The Kindle 2

Here's a little story about a boy named Edge
He bought his wife a Kindle (2) as an anniversary gift.

When it arrived he saw how incredibly cool it was
So he went back to Amazon and got himself one.

When his wife found out, at first she laughed
But then said she would rather that he hadn't.

For you see, she was going to get him one as a gift
So with her he made a deal and she paid for it.

So now they both have their Kindle 2's
And they both read ebooks, emagazines, and enews.

They both are very happy with the gifts they have
Just don't interrupt their reading, else they may get mad.

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Image by Zach Klein via Flickr

Yeah, weak. I started writing this as a regular post, but the first sentence came out like the first line of the theme song to The Beverly Hillbillies.

I did, in fact, get a Kindle 2 last week (Monday to be precise) and I have to admit that I am in love with the device. As all geeks know, tech is meant to make our lives easier, and to make the inconvenient convenient. The Kindle 2 does just that; makes my life easier and more convenient.

I love reading, but I hate carrying books. Some people love the way books feel and smell. They would get their literature no other way. Me, on the other hand, love epaper. I love the concept of having hundreds or thousands of books at my fingertips on a device as thin as a #2 pencil and the size of a medium paperback. That the Kindle 2 has Internet access turns it into something akin to a true Hitchhiker's Guide (as comic xkcd.com pointed out). We even used it as such on the very first day my wife had hers.

We were on our way to Siegelman's of Houston in Conroe. Being from Chicago, I wanted to have the first Vienna Beff Chicago Dog in Houston. We set out to Conroe, but apparently made a wrong turn and ended up in Cut-n-Shoot. Geekwife pulled out her Kindle 2 and looked up the place on Google. We then used Google Maps to get us there. Very cool!

Today, I used it to look up the origins of Spam. A co-worker was telling me that the origins were in military use, but I disputed this, remembering it was a consumer product sold as Hormel's Spiced Ham back in 1937. So, instead of using my computer to look it up and then have to have him come over and stand behind me, I used the Kindle 2 to look it up and pull up the wiki page. I found the info and handed it over to him so he could read it.

Yes, it amazed him just as it amazes every single person who sees it.

What was the first book I read on it? I was going to read The Hitchhiker's Guide on it, but instead decided on reading Sunken Treasure by Wil Wheaton (a MUST READ if you're a geek of any true geekness). If you know what a 20d is, who Wesley Crusher is, and anything at all about fark.com, then you need to read his book. It's very well written, funny, geeky, and funny. Did I say it was funny? It's available on lulu.com for $5 for the ebook version. I highly recommend it.

Back to the Kindle 2. It's a device that, like TiVo or the iPod, has really changed my quality of life. I am able to read newspapers once again (without having to deal with the bulk, the ink, and the recycling nightmare) and I'm able to read novels, other books, and classics. Heck, I have everything ever written by Poe, Kafka, Melville, and Heinlein (among others) on it already, and the number of ebooks rises daily.

If you haven't seen one yet, go over to Amazon's site and check it out. If you want to see one in person, go to kindleboards.com. They have a program where they try to locate someone close to you to show it to you in person so that you can see how cool it is.

No, I don't make money from this (nor will I be able to make money from it), but I do love the device. People said cars, telephones, television, personal computers, and video games were all passing fads. Some luddites try to claim the same when it comes to ebooks. I think they are missing the mark. By a lot.