Last week, Amazon unveiled the Kindle DX, which will be the third version of the online retailer’s electronic reader. Currently, there are a little over a dozen various models of readers from different manufacturers on the market, but the Amazon Kindle is the hands down leader (a good simile: it’s like what the iPod is to other digital music players).
When the Kindle was first announced two years ago, I was writing for a Web site that covered online consumer electronics deals. As a bibliophile and a tech geek, I was pretty psyched. My colleagues, on the other the hand, were not. “I’d rather just read books on my iPhone,” said one, while another even made the argument that the Kindle wasn’t worth buying because “you couldn’t watch movies on it.” Rejected by my fellow nerds, I turned to my allies of bookworms—surely they would agree with me on the Kindle’s awesomeness? Alas, they did not. Despite the rejection from both sides, I became an early adopter of the first model and have been defending my decision ever since.
The concept of an electronic book is nothing new. At the height of the “digital revolution” many predicted that readers would flock online to read fiction posted on Web sites or via e-mail/downloads as a sort of 21st century serial novel. A great cultural artifact of those days is Stephen King’s novella Riding the Bullet, which went the serial route and even offered the first chapter free (King eventually stopped updating due to lack of interest and published the story in the collection Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales.)
Digital readers aren’t even that fresh of an idea. There are several models that turn up in the flotsam and jetsam of failed electronic fads, rotting and decomposing next to laserdisc players, HD DVD’s, and Sony MiniDiscs. The Franklin EB-500 Rocket eBook is the earliest one I could find. It came out in 1999—evident up by its screen contrast of olive green and dark olive green, stylus pen, and listing date on its Amazon.com entry (Hello, irony). So why are we hearing so much about e-book readers now?
Short answer: the technology is finally starting to catch up with the idea. The earliest model of electronic book readers were essentially LCD screens connected to small hard drives or overbuilt PDAs. This newest generation of readers, including the Kindle, feature electronic paper, or e-paper, which is essentially a digital display that imitates the look of ink on a page by reflecting light instead of projecting (it sounds simple, but in fact it’s very complicated). This makes it easy on the eyes to read, unlike when you read a screen (like on a computer or iPhone) for extended periods of time. It takes a bit of an adjustment, but after a while you can’t tell the difference between the Kindle screen and paper.
What makes the Kindle stand out above the others is its wireless connection. While other readers require users to connect to their computers to download the electronic books to their reader, the Kindle uses 3G WiFi to download books almost instantly. There’s nothing cooler than deciding you want to check out Toni Morrison’s Beloved, looking it up, buying/downloading it, and starting to read it; all within five minutes and without getting out of your chair.
But while I made the argument for the Kindle, like Jeff Bezo’s own personal pitchman, I discovered that some critics were right. It kind of does suck when the battery runs out while you’re on the subway and have nothing else to read—paperbacks don’t generally do that. And a lifetime of manhandling reading materials like I was a mentally challenged character in a Steinbeck novel clashed with my need to treat the Kindle with kid gloves. But the thing that really struck me was its lack of feeling like a book. You can’t flip ahead to see how many pages are left in a chapter or to go to the end. The pagination is completely tossed to fit the text to the screen, which makes sense, but it throws you off. I like reading my Kindle, but doing so has an almost ethereal feel to it. It soon devolved into just my newspaper reader, which introduced the sense of guilty for wasting the money and opportunity of such a great device.
I wanted to compare my Kindle experience with another user, so I reached out to my friend Colleen. Two years ago, just after its initial introduction, we’d spent an evening of shared awe for the device over dinner with friends at a Mexican restaurant. We munched on fajitas, sipped tequila, and dominated the conversation by talking about how much the Kindle would change our lives. We both became early adopters.
“It seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread,” she said recalling our excitement that night. “Convenient, sleek, small, useful and especially when gifted by parents – cheap! Not to mention a better price on the New York Times and discounted book, which at the time I thought I’d be reading a mile a minute on the thing until I kept noticing that what was on my reading list was not necessarily on the bestseller lists found on the Kindle….Many of my favorite authors aren’t very well represented in the Kindle Library: Richard Ford, Zadie Smith. Also, where is the Rabbit series by the recently deceased John Updike?” I remembered my own frustration at being unable to find more of my favorite literary authors; it seemed that new releases and Penguin Classics were all that were available, though the library of accessible e-books is constantly updating (Smith’s books are now able to be downloaded, though Ford’s and Updike’s are still in limbo).
When I asked her how often she uses her Kindle, Colleen demurred. “Not as much as I should,” she said. “Now some of my ‘not-using’ might come my own personal laziness or forgetfulness, but anyway you slice it, I grab it when I get on the F train and end up having to fish back in my purse for the crumpled up New Yorker from 2 weeks ago.” Colleen cited the same problems that I did. She also even uses it to read everything but books. “I only use it now-a-days for the New York Times, Time Magazine and the occasional collection of short stories.” And added, “It’s almost like the Kindle has cut down my reading.” As for the page numbers, she was with me on that, exclaiming, “I want my page numbers back! I mean really, what’s the deal there?”
Surprisingly, when I asked Colleen if there was any upside to owning a Kindle her excitement at its life changing ability was still there. “Obviously the convenience,” she said, “I used to carry a book, the paper, and multiple magazines. This has allowed me to let some magazine subscriptions expire and to cut down on clutter.”
I know that the Kindle isn’t perfect, but most breakthroughs aren’t in the first couple years. There are some definite bugs to be worked out but if anyone can make it work–it’s Amazon. They’ve got the better delivery system, an ever-growing catalogue of titles, and most importantly: the determination and dedication to follow though on this idea. That’s why within two years, Amazon is already releasing its third model; they’re perfecting it. The DX’s larger screen, built-in PDF reader, larger memory, and longer lasting battery means we might see the return of realistic page numbers, the expansion into the textbook market, and maybe even the salvation of newspapers. And that’s pretty cool.
