Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Kindle isn't "Free, Perfect, and Now" -- but it's close: 5 stars!

The Kindle is thinner than I expected from the photos and videos -- about 1/2 inch tapering down to almost 1/4 inch -- and very comfortable to hold. The screen legibility is excellent, indoors and outdoors, from almost any angle -- but you do need a booklight at night. Given that the e-Ink technology probably doesn't allow a touchscreen at this stage, the "bar cursor" really does work well for selection. The keyboard is very small, but it still beats my Blackberry. It took only seconds to add a 2GB SD card and increase the capacity to 1,800 books. (Note: Amazon says SDHC cards "may not be completely supported", though SD cards up to 4GB are supposed to work.)

A lot of the reviews remind me of the book "Free, Perfect, and Now" which describes one CEO's efforts to meet customer's desires (it's available on Kindle, BTW). The Kindle isn't free, but it's a great VALUE for those of us who need or want ready access to books, newspapers and information on the Web. The Kindle isn't perfect, but it's amazingly GOOD for a first product version (one of my favorite aphorisms: "the perfect is the enemy of the good"). The Kindle IS and delivers NOW in so many ways. I'm just glad I discounted the early reviews from people who had never seen one, and ordered a Kindle NOW before they sold out on the first day!

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