UPDATED: A few days after posting this, word came that Amazon is holding a major press conference on February 9. According to sources, the Kindle 2.0 will be launched at that time. What happens to all of us who are in line waiting for our Kindle 1.0? Your guess is as good as mine.

UPDATE 1/29/09: Partial text of an email I received in reply to my Customer Service query as to my Kindle order:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

Thank you for contacting us in regards to when a new version of the Kindle will be released.

We’ve made no announcement about the next generation Kindle, so I can’t answer your question. However, If I were you I would not cancel my order, and I suspect you’ll be happy. If you need further assistance, please contact customer support at 1-866-321-8851.

I don’t know about you, but I find this reply, which other customers have also received, bizarre. How would Amazon know what would make me happy? Some on the waitlist are hoping for a Kindle 1.0, others for a 2.0, others won’t be sure what they want until they see what the announcement on February 9 actually amounts to (perhaps a less expensive “bare bones” Kindle, a Kindle Scholar, or somehting else entirely).

Update: 2/5/09: Angela James of NiceMommy/Evil Editor has posted a series of photographs comparing the Kindle and Sony 505 (and other devices). Unfortunately, the Kindle pics are likely to be obsolete in a matter of days, if the speculation is correct that Kindle 2.0 will be unveiled [Updated 2/6/09 -- see official pics new Kindle, which will be available 2/24 and cost $359 here. Ms. James has already put her Kindle 1.0 up for sale on EBay. I suspect many many other Kindle 1.0 owners will follow suit.]:

New Kindle

likely uses the new Broadsheet microchip from Epson and E-Ink, which makes the display technology for the Kindle. E-Ink’s chief executive, Russell J. Wilcox, described the technology to me a few weeks ago, saying that it breaks the screen into 16 pixel sets and can update them in parallel, allowing for faster screen refreshes and a generally more responsive screen. (NY Times)

Other leading rumors are that it will:

(a) allow users to sort content into folders

(b) look different (see the supposedly leaked pics from October 2008 at Boy Genius Report)

(c) lack space for an external SD card

(d) have better battery life

Other, more outlandish, rumors are that it will have a touch screen and color.

We’ll see on February 9!

Original post:

I’m writing this post so I can refer to it whenever I wonder, as I wait over a month for my Kindle, if I made the right decision.

I have wanted an e-reader for a long time. I agonized for months and months, between the Kindle, the Sony PRS-505 and the Sony PRS-700. Finally, this week I put my order in for a Kindle.  It is due to arrive in 5-7 weeks.

I don’t know about you, but when I make a big purchase, I am obsessive about researching it, trying to choose the best one for my needs. Three problems have foiled my attempt to choose an e-reader: (1) I worry that a new and better version, especially of the Kindle, is on the horizon, (2) No one reader has all the features I want, and (3) the Kindle is back ordered.

You might think an adult can put aside (3), but I am also, paradoxically, a bit impulsive: once I make my mind up to buy something, I want it NOW.  However, being an adult, I have struggled mightily to bracket the Kindle availability issue, because my higher brain knows it is not really relevant (I don’t need an e-reader now).

As for (1), I am pretty sure we will see a new Sony with wireless and a new, better looking Kindle with some improvements by the end of this year, if not sooner. I’ve decided that if that happens, and I really can’t live without the new version, I’ll sell my used one on E Bay and buy the new one. But I waited this long to buy a Kindle because everyone said in October that Kindle 2.0 was around the corner, and 4 months later there is no sign of it (but there is a long wait list for the Kindle 1.0, grrrr.)

I’ve read all the posts on romance sites like Dear Author about e-readers. I have spent time on Amazon.com forums. I have spent time on Mobileread.com forums. I have read review posts at places like C-Net and PC Magazine and Gear Diary and Gizmodo. I have watched video reviews on You Tube. And I have visited both Borders and Target to test out the Sonys.

Although I do think there are objective features, like speed of page turn and contrast, that can be compared across devices, I think there is no one best e-reader per se. The best e-reader is the best e-reader for you. One device may have the longest battery life, but if you don’t care about battery life, it doesn’t matter.

I want an e-reader for one main purpose: to read fiction for fun. I want to stop the growth of my “keeper” and “tbr” book pile in the house. I want an easy, lightweight way to bring books with me when I leave the house.  I am constantly misplacing books and wandering around the house looking for them, and I hope I’ll be better about knowing where a $350 device is at any given moment. And I don’t want the images or text on the covers of some of the more explicit romances or erotica to be seen by my children, or others, as a matter of controlling how and when my kids learn about sex, of not giving offense to others, and of personal privacy.

Cost, looks, and size are non issues for me. $100 more for the Kindle than the Sony 505 seems like a lot, but if you have the device for 5 years, that’s @ $20 a year, @ $2 a month, @ pennies a week. Sure, the Sony looks nicer, but I can hardly get worked up about my own appearance on any given day: I’m not going to start getting vain about how my portable devices look.

Sony PRS-505

I would very much like the ability to annotate, both for writing romance reviews, and, because it may happen eventually that I can put my textbooks on the thing, instead of lugging them to class (a possible future work use). Only the Kindle and 700 can do that.

Mac compatibility is very desirable for me, as we are a Mac household. Kindle wins here.

Wireless would be nice to have, also, and the ability to read first chapters of books I might want to buy. Kindle wins here, too.

The Sony 505 is cheaper than the Kindle, but cost is a non issue for me. The Kindle beats it in contrast (slightly), speed of page turn (slightly), ability to annotate, wireless capability, and access to Amazon’s larger store and slightly cheaper books. Most important, I can turn it on and start using it, instead of dealing with Mac workarounds.

The Sony 707 has the annotation, but the deal breaker for me is the glare from the built in light, and the muddier looking screen. Many have said that if the 700 is your first reader, you won’t notice that it’s harder to read than the others, but the 700 was the first e-reader I saw in person and I definitely noticed the murky gray text.

Sony PRS-700

I know there may be some issues with DRM. With being beholden to a certain corporate giant. I think with the Sony products I may be able to read other formats either more cheaply or with greater ease, especially from e-publishers. But I don’t read much from e-presses, and don’t see that changing, since erotica is not my first second or third reading love. (I know, I know, they don’t just publish erotica anymore, if they ever did).

I know people get incredibly worked up over DRM, for what I am sure are very good reasons. But I couldn’t care less about these issues. I have plenty of political issues I care passionately about, write about, teach about, volunteer with, and give money to. I am not adding digital copyright to that list, for my own sanity. [Here is a simple, helpful discussion of DRM and copyright.)

Amazon Kindle

I bought the Kindle.  I have to stop obsessing about whether I made the right decision, and I wrote this post to remind me. Plus, Amazon has a 30 day money back guarantee (I could not get a straight answer from Target or Borders employees about the returnability of the Sony readers). UPDATED TO ADD: You cannot return a Sony at Borders, although some exchanges seem to be allowed. Target has the usual 90 day return or exchange with receipt. SonyStyle has 14 days for returns, with a 15% restocking fee. Kindle wins here. )

I’ll post on how I like it when I get it.