Yes the idea of the Kindle is sound; but until the cost comes down on both it and the price of feeding it, I predict the road is a long one for it to reach universal acceptance. At today's charge of a nickel short of $10 a book and an added hit for every newspaper, it's way out of my price range. Someday perhaps when the unit drops to around $20 and you can feed it with books for a quarter a pop, I'll take a closer look. Right now it's a good toy for someone whose income is 100K plus or for those journalists who get a total tax writeoff for flacking it. I still believe it's a good product, but they've got to drop the price drastically so that the masses to join their party. When that happens an intellectual revolution can truly begin.

My income isn’t remotely near 100K, and I bought a Kindle. Maybe I have different priorities, or maybe I manage my money better.

I can understand people saying a Kindle is too expensive in some cases:

1. If they don’t read much then yes, a Kindle is too expensive versus the value it would give them.
2. If they love to read but normally borrow all their books for free from the library or from other people, then a Kindle probably is too expensive versus its value unless they have failing eyesight and would benefit from the adjustable font size and/or the text to speech feature.

On the other hand, if you love to read and usually buy your own books, then a Kindle is absolutely worth the cost. I’ve bought fewer books in the year I’ve had my Kindle than I did the year before, and yet I’ve read far more. There are free books all over the place, and they’re not just by new authors hoping to find an audience:

- If you like science fiction, you can find over a hundred free books at the Baen Free Library (http://www.baen.com/library/).

- Tor has offered several great fantasy and science fiction novels for free. Most were offered when they were promoting their new web site and are no longer available, but they still offer a new one every month or so to their newsletter members.

- A new free book (or two or three or ten) shows up on Amazon every couple of weeks. To find them, just go to the Kindle Books section, put “-domain” in the search field to filter out all the public domain books, and sort by price from lowest to highest. There are over 25 free ones there right now.

- A large number of public domain books can be obtained for free on Amazon or elsewhere.

- New authors also sometimes release their books for free or next to free in order to find an audience, and some of them are quite good.

Many of the free books are the first book in a series, hoping to get you hooked on the series and purchase the later books. But it’s a cheaper way to try a new series than buying the book at the bookstore, and the sequels are usually at least slightly cheaper than their paper versions.

There are also books offered for low promotional prices (under $3, some even for a penny). They may not be the latest best sellers, but many of them are quality books.

I’ve expanded my reading horizons since getting my Kindle, because I’ve tried books there were offered for free that I might otherwise not have thought to seek out. I have over 200 books on my Kindle right now, and the vast majority of those were free. I’ve more than made up for the cost of my Kindle, and that’s not even taking into account the value that the features on the Kindle itself have for me.

Kindle and Kindle2 have already changed my world. I used to drop about 2Gs a year on books and often was disappointed with a book once I had it home and realized it didn't address what I thought it would.

Kindle allows me to download FREE samples of books I am interested in and test read a few chapters before deciding if I want to buy. I have saved hundreds of dollars in gas not having to drive to the bookstore the way I once did, and the books are cheaper than buying the same titles at the brick and mortar stores, even used book stores, in many cases.

The savings of space in my home is an IMMENSE relief, as my bookshelves are no longer overflowing. The titles I've replaced with Kindle titles, I've donated to charity and taken the tax deduction. Some titles I just have to have in paper, but for the most part, I prefer the Kindle versions and pray that someday, the educational publishers will place textbooks in Kindle format and save american taxpayers and school systems millions in textbook expenses.

The cost of the unit is definitely worth it for free wireless shopping at amazon for reading material. Its ability to access the Internet has also saved me on several occasions when I needed information that was in an email account or Google, or Wikipedia and I could easily go online (no connection or subscription fee), access the information and not have to worry about whether there was an Internet cafe or wi-fi hot spot nearby.

As a quasi-frequent traveler, it has reduced the size of my airline carry-on to nothing, since it fits in my purse, and I can read as well as listen to music at the same time from the same device. My Kindle2 goes EVERYWHERE I go. A boon when stuck in traffic, waiting rooms, etc. It is the best new invention in my over 50 years of life.

Oh, and I only make@ $50K a year. If you are a true bibliophile, the less you make, the more valuable the Kindle is.

I think the Kindle is neat..a nice techno toy with some real upsides. That text size changing bit is amazing.

But my friends and I loan each other books...

not something the kindle can do.

My book never runs out of batteries, and I've even been known to read one while the power was out by candle or oil lamp. (well you sure can't watch TV or use your computer then and 7 pm is a bit early for bed)

not something the Kindle can promise.

When my friends and I have all read the new book I bought..It goes downtown to the used bookstore where I recover 1/4 of it's cost as trade credit, or else to the free-to-anyone shelf at my library.

once again..the kindle e-book, not so much.

Sure I might ruin a book now or then of a drowsy evening with a carelessly placed cup..it doesn't happen often but occasionally *shrug*

What happens to my entire kindle "library" if I spill hot tea on it?

I'm guessing nothing good.

Until Kindle can address some of these it will be a cool alternative for many people, but it won't replace my library, or my books.

Thevail:

What happens to my entire kindle "library" if I spill hot tea on it?

I'm guessing nothing good.

Not that I'm willing to test it, but I suspect the answer to this is "nothing much". The Kindle is fairly sturdy, and it does look like it could withstand getting poured fluids on. I'd only worry if you actively submerge it.