Nov 26 2007
Reading e-books with Amazon Kindle
When I got my Palm 3 years ago, I read a lot of e-books with it, mainly Chinese books as there are many from free domains.
I had a lot of problems with that, and stopped doing that after a year. The main problem is battery life, and another problem is to do with the LCD screen. The back light is either too bright or too dark, very difficult to read under sunlight, etc.
Amazon has recently introduced their e-book reader – Amazon Kindle.
This is an e-book reader, with the size of a typical paperback book, perhaps lighter and thinner.
The part that attracts me most is the screen. It is not the LCD type like any PDA or computer – it is called something like electronic paper display. It looks just like real paper. With that, reading in outdoor or under sunlight would not be a problem. I guess the fact that it doesn’t have backlights can help saving some battery energy.
It is said that if wireless is turned off, the battery can last for a week or more, and it fully charged in 2 hours time! My PDA could only last me a few hours when I read books. 
Oh, one more important point – it is also very STYLISH! 
There are many other great features in Amazon Kindle, which you can check out here: Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device
Okay, enough of the ‘goodness’, what about the negatives? When I read the reviews, I found a few points that made me ponder.
First, it is too expensive — $400 for an ebook reader? I could use that to buy c. 35 new paperback English books, or even more if I buy second hand or Chinese books! The cost of buying/downloading ebooks from Amazon is also expensive, though they have mentioned not more than $9.99. Not that I can’t afford $10, it is not worthy – I can’t sell eBook, I can’t get secondhand eBook, and I can’t share the eBook with others! So, in terms of economical scale, it is not.
Second, I’ve read from one of the review that the books bought from Amazon has some kind of things built in (I don’t understand). All books bought has a life span of 10 years. That is, after 10 years if you want to read them again, you have to re-purchase. I really dislike this.
So, I guess this would not be an item I would buy for myself, but don’t mind if someone give it to me as Christmas gift. LOL! Anyway, not sure whether it works in Malaysia or not – couldn’t find that info any where…
UPDATE: Just found out its wireless service all that is only applicable to USA.
