Amazon Kindle for the PC
After hearing about the Amazon Kindle for the PC
What I like about the Kindle concept is the ability to keep a bunch of books all in one place without having to drag around an entire bookshelf. But, I really do not want a separate gadget (though a Kindle is easier to read on than a PC), nor can I really afford to buy a new gadget right now. So the free PC software sounded like a good way to get started.
Right off the bat, I found a couple free, short Star Wars novels which I promptly "purchased" and downloaded to my Kindle software (I've read the first already). Next, I purchased a web programming book which I've begun reading.
The Kindle software for the PC is functional, and easy to use. It's extremely basic. You can essentially only:
- View your list of books,
- Read a book (i.e., move forward or backward, jump to sections with hyperlinks or use "Go To..." to jump to a page),
- Change the font size and number of words per line,
- Add bookmarks, and
- View Notes, Highlights, and Bookmarks
I've never used the Kindle hardware, so I can't really compare it to that. When I read part of a book on one instance (e.g., my laptop) and then open the book on the other, I get the option to jump to where I left off. That feature is a definite must have. However, I have to say that it really needs the ability to highlight and annotate text--particularly for textbooks. The Amazon Kindle for the PC web page states:
Thanks to Whispersync, you can already read your notes and highlights from other devices on Kindle for PC. We'd like to add the ability to create notes and highlights using the Kindle for PC application.
So, at least it seems like this functionality is in the works, which is good to hear.
Overall, I like the Amazon Kindle for the PC though I'm looking forward to the future enhancements and the Mac OSX version. I'd love a Kindle DX for Christmas too, but I'm not going to hold my breath for that.
