The Moby Files: Life Exposed

I had a chance to use the Amazon Kindle the other day and I was pleasantly surprised.¹  The "e-ink" or display was amazing.  It was better than reading print as the clarity was stunning.  There was no screen buzz or flicker that comes w/most electronic display devices, which often leads to eye strain.  The font size is adjustable too.  Surprisingly, there was no backlight feature either.  I sort of expect that however, after some thought, this makes sense.  A backlight can cause text to wash out at times for people w/poor eyesight.

Figuring out the features and function was pretty straight forward.  It was obvious considerable effort was put into usability.  However, the page forward/back buttons were a tad too convenient.  I kept bumping them every time I moved the device around.  I also found the overall feel of the device a bit clunky.  It was light but took some getting use to.  I expected the screen size to be bigger too.  The actual screen was probably about the same size as your average paperback. 

The biggest downer is the price.  It was ridiculously over-priced.  Being a geek, there are some devices that I just consider a "must have" and will rush right out and buy.  Not so in this case.  It is more of a convenience than anything else.  I also think the average user won’t be a technophile like myself.  Hence, the price will be a big turn off to the book worm crowd.  I know for myself it will need come down in price significantly before I make the switch.  For power readers, it might sense however, I only read on average about 5-7 books a year. 

I’m a big supporter of e-books as it will allow us to ween ourselves off our dependence on paper.²  Plus being able to carry 200 books around with you is pretty damn appealing.  Barring portability and flexibility issues on copies, I think overall the industry is off to a good start.

1. I was reminded after writing a commentary on one of the geek sites I follow [↩]
2. We are destroying our rainforests [↩]