So I got bored, or maybe you would consider it caving in, and bought a Kindle 2 days ago. Suffice to say it hasn’t arrived yet, but that’s Scotland’s fault more than most. Apparently today is a bank holiday too. They could at least have sorted out post. Anyway, I’m looking forward to it’s arrival, and literally can’t wait to use it. I bought the WiFi only version in the end, I figured that the 3G would be good (considering it’s FREE, and global! Thereby solving the ‘find the free wifi’ game that I play in foreign countries (with mixed success)), but not worth the extra £40 as I don’t intend on travelling in the near near future and I live in a sufficiently WiFi’ed area. However I do have 30 days should I wish to change my mind.
I guess the biggest thing that I’m looking forward to is the fact that I will be able to read articles and stories that I would normally read on a computer screen on a kindle screen. Thereby making more it like paper and thus easier on the eyes. Additionally, the unmatched (among other ebook platforms) integration with Amazon will be fantastic with news subscriptions and books being delivered seamlessly! Obviously I have a few quarrels with the limited international element to it, and by that I mean that certain publications and books are not fairly (equally) priced as they are in the US (or even available in some cases). New Yorker springs to mind. For some weird reason I thought that by removing the extra international expense in getting American books and publications to the UK, the postage cost (and potentially (but more minimally) the import tax/VAT), the cost and availability would even out. Apparently not. I don’t see any digital un-free trade embargo. Sure there’s licensing issues I guess, but why should it differ so much!
Anyway, it’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I will be reporting on how it goes…