Why Sam loves his Kindle

We’ve beaten up on the Kindle’s DRM and eBabel. Now here are some positives, from Sam Hendrix, a TeleRead community member and a Kindle fan, who also points to an article on the K-machine and Sony Reader as possible platforms for law textbooks. – D.R. 

I have had my Kindle for about two weeks now and find that I am becoming quite attached to it, or vice versa. The reading quality and battery life are amazingly good. The main reason for my decision to go with the Kindle over the Sony or another device is the built in wireless service. This works flawlessly. My work takes me away from home several times a week, and to be able to have access to books, newspapers, magazines and blogs via the wireless connection from the train or in my motel room is very gratifying. Not to mention, I do not have to carry pounds of printed material in my luggage anymore.

Quite simply put, Amazon has a winner on its hands. It will be interesting to see how successful the Kindle becomes as the price drops and the technology improves.

Will the eBabel issue rear its ugly head? There are many sites offering free or or purchasable e-books for download in multiple formats. I have read of programs available that will convert one format to another. I have not as yet tried this myself. Maybe a "Babelfish" translator for ebooks is not a bad idea.

No one would purchase music CD’s if they were playable only on separate proprietary devices issued by each music label company. There must be a universal format for there to be wide public acceptance of e-books.

The DRM issue also hinders the propagation of e-book acceptance. An e-book, once purchased, should be transferable and archivable without worry by the purchaser that it will become obsolete, unusable, or otherwise restricted by the seller/publisher. I believe that if publishers offer non DRM’d ebooks in a universal format at substantial savings over printed versions, the reading public will respond favorably. Publishers should see sales increase rather than the decrease.

I am getting a little long winded, but wanted to share my thoughts. As always, I appreciate your efforts and find your web site very informative.