Why I Love my Kindle

I have long ago and happily accepted the fact that I am a Reader. I developed a habit of carrying a book with me everywhere I go--to work, to the movies, grocery and other shopping, visiting relatives, etc. Whenever I don't take a book as I leave the house, I have always regretted it.

General traveling as a Reader pretty much sucks--and now with baggage restrictions on airlines, it really sucks. I can't even think of a word bad enough for a traveling fast Reader. Picking out 3 or 4 books for a trip or having Amazon ship to your location--yikes! Or being stuck at the laptop during downtime, reading on a computer screen is too pitiful for words. :(

Along come ereaders and my Kindle in particular. The only other device that I can compare it to in the life changing venue is my cell phone. What other device could please a Reader more, completely serve the purpose, is totally innovative yet has room to grow?

Here is my Kindle Top Ten List
1. The Kindle is smaller and lighter than a single paperback
2. I never lose my place in a book anymore! Yay, no more dog-eared pages
3. In a pinch I can browse the internet if needed
4. I can save future purchases with the 'Save For Later' feature (This is a very under-rated feature; Kindlers, please explore)
5. My middle-aged eyes can be accommodated by the occasional necessary font increase
6. Re-reading a book is super-easy! No more digging thru piles in the garage, pawing thru boxed up books, searching thru closets. All my books are stored either on Amazon, the device/SD card or my pc
7. I am 'greening'. No more dead tree books for me
8. The Kindle holds hundreds of books
9. I can sample most books before I buy them--just like browsing in a bookstore
10. I can download new books anywhere, anytime thru the wireless 'WhisperNet'

The Kindle is not a perfect device. For a Gen-1 device it is a home run, but there are definitely features that can and should be fixed or upgraded. (Whats up with the cover, where are the folders?) I really hope some of the user suggestions are implemented prior to or with the version 2.0.

For a medium that I have loved for years and which except for availability hasn't really changed for hundreds of years, I can't see myself ever going back to printed books. I am looking forward to a Kindle-like device for business (8'x11') documents and perhaps a separate Kindle for reference materials.

I once again bow to Amazon; they changed the way I shop and now, changed the way I read.