The Amazon Kindle is one of those devices that has found its way into my laptop bag. When I travel I, devour books and podcasts. I used to carry paper books but often left them at the hotel front desk as I had no desire to carry them to my next destination. The Kindle has solved all my problems about carrying paper books. I have about 10 books on my Kindle now waiting to be read and I should put those away on my first 3 or 4 trips in 2010.
Is Kindle on Mobile the same?
I know tons of people like reading books on their Kindles but I don’t understand how this transitions to reading books on a computer or mobile phone. I am partly jealous that blackberry users will get a Kindle App before Android users. I know the market share makes sense but remember I left RIM the day the Droid released so I cannot help being jealous. In reality, I would likely never use the Kindle App on Android. In fact I have my iPhone 3GS sitting next to me now and the Kindle app has never been downloaded or installed.
The Kindle Attraction
For me the reason the Kindle works for my needs is the E-Ink screen is as easy on my eyes as a traditional book. Additionally, every time someone tells me a book title, I download the sample (first 3 chapters) to my Kindle. Whisper sync makes every location essentially like sitting in Borders and reading without having to go to the store. Now, I can download 3 chapters of 15 or 20 books before a flight. However, I am not thrilled how Amazon handles transitioning from the “sample” to the full book. When you get to the final page of the sample you are presented with an option to download the full version. The issue is it downloads into a new file vs appending to the existing file. You would believe it would at least transition you to chapter 4 in the full book but it does not. This is a minor usability thing.
Kindle Apps Galore
Kindle Apps are available today for the iPhone and PC, and are coming for Blackberry and the Mac. So who will be next on the list to get a Kindle app? Symbian? Windows Phone? Android? I use the Kindle 2. I know one person with a Kindle DX and to me it is like having another laptop.
If your into EBooks Brent has put together an amazing 3 Part post about Ebooks. We sit on two different sides of the eBook fence but he actually demystifies some of the common ebook challenges.
