[Spridgets] Off Topic - Kindle

[David Lieb]

> Anyone here have any practical advice they could offer on the Kindle reader? My
> daughter wants one for her birthday and I know nothing about them.

One of my programmer friends has one (so does his wife). They love
theirs. The free 3G works well, etc. A couple of different sizes are
available. The only reason to get one is for reading books. They do
that exceptionally well; easy on the eyes, incredible battery life,
etc. The speed of the display is quite slow and is not available in
color (although the actual books are in color), so it isn't worth
hacking it to do other functions, although it has been done. If you
want other functions, there are free Kindle reader apps for the PC
(probably Mac as well, but I wouldn't know), Android and iOS (iPhone,
etc). Lots of free Kindle books available on the Amazon site, so it is
easy to test out. I have a reluctance to buy single-function devices
like this, so I would be much more likely to get a Galaxy Tab or
similar mid-size device and install the Kindle app. I really like it
on my iPhone 3GS; I can buy the book from the Amazon app and read it
with the Kindle app -- no desktop computer necessary. Oh yes, it is
fairly easy to hack the $250 color Barnes and Noble Nook device and
install full Android on it, yielding a device that reads both Nook and
Kindle books in color as well as being a quite functional tablet.
Google is your friend
David L