Is the Kindle 2 a gadget too far?

Amazon announced its Kindle 2 e-book reader yesterday, and it's been getting rave reactions from all the major tech sites. Slimmer, nicer screen, basic web browsing and MP3 capabilities, and more books and newspapers. Oh, and Stephen King.

The geek in me really wants one. And if it was being sold in the UK, I might have had an Apple moment last night and stumped up for one there and then. Thankfully, Amazon is keeping it US-only for the moment, so I've got a bit of time to check my bank balance and wrestle with my  inner spendaholic.

I love gadgets, and I read a lot of books, so it should be an obvious purchase when it does eventually cross to this side of the Atlantic, right? Yet I can't help wondering if its a gadget too far. I already walk around carrying an iPhone, a BlackBerry, an Eee PC and a PSP (hopefully muggers in my area aren't voracious blog-readers) - would the Kindle replace any of those?

No. Well, not unless it gets a decent port of Football Manager Handheld, anyway.

As tempting as the Kindle sounds, I can't help thinking that I'm happy reading stuff via my RSS feeds on iPhone and the Eee PC, and that dog-eared charity-shop paperbacks will continue to see me well for any physical book-reading needs.

And yet... That Apple-like spur-of-the-moment purchase may still happen, depending on the Kindle 2's price in the UK and whether I can convince myself that someone will pay me more money to write about it than it costs, thus making it a sound investment (this logic tends to apply to any gadget I'm dribbling over).

If this thing is really going to do for literature what the iPod has done for music, it would be nice to be in early - or at least as early as us Brits are able to. Better try to get some more work in before they announce the UK launch...

Comments

[Pauly]

Bit pricey to get one yet I think. Charity shop paperbacks are a good call still.

[Chana]

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