Geeks who love gadgets don’t normally make many friends. But when your gadget is a Kindle, everyone wants to know your name.
As a Kindle owner for more than a year, I’ve been amazed at the huge number of people who come up to me on the subway, on a plane, or at a café – anywhere that I use my e-book reader from Amazon – wanting to fondle my gadget (so to speak). Book-size with no-back light, the Kindle sort of melts into your hand until you don’t realize it’s there at all – you just get lost in reading pleasure (whether that’s high brow literature or daily newspapers – you can get it all with “one click” from Amazon).
The only negative with a Kindle is, well, the look of the thing. It’s not exactly from the Jonathon Ive school of Apple-style elegance. In short, it’s ugly, plasticy, and – perhaps worst of all – beige. But fear not! Internet celebs like Kevin Rose are predicting a new Kindle is around the corner. A sexier-looking, rounded and – hell, yes – white (not beige!) thing of beauty! (Kevin is pretty good at this prediction lark – spotting the iPod Nano, the iPhone and other Apple goodies weeks before they were released. It’s worthwhile following him on Twitter for the latest rumors). The launch date we’re hearing is Feb 9… Can you shed any more light?
Buddy Up