use a Kindle for like three weeks without charging it.

I have to say reading on the Kindle is easy on the eyes. Yes, it takes like half a second for the page to refresh, but if you time it just right you can hit the page turn button when you have two lines left and by the time you're done reading and at the top of the page, the refresh has happened.

It's also light enough to hold in one hand, either sitting or lying down. It's not a shiny or slippery plastic so fingerprints don't show up and it's easy to read on the train while keeping one hand on the pole.

So that's great. You can also buy books through Amazon.com and it's not a bad selection. What does get me is the price for books. There are eBooks priced at $10 when the paperback is $15. Now, why would I pay $10 for an eBook that I can't loan, can't back up (because of the DRM), and can be yanked back by Amazon at any time? So either, they up the features of a book when you pay $10 or somehow discount it. You know what would be awesome? A Netflix for books.

Well, what about the library you ask? Good question. The Calgary Public Library has a sizeable eBook collection and it's available in the popular .epub format. Unfortunately, to read these books on my Kindle, I download the eBook, strip the DRM, convert it into the correct format, and then put it onto my Kindle. This process involves a PC and a Mac, and emailing myself the books. Not ideal, but it's a ready source of free books that I will read once.

You can also leave notes in the text for yourself with the keyboard or bookmarks where you left off.

My only other major complaint is the file directory system. When you plug the Kindle into your computer (and it's not synced to your computer which is nice, unlike iPhones and iPods) the file structure opens and you place your books in the documents folder. Unfortunately, that folder system does not show up on your Kindle. If you want any sort of organization to your Kindle and don't want to scroll through your books, you make collections. Except there is no quick way to add them to collections. You have to physically go to each book and add it to the relevant collection. Lame.

I love my Kindle and would recommend it for those interested in reading books electronically. When I'm reading with it, I feel like I live in the FUTURE. Seriously, I named my Kindle PADD. The e-Ink is great, the form factor comfy, and the selection of books is good. But here's a caveat. If you want to read eBooks from the library, get a reader that handles them. The Kobo, Nook, and Sony eReaders all can. But they do offer a subpar experience. I've seen the Kobo and Sony eReader and I'm glad I went with a Kindle.

Last, you can now gift Kindle books. Hint hint.