I pre-ordered a Kindle 2 last month, for two reasons:

1) I wanted to read more.
2) I wanted to have my own, personal Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (Amazon offers free access to wikipedia)

So, I’ve been playing around with it for about a month, trying to gauge how well it works. I’ve read several books with it, and I thought I’d offer my impressions.

Likes

• Display – Personally, I’ve always hated ClearType, and I prefer my text to be pixelated and ugly on a LCD monitor.  Still, I found the e-ink display to be truly incredible.  It has a completely different ‘look’ about it that is difficult to describe.  It’s unique, and is almost, but not quite, completely unlike paper.  It displays surprisingly crisp, easy-to-read text.
• Ordering Books – Ordering books is easy.  Too easy.  I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if there are any Isaac Asimov books available…”, and I found myself indebted to amazon.com for $17.97 within three minutes.
• Internet/Wikipedia Access – The ability to access the internet and wikipedia from anywhere there is a cell phone signal, with no charge, is awesome.  Amazon says they reserve the right to charge at any later time, but have not announced anything yet.
• Free Books – Surprisingly, the Kindle fully supports free e-book web sites like mnybks.net.  Clicking on a link to a .txt or .mobi file will cause the Kindle to ask you if you want to download this book to your device.  Then, it appears in the main Kindle interface like any other book.
• Computer Interface – With previous annoyances with the iTunes and Zune computer applications (required to add music to the associated devices), I was afraid that the Kindle would require you to install an ‘iBook’ application.  But, I was happy to see that any computer detects the Kindle as an external drive, just like a jump drive or other device.  You can easily copy-and-paste supported documents (txt, mobi, etc files) directly to the Kindle with ease.
• Battery Life – It seems to last forever, and I haven’t had any difficulties.
• Minesweeper – The game Minesweeper is installed on the Kindle as a hidden easter egg.  It’s fun.

Dislikes

• Internet Speed – Perhaps this is just my lack-of-experience with portable internet devices, but the internet speed on the Kindle is slow.  I just searched wikipedia for ‘car’, and the page finally displayed after 75 seconds.  It isn’t really usable as a portable encyclopedia when the response times are so slow.
• Lack of Folders – Amazingly, the Kindle does not support any form of folder organization.  Every book, newspaper, and magazine appears in one big honking list, ordered by date downloaded / date last viewed.  You can put 1500 books on the Kindle, but good luck finding the one you want.
• Browsing – When I read books, I tend to remember the layout of pages.  So, if there’s a big paragraph on the left page, and a grey box on the right, I can quickly flip through and find it easily.  With the Kindle, this isn’t really possible.  Each page change takes about 2 seconds, so quickly flipping through and finding something doesn’t work.  This isn’t an issue for fictional works, but for reference materials (I bought Kindle version of ‘The Pragmattic Programmer’) it is a huge downside.
• Lack of Case – The Kindle costs about $360, but that doesn’t include a case.  Oh, no.  For a case, they’ll charge you another 30 bucks.

I have found that I read more thanks to the Kindle (because it overcomes a lack of motiviation to go out and find books).  But as a Hitchhiker’s Guide, it falls flat.  And its pretty flat as it is.

Overall, I really can’t easily recommend it for the price.  Perhaps if you find yourself on public transportation for a couple hours each day, it might be a decent investment.  As it is, most casual (or technical) readers won’t find much utility here.

Maybe in a few years, when you can get a free Kindle X in your box of Cocoa Puffs…

10,000 feels like a large enough number, and with the diminishing dollar (USD) it must surely be a small fortune or two! Alas. I had a choice between several cheesy trinkets (TiVo Antenna Headbands! TiVo Coasters! TiVo Plush Dolls! TiVo Hooded Baby Bath Towel and Wash Mitten!) and exactly one iPod Shuffle (1 GB). While I like cheesy trinkets as much as the next guy who poses an Orc on his stove, the flammability of the TiVo Plush Dolls was almost certain. I had to go with the Shuffle.

I had no intentions of using the iPod Shuffle, you see. I’ve owned a 30 GB Zune for about seven months now, and I haven’t been unhappy with it. Sure, it really is a little white brick, but its a cute little white brick that plays hours of music and video.

Shortly after vowing to save it for a forgotten birthday or impromptu Christmas gift, I opened the package and loaded on some Guano Apes and Flyleaf. I started listening to it ‘for fun’. I brought it into work. I used it in the kitchen. And I would use it in a boat. And I would use it with a goat… And I will use it in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree. It is so good, so good, you see!

I haven’t used my Zune since.

How is this possible? How can a small and stupid iPod without a screen compete with a Zune that stores every song in my collection? I’m not entirely sure.

Pro: The Shuffle is small. Really small. Tiny, even. Before I tried the Shuffle, I truly didn’t mind that my Zune was a brick. I just sat it on my desk at work, and I just accepted that my headphones would occasionally disconnect when the cord got hooked on my chair. The Shuffle stays clipped to my clothing, so the cord doesn’t hook on anything.

Con: I tend to lean against walls and desks, which has increased the Shuffle volume to deafening levels. I should really learn how to use the Hold function.

Pro: I’m not tied to my desk with the Shuffle, I can just get up and walk away while listening to music. With the Zune I had to take off my headphones, which takes just a little more effort.

Con: I look like an iPod douche bag while walking around work with white ear buds firmly in place.

Pro: When I attach the Shuffle to my front pocket, I feel like I’m Captain Picard when I press Pause or Play. I almost mutter “Beam me up.”

Con: I don’t like Star Trek. That much.

Pro: The Shuffle is small enough you can wrap the cord around your ears and clip it behind your head.

Con: This is what it looks like:

Con: The Shuffle will blink Green and Orange in obtuse combinations to notify you of its state. I thought you were good when it came to user interfaces, Apple?

Con: There seems to be a significant static hum if the Shuffle volume is very low.

Con: It is not possible to listen to the Shuffle and charge it at the same time, because the headphone jack is also the power port.

Conclusion: I am truly surprised and impressed by the iPod Shuffle. I can’t say that it is worth $50 (USD) to everyone, but I can heartily recommend it if you have 10,000 TiVo Rewards Points burning a firewall in your hard drive.