Anyone else have a Kindle? I’ve had mine now for about five months. Many people have asked me what I think, and whether it’s “as good as a real book”. My answer is that I’m a fan of the Kindle. Of course it has limitations, but what it does, I think, it does very well.

First and foremost the Kindle is an e-reader so I use mine mostly for reading books. I’ve found that when you’re lost in a good book, you tend to forget the medium and enjoy the story. I’m sure I won’t give up “real” books, but the Kindle works for me.

I’ve discovered that the Kindle is also great for reading online articles and keeping up with Twitter and Facebook. It keeps me in touch with my online diary, email and task lists. There are better gadgets for doing this, but the Kindle’s battery and built in 3G (with NO fees) is a major plus: it’s not an iPad, but I can’t afford one or the contract needed to use it out and about.

What has surprised me most is how much I enjoy preaching from it. I preach mostly from notes, and I wondered how easy it would be to switch from paper to an electronic device. The Kindle has been great. I’m able to produce my notes as I always have done, then save them as a pdf which I transfer onto the Kindle.

Pros:
Easy to carry around hundreds of notes, bibles, study books etc.
Ability to highlight and make notes.
Saves a ton of ink and printing costs.
Native pdf reader.
Free internet connection anywhere.
Good sized screen.

Cons:
Can’t write notes by hand in the margins!
Not possible to turn off the screen-saver.
Only black and white.
Not nearly as versatile or cool as an iPad (but initial cost is much more reasonable and there are no ongoing internet costs).

Anyone else use a Kindle? Anyone use it for preaching / teaching?