Last week I received my birthday gift, an Amazon Kindle2. My family had all gone in to give me enough to cover about 2/3rds of the cost so I ordered it. The first decision (prior to ordering) was if I wanted to get a Kindle DX or if I wanted the Kindle 2. I decided on getting the kindle 2 – while the form factor of the DX would be good for a textbook I didn’t think it would work well for my casual reading.

I received it on Friday – the box for the sleeve which I ordered for it was larger than the kindle itself. After charging the kindle for the recommended time, I powered it on and went shopping for a book. My first kindle reading was  Use of Weapons by Ian M. Banks. I was able to lose myself in the text just as if it were a paper book- by that measure alone the Kindle meets Amazon’s stated goals. The ability to change font size as my eyes get fatigued is probably the single best thing about the ebooks in general and the kindle specifically. It’s sleekness makes it a bit difficult for my large hands to hold sometimes, but resting it on the sleeve that I use as a case takes care of that problem admirably.

The experimental features- particularly browsing the web aren’t perfect, however being able to hit Wikipedia from anywhere with cell coverage does move this closer to The Hitchhikers Guide. (I do think that Douglas Adam’s description of THHTG’s editorial practices as being the model for Wikipedia.)

All in all, it’s a great tool for me.

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