I just finished reading my first novel on the new Kindle.

I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when I first looked at it, but since I hadn’t indulged in early adopter syndrome in a while I thought I would just go for it. So far, I’m pretty impressed. I chose to read, for free, Cory Doctorow’s book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom at the suggestion of a friend of mine. Couldn’t have been a more perfect choice. One could argue that Diamond Age would be more appropriate, but as I had already read that seemed like cheating. 

So, two things:

1. Reading on the Kindle is great. I’ve pretty much been carrying it around with me everywhere I go. It’s not as easy to slip into a pocket as a small paperback, but it’s way more convenient for readers such as myself that have trouble dedicating to one book at time. Surprisingly, after a few hours of reading, the distractions that I thought I wouldn’t get over, including the page turning (weird blinking, kinda slow refresh) actually disappeared in preference to the new found form factor convenience. I like to read in strange positions, and not having to turn physical pages and hold them open really works well.
2. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is an awesome book. I’m not even a sci-fi fan except for the occasional Neil Stephenson, so I was blown away how much I loved this book. Also, the fact that I downloaded it for free direct from the author is not bad either.