Jumping on the E-Reader Bandwagon

My husband and I are not what you would call "first adapters"--you know, the ones that have to buy the coolest, neatest technologies the second it comes out. We like to research for the best product and wait until the kinks are worked out and/or the prices come down.

We've been admiring Amazon's e-reader from afar for a while now and the newest model just released with a price that is significantly lower ($140 vs. $300 plus) than before. So my husband finally broke down and ordered the Kindle 3 for himself since he needs to read a lot of PDF files for work and hates reading them on the computer. I was pondering whether I should get one as well when one of my friends upgraded to the newest Kindle and gave me his "outdated" Kindle 1.

The white one is the older one, and I think it works perfectly wonderful. I don't think this will ever replace books completely for me. But it is good for novels. (We are starting to have a serious bookshelf shortage in the house.) And it will be good for traveling so I don't have to stick 4 books in my suitcase, just one. And there is absolutely no eye strain when you read on it. Now that is something special. I also saw that I can check out e-books from the library but I haven't researched yet if they are compatible with the Kindle.
I was reading on it for about a week until Trevor's showed up and I noticed a couple of differences between the two. The new one is thinner and weighs less and, more importantly, the next page buttons aren't as easy to hit accidentally. That is really my only complaint with the Kindle 1. The cats jump up in my lap and rub their head on the Kindle and press the next page button or I shift my hand and accidentally do the same thing. Notice on the black one the buttons are much, much smaller on the sides. But that is still a minor complaint compared to how well it works. I don't think I could have even imagined anything like this 15 years ago. What if you can start buying textbooks in e-format? Now that would be amazing. I also like how easy it is to download new items (too easy with your debit card hooked up to "one click shopping".)

I am happy with the black leather cover it Danny had bought for it. I guess it is hard to find covers now for the Kindle 1 since everyone is upgrading to the newest sizes.
I pointed my husband in the direction of Etsy to find a cover for his Kindle and he picked out this one from BeeSocks. It's much prettier than the boring options at Amazon and it supports a small business!
On a final note, the coolest thing about the Kindle is the other night I was on the sofa with a sleeping kitty and a glass of wine and I finished my book and instead of having to get up, I already had another book ready to start reading! I say two thumbs up for the Kindle.