I’ve finally got on the ebook bandwagon, and as usual I’m wondering why I resisted for so long. I have just been e-mailed by Argos to write a product review for the Kindle, but decided to write it here rather than give them rights to use my words:
…For any content that you submit, you grant Home Retail Group a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. – Argos T&Cs
Nice.
What I Think
The Kindle has totally revolutionised the way I read. I find I’m reading far more than I used to, and finally getting round to reading some of the many books which are freely available and out of copyright.
The Kindle is extremely small and light, and feels surprisingly well made. There are physical buttons on both sides to allow page turning for either left or right handers.
Looking up words, highlighting and marking sections is simple and intuitive. I no longer skim over words I don’t know.
Issues
A minor gripe is the choice of on-screen keyboard, which is A-Z rather than QWERTY. Some non-technical users will struggle to type on any keyboard arrangement, however most people are familiar with the standard keyboard layout. In practice I find I hardly ever have to use it anyway, so it’s hardly a deal breaker. I would still recommend the Kindle to anyone.
Some free eBooks have some strange formatting issues, but the excellent Calibre software handles conversion from almost any format into something I can read on the Kindle. I see no logic in complaining about free books!