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When the first Kindle came out it inspired in me a sense of ugh. It was hideous to look at with an awkward appearing keyboard and hugely obtrusive buttons along the sides. Then my boss bought one and I saw the screen and though; well, maybe I could ignore the aesthetic qualities because I could easily see myself reading books on this thing. It turns out I couldn't ignore the appearance, at least not at a $360 price tag and so I never bought one (not that I could of with the endless waiting lists - thanks Oprah).
After checking out the Kindle I went out and looked at a few other devices such as the Sony E-Book Reader which is very classy looking and has the same great screen. However, I didn't buy a Sony either; it just didn't seem like enough books that I would want to read were available in the Sony store. Not that the Kindle options for me were significantly better but it seems like the Kindle collection will grow more rapidly than the Sony one. Honestly it is hard to completely dismiss the Sony offering because Sony doesn't do a very good job of advertising how many books are available for it.
I also looked a few slightly lesser known options (such as the iRex iLiad Book Edition that can read a wider array of formats but the prices on them are just too high for me to justify. The iRex Book Edition, while a beautiful and flexible device, costs $600. If I could get hundreds of free e-books with it then I'd consider that option but, really, it is just too expensive (though, in my opinion, the best option on the market). The IRex supports a ton of formats and the screen is much larger. Heck, their larger, and more expensive offering, has a 10.1" screen! That would be great for technical manuals and pretty much anything else (except Kindle books which aren't supported - of course).
All of this brings me back to the Kindle which released a new version, the Kindle 2, yesterday. It is vastly better looking and the huge buttons for turning pages have been made far less obtrusive. I still don't really see much point in the keyboard; at least not considering how I read, but I don't mind the look of it so much anymore. This version is also substantially thinner while keeping the same size screen as the original. That screen isn't big. It's about the size of a paperback page so it still wouldn't be useful for any kind of technical manuals but it would be great for casual reading.
It would be great if the ebook types would take a cue from the music industry and get into selling non-DRM books. It is this reason more than anything else that stops me from getting a reader. I want to be able to buy a book from any ebook retailer and be able to read it on my reader. Proprietary formats suck. Plus, the DRM restriction takes away one of the best methods I have for finding new authors - borrowing a book. With a normal book I can ask a friend to borrow his copy; right off the bat the natural DRM of a book exists and only one of us can be reading it at a time. However, because digital files are so easy to copy publishers make it impossible to lend a digital book to a friend unless you're willing to lend them your reader as well. That sucks.
If the Kindle could support all ebook reader formats and it had a larger screen (but maintained its thinness) I'd buy one today especially at the $360 price tag.
