I find that I mostly use it to read fiction. I'll probably eventually find it good for nice linear nonfiction like autobiographies. That's good because I've really gotten away from reading fiction, instead spending my reading time reading short-attention-span junk online. I love getting back to really reading.
I've tried it for a number of technical books, but it's just not that useful for that. It does an ok job displaying an unconverted PDF and a pretty good job working with a Calibre-converted PDF or CHM. I haven't tried an actual Kindle-formatted technical book, which could have better navigation. It's not displaying the page that's a problem. It's that when I'm reading a technical book, I need to flip around a lot. Search helps a bit, but flipping back and forth between sections is really cumbersome. Even with highlights and bookmarks, it's still tremendously slower than sticking a few post-it notes or thumbs in an actual print book. And most of the time that I want to look at a technical book, I'm already in front of at least one computer.
I haven't tried RSS feeds to the Kindle, but Instapaper is awesome for it and will only get better.
I rarely use the wireless at all. I struggled with buying the 3G vs. the wifi-only model. In the end I thought the 3G feature would extend the usefulness enough to make it worthwhile. In a pinch it's a decent email client and Wikipedia renders well. If I didn't have an Android and iPod Touch with me most of the time, I might use the Kindle wireless more.
One really important thing about the Kindle wifi: it won't connect to ad-hoc networks. This would have burned me if I'd bought the wifi-only model because I'd figured I could wifi tether it to my Android phone, but that runs in ad-hoc mode, so no connection.
Comments
I got a 3G Kindle 3 several weeks ago.
I find that I mostly use it to read fiction. I'll probably eventually find it good for nice linear nonfiction like autobiographies. That's good because I've really gotten away from reading fiction, instead spending my reading time reading short-attention-span junk online. I love getting back to really reading.
I've tried it for a number of technical books, but it's just not that useful for that. It does an ok job displaying an unconverted PDF and a pretty good job working with a Calibre-converted PDF or CHM. I haven't tried an actual Kindle-formatted technical book, which could have better navigation. It's not displaying the page that's a problem. It's that when I'm reading a technical book, I need to flip around a lot. Search helps a bit, but flipping back and forth between sections is really cumbersome. Even with highlights and bookmarks, it's still tremendously slower than sticking a few post-it notes or thumbs in an actual print book. And most of the time that I want to look at a technical book, I'm already in front of at least one computer.
I haven't tried RSS feeds to the Kindle, but Instapaper is awesome for it and will only get better.
I rarely use the wireless at all. I struggled with buying the 3G vs. the wifi-only model. In the end I thought the 3G feature would extend the usefulness enough to make it worthwhile. In a pinch it's a decent email client and Wikipedia renders well. If I didn't have an Android and iPod Touch with me most of the time, I might use the Kindle wireless more.
One really important thing about the Kindle wifi: it won't connect to ad-hoc networks. This would have burned me if I'd bought the wifi-only model because I'd figured I could wifi tether it to my Android phone, but that runs in ad-hoc mode, so no connection.