First Kindle Experience

I had a four-day business trip that included multiple five-four flights last week.  I hate long flights and I really wanted to read rather than work on the latest PowerPoint of something.

So I did what any techie dad would do.  I swiped my daughters Kindle.

In all fairness, I bought it for her.  You could say that I bought it so I could borrow it...  But I waited 11-months before borrowing it the first time so it's not so black-and-white.

Net: 4 out of 5

I read The Talent Code on the plane and the net is that it was better in almost every way than the paper (dead trees) version.

First off, I can't believe how nice the display is. It's remarkably easy on the eyes.  Not only is the contrast as good as books, but the lack of back lighting is a bonus!  That's right.  People complain about the lack of back lighting but I don't think they have really used it.  It just makes it so much easier to read compared to a computer screen.  (One thing Apple needs to get right with the iPad is this back light issue.)

The one issue I had was that on the night time flight segment, I was reading by the overhead light and there was a lot of glare on the glass.  This contributed to part of my minus 1 in sore, but it wasn't that bad.

The size is bigger than a paper back, but smaller than anything else.  The Talent Code was much bigger physically.  The iPad seems like it will totally kill Kindle DX, but I think there is still a place for the "classic" Kindle.

The negative...  The store model is still FUBAR.  How can eBooks cost almost as much as printed books?  It just doesn't make any sense.  Would the WSJ get as much for online?  No.  NYT?  It's crazy.

Dan