Kindle 2

For my birthday, I purchased Amazon's amazing new gadget, called Kindle 2. (Yes, I buy gifts for myself. How else am I supposed to get the cool things I really want?)

For about $350, you get the convenience of an electronic library of books available at your finger tips. What is even more awesome is you can download new books without connecting it to a computer. It has free built in wireless technology called Whispernet, which is really just code for Sprint.

I have had my Kindle for about a month now. I read it a lot at the beginning. The screen clarity is just like reading a book page. It is eerie. Also, I discovered that I love Chelsea Handler. Apparently, she is a comedienne, who I missed for the past couple of years, but I love her sassy brashness in her two books: My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands and Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.

I can relate to her humor and sensibilities, because mine are strangely similar.

Anyhow, back to Kindle.

The prices of books are markedly less than buying the traditional hardback or paperback. The most expensive books I have seen are $9.99. Most of my books have been either that price or less. Heck, even some of the books are FREE. You can't beat that price.

But before you commit to a purchase, Amazon gives you the option of sampling a book's first few pages/chapters. Once you decide to buy it, then you can do so through the wireless connection. Amazon sends your Kindle the file of the book you purchased in approximately one minute or less. Amazon also keeps an electronic library of your purchases on its website so you can re-send the file to your Kindle should it become deleted, or otherwise lost.

It's that simple.

I'd heard of Kindle for a long time, but I was skeptical. I didn't believe all of the hype that went along with its initial launch and subsequent months of viral advertising on Amazon.com, and other websites. But in the end, Kindle has been what it was branded to be, which is a streamlined device that stores hundreds of books that are available at the press of a button.