An Amazon Kindle !

Wow ! A Kindle ! I've been looking for an e-book device for years, so I was very excited when the Kindle was announced. What can I say about it ? A lot, after testing it for a few weeks.

My basic requirements for an e-book device are simple, since I want to use it while traveling:

1. It has to read like a book. I want to be able to read at the same speed as when using a printed book. I don't want to have to turn it to avoid glare, or turn the page more frequently because it doesn't fit a whole page in a display screen.

2. I want to be able to make, use, and remove bookmarks. It should be easy to mark where I've stopped reading, and pick up from exactly the same place.

3. Add to it. How hard is it to add books to the device ? Does it handle all kind of formats (PDF, TXT, Word, etc.) ?

4. Annotations. Can I make "notes" in the margin ? Can I customize their appearance (different colors, markers vs pens)?

5. Battery Life. I don't want something that doesn't last as long as train or plane ride + wait time. So, it has to last for at least 8 hours.

The results:1. Yes - for the most part, it's as easy to read as a paperback. The page turning is slower than I would like, and you can't really 'flip' to a section. So, if you want to bypass the Table of Contents you have to turn the pages really fast. There is a 'go to' feature, but you have to know your destination page or section. It would be really nice if it has a "go to next section" function.

2. Bookmarks are easy to set, flip through, and delete. It's really a box around the text. Unfotunately, you can't set styles for the bookmarks (different dotted lines, etc.)

3. It's easy to transfer files from your PC to the Kindle. I transferred TXT files from Project Gutenberg and also transferred an audio book from Audible.com.

4. You can add notes, but, like the booksmarks, you do not have any control over the style.

5. Battery Life. I didn't wear it down. Apparently, the battery is not used while you're just reading. It's supposed to have an 18 hour battery.

Extras:
1. It plays audio books. The best part is that it shows the sections, which is something my iPod doesn't do.

2. SD memory card. This is great because it doesn't come with a lot of storage space, and the audio books are huge.

3. Search and Find Text- very easy. It also links to Google so you can run a search on-line. It's not great for web browsing - the pages are squished.

Summary:
I'm going to wait for the price to come down, or for other products to use the same technology at a lower cost. If I traveled regularly, it might be worth the $300+ (US).

I wouldn't use it for serious academic work - the lack of styles for annotations would be a serious problem.