The User Friendly Amazon Kindle 

Many people will want to know how the Kindle shapes up against a "real" book rather than how it compares to other e-book readers or the Apple iPad. If you're an avid reader, it's only natural to wonder if you will miss the feel of a book in your hands. User experience is a very personal thing of course and - by and large - I can only report on my own opinion based upon experience, and what others have told me. The nearest I can get to anything quantifiable is to advise that, in a recent survey of American e-book reader owners, 80% of them reported that they actually preferred to read books on their reader than to read a traditional printed book. That pretty much sums up my own experience. There are very few occasions when I would prefer to read a conventional book than to use my Kindle. Amazon are now making the Kindle available via some bricks and mortar stores - so you may be able to see it before you decide to buy one. Or you may know someone who already has one. If you can't get to the store and you can't try out a friend's Kindle you may have some questions that you'd like answered before you get yourself a Kindle. The questions and answers below are based on my opinions only. I hope you find them helpful.

Will I Miss Real Books?
Probably not based on my experience. The Kindle is very nice to read on and use and you will soon not only get used to it but come to enjoy using it at least as much as you enjoy reading real books.

By way of illustration: Not long after I first took delivery of my own Kindle I received a package from Amazon. I was a little surprised as I couldn't remember ordering anything. It turned out that I had pre-ordered a book by one of my favorite authors some months earlier and had completely forgotten about it. Normally I would have been delighted - after all, it was a book by a favorite author of mine and I had wanted it enough to pre-order it months in advance.

However, I don't mind admitting that I was ever so slightly disappointed that I had to go back to reading, what I now thought of as, a clumsy book. It was a fairly hefty tome. I would have to use two hands to turn the pages (oh the horror). Anyway - I enjoyed my book - but I would probably have enjoyed it a little more, saved some money and got it faster if I'd bought it as a Kindle book.

Will The Page Turns Annoy Me?
Again - probably not. When you hit the next page button the screen goes dark for an instant and then changes - but it really is very fast. It's probably faster than turing the pages of a real book. You will certainly notice it at first - but once you've been using a Kindle for just a couple of hours, you won't even be aware of it.

What Is The Display Like?
The e-ink technology display is really very similar to reading printed text on paper - albeit the background is light grey rather than white or ivory as you might find in a printed book. It is very much better than reading for any length of time on a back-lit computer screen. The one small complaint I have is that the amount of text on display is a little less than you might expect to find on the page of a paperback book. However, you can adjust the font size if you wish and, like a lot of the other character traits of the Kindle, you soon get used to it.

The contrast on the third generation Kindle has been improved by 50%. Images are clear and sharp - as are the fonts.

But The Display Is Only Black And White!
That's right - there's still no color option with the third generation Kindle. Personally speaking, it doesn't bother me too much. I think that 99% of the books I read have black text printed on a white background - so a monochrome Kindle display doesn't bother me too much at all. Personally, I wouldn't want to pay more or sacrifice any quality for the sake of a color screen - but that's just my opinion.

There's No Touch Screen
Again, this is not something that bothers me. The next page and previous page buttons are well positioned and it's really easy to operate the Kindle with one hand. I wouldn't want to read my books through fingerprint smudges. Touch screen technology can also lead to more reflections on the screen (due to its construction) and lower contrast. Buttons are okay for me thanks.