I was wondering if anyone has purchased the new wireless reading device yet from Amazon-the Kindle? As a tekkie, I think it looks very interesting and would make a great gift for an avid reader. You can download books, newspapers, magazines directly and instantly without a computer connection at a fraction of the cost for a hardcover book. They are currently out of stock but expect to begin shipping by mid-December. Looks like they have finally devloped a user-friendly interface for reading.

Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...amp;pf_rd_p=333267901&pf_rd_i=507846

Hi Mitch! I saw the interview with Jeff Bezos. His contention is the beauty of a printed book is the reader loses all sense of the book itself as they get engaged in the story. The question is, can the kindle similarly fade into the experience of the story?

I'm not tempted, simply because I'm still reading magazines in lieu of books these days.

Cheers, Anne

There's been lots of buzz around here at work about this, since we're in the document conversion business.

Frankly, I'll wait and see--I read books on my Palm regularly, and enjoy it, I have no need of another piece of electronics.

Anne, I am quite sure you are reading "highbrow" magazines and not People, etc. Wandra, I agree that the world doesn't need another single use electronic device, but the technology caught my interest.

Mitch - I agree re: the technology is interesting. For that matter, why WOULDN't a magazine want Kindle to offer a subscription? Beats the heck out of piled up unread issues. For that matter, I would be first to buy a Kindle IF I could get the exact replica of the printed magazine. That's what I don't like about most of the online newspapers or magazines - they don't offer the visual appeal of the printed matter.

Highbrow? Nah ... Wall Street Journal in the AM and New York Post in the PM. Magazines get the same treatment - Economist and New York magazine. Keeps me well-rounded! Books? I've never fully recovered from massive amounts of reading in graduate school. I'm stuck in "skim" mode - speed read first 50 pages, read last chapter, and I'm done. Drives the book group ladies crazy.

Cheers, Anne

Walter Mossberg reviews the Kindle rather unfavorably in today's WSJ. I love the idea of it since I have piles of magazines etc. that build up and clutter my house, but I like the "feel of a book.

this quote sums up his opinion:

I love the shopping and downloading experience. But the Kindle device itself is just mediocre. While it has good readability, battery life and storage capacity, both its hardware design and its software user interface are marred by annoying flaws. It is bigger and clunkier to use than the Sony Reader, whose second version has just come out at $300."

CNet just reviewed it and made a comparison to the Sony reader:

http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/amazon-kindle/4505-3508_7-32751890.html?tag=prod.txt.1

I am sure the price of the reader and the books will come down and the next version will probably be more adaptable and compatible with other files.