I like the Kindle

...at least what I've seen of it. No, it doesn't look like Apple made it (perhaps not in itself a bad thing). But it's got lots of titles, easy ordering/buying/downloading, and an easy-to-read screen.

I also like that they bundled the network charges into the cost of a book.

I don't like... the name. It seems nobody does. Nor the purchase price--US$399. It's a lot of money for something that I can't guarantee I would use religiously. Paying for blogs is weird, never mind the small selection (you mean I can't read Shop Talk on my Kindle?). I would happily pay for single newspaper copies, though, especially when I'm traveling.

But what I like most is a portable, easily reloadable eBook. I think about that often, when I'm schlepping through an airport terminal with my backpack laden down with a laptop and two or three books. My shoulders ache just thinking about this.

I also think of every kid carrying a too-heavy backpack to school. Which is all of them.

So, something I can carry in my backpack, which holds hundreds of books, which I can reload anywhere (at least, most anywhere in the US), which I can read as easily as a printed book. That's a beautiful thing.

Now, Mr. Bezos. About that price tag...

(Read a summary of what other folks are saying about the Kindle here.)

(See a video demonstration of the Kindle here.)

(Kindle image courtesy of Amazon.com)

technology, gadgets, books