I am not really a gadget person. When the Amazon Kindle first come out, I shrugged it off. It maybe a nice gadget, but what does it really do for me to justify the $300+ price tag? So I ignored it for 3 years. It was a surprised when Kindle 3 is announced, I latched on it at once. The affordable $189 price point is certainly a factor. And a web browser with unlimited 3G wireless? Perhaps I can ditch my smart phone and save big without the expensive data plan? So I placed my order immediately, was told it was sold out and the lead time to shipping will be about one month. The anticipation was overwhelming. I started to check for the order status and other user review obsessively. I have even ordered a few E-books to be really to load on the device. It finally arrived at my door step yesterday, one week before the promised date.
So this is my first impression after using it for a short time. I still have a lot to learn in order to use it effectively. I like it and I intent to use it a lot. But my review also include a fair amount of critique and reality check. I think this is typical for a new class of gadget still emerging from an early adopter stage.
Also it becomes clear to me that Kindle is mainly mean to be a e-reader only. Any other use is auxiliary. It cannot replace a general purpose gadget like iPad or laptop.

I break down the review into multiple parts because of the amount of details. Please read on.
2010.09.08 comments -