"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." Mark Twain It wasn't until after I got my Kindle, Amazon's electronic book, that it dawned on me- "Why didn't Amazon do this years ago?" Considering they're one of the biggest channels for moving books one would have thought selling a device that taps into their distribution channel as seamlessly as the Kindle does would be a no-brainer. Eventually Amazon had its "ah-ha" moment, probably after witnessing the popularity of the iPod and the iTunes music store. While electronic books have been around for years it seems they never really took off. Factors contributing the slow adoption most likely include limitations of the display and battery life but moreso because the distribution channel hasn't been seamless. First one had to find a book in an ebook format and then transfer it via computer to ebook itself. What makes the Kindle unique- and not just a collection of circuits and memory- is the display technology and the ease in which books can be purchased and downloaded. The display uses "electronic ink" as opposed to a backlit LCD. This makes reading- the primary function of the Kindle- easy. At 167 ppi this is more than the typical computer monitor. I've used the Kindle outside in bright light and it's just like reading a printed page. The device itself is about as big as a modern paperback and is lightweight and easy to hold. It comes with a leather case, but isn't secure in the case, so I usually take it out for reading, for fear of it slipping out. There are also a handful of features built into the Kindle that make experience of reading better. I'm able to adjust the font size to one of six levels for any text I'm reading. This is a great boon to accessibility for those with visual impairments. And while I'm reading if I come across a word I don't know I can scroll to that line, click the wheel and selec the Look Up option. The Kindle has a built-in dictionary and will display a page with each unique word and its definition. Additionally I can "highlight" text, clip portions of text and dog ear pages. The second remarkable technology is the built-in wireless. This isn't wi-fi, but what Amazon calls Whispernet- Sprint's national high-speed (EVDO) data network. What's so special about that? Well, first, it's FREE! Second, and more importantly, is that the Kindle can connect to the Amazon store wirelessly and download a book in about a minute (of course I pay for the book, but not the connection).This untethers the Kindle from the computer to transfer books and creates the seamless channel from distribution to consumption. Besides connecting to the Amazon store wireless I can also connect to the Internet wirelessly. This isn't a feature that they want to promote necessarily, since the very basic browser is within a menu item called "Experimental," but it's there and with it I can browse sites, blogs, and more. Because the Kindle was able to overcome those three big hurdles in adoption (availability of books, transferring books to the device and quality of display) I think it has shot at becoming ubiquitous. It does what it's supposed to do- deliver books and make them easily readable- and does it well. Of course, the Kindle does have some quarks that will hopefully be addressed in future models. For instance, I'm limited as far as the display of images (with only 4-level gray scale), but again, this device is for reading. The chiclet-like keyboard also isn't conducive to lots of typing, but by using a service like Google Reader its' possible to aggregate various blogs and avoid having to do much typing. The interface is very simple- basically a list of the items on the Kindle that I can read. And the controls are equally as simple. The main naviation controls are physical buttons (more like paddles) for the "Next Page" and "Previous Page" functions, placed on the right and left sides of the device, respectively. Then there's the wheel. I'm intrigued by the wheel because, while it does what it should, I can't help but wonder if there was a better way. The wheel is like a jog wheel- it scrolls up and down and also acts like a button in that it can be pressed. Since the screen is not a touch screen the viewer needs some way of selecting a book to read, a link on the browser page, or the font size to be displayed. Above the wheel is a display column, separate from the main Kindle display. This columnar display houses a silver marker that moves up and down with the scrolling of the wheel and aligns with the various menu options. When it's placed next to the menu option you want you click the wheel to select it. This also goes for links on a web page. If there are multiple links on a web page a menu will appear with a list of the optional links and one uses the wheel to select the specific link. Not extremely effecient, but not horrible either. Now that I've used the Kindle for two months I'm still really pleased with its performance (with the wireless turned off the battery really lasts a long time), convenience (books, magazine, and blogs at my finger tips), and overall ease of use (I turn it on and begin reading). I've read reviews where customers think the Kindle should become more of a "mobile device." Frankly, I don’t wanted a bloated device where people can cal/email/IM/twitter/blog/etc me while I'm reading. For those frenetic multi-taskers who have the attention span of a gnat then read away on the iPhone. I’m a happy Kindle customer who will continue to purchase books through Amazon, read for pleasure, and appreciate the times when I’m not ubiquitously “connected.”