So let's start with the positives:

Pros

1. The Kindle is super lightweight, and everyone who saw it immediately said "ooooh." Winning cool points with usually reserved roommates and technophobes is a big plus.

2. The e-ink technology makes the screen look like the page of a book. No eyestrain usually associated with reading from a screen of some sort, and the font was extremely attractive. We all know how important fonts are to me.

3. Buying e-books via the Kindle is fast and easy. You simply go to the Kindle store from the Kindle, which is browser capable, pick what you want, and since it's already in sync with your account, it is charged directly to your account, with no fields to fill in.

4. Even better, buying the e-books on the computer is just as easy. Your Kindle uploads them just as quickly, and you don't have to bother with the smaller screen while searching for the titles you'd like.

5. You can make electronic clippings of portions of the books, newspapers or blogs you read from your Kindle, and find them immediately -- no more searching through a dog-eared copy of a book or sifting through notes to find the point you made back in Chapter 3.

Cons

1. No touch screen? Really? As one of my friends noted, that alone makes it feel like a gadget from the 1990s, not 2008. Many of the buttons are counter-intuitive (back takes you to the top menu, while previous and next navigates you through the book's pages), and the scroll on the right side is difficult to navigate.

2. It's possibly because I was sent a test Kindle, and who knows how much torture it's been through, but it simply didn't hold a charge. When I looked for advice on keeping it powered up, ithe manual mentioned turning off the wireless capability. That still didn't seem to help much. And don't bother using the USB to charge it up, it just isn't worth waiting around a whole day.

3. I wasn't sure how to hold the Kindle. I was constantly accidently hitting those buttons I mentioned, which are on the extreme edges of the Kindle, and at many points lost my place in the book completely.

4. I know I noted that the screen was easy to look at, but not in the dark. And I don't understand why they couldn't at least have included a reading light for those who want to read while their bed partner is sleeping the night away.

5. The screen only holds about 15 lines per "page," and it was very difficult for me to assess where I was in the book. While there are little dots at the bottom that light up to note your progress, I wasn't given any page numbers to give me a more concrete feel of where I was in the story. Personally, I find that annoying. However, I recognize that may not bother everyone.

6. E-books are way too expensive. I'm paying for a file that I can only access via my Kindle, and they're usually $10 a pop. I can buy a paperback for that much or less. And when I can get The Last of the Mohicans for free at Project Gutenberg (which I can read on any computer or PDA) or on my iPhone, why should I pay $8 or even 99 cents for the Kindle version? If I'm paying $350 for the reader, I want to see a major price break on the content -- and fewer typos.

So in the end, I have to say the extra power cords and expense leave me cold -- I will not be asking for a Kindle any time soon. I'll see about Kindle 2.0, but there would have to be many changes before I invest in one of these.

There is a definite market for ereaders, though -- namely, anyone in academia. The student in your life would adore you, and there's something to be said for being oh-so-cool.

(Photo courtesy of Amazon)