I've been using it for the past couple of days. It shows a lot of promise and I really like the plug-in architecture. Someday, it might make it to the top of my list. The music player I like and use most is: Media Monkey - http://www.mediamonkey.com/ Steve

Your words about a universal format are well taken. The Kindle can display Mobi books. Offhand, I think that's what feedbooks uses. Amazon will also convert your own text and pictures free or paid. If you send it to them and they send it to your Kindle, it costs $0.10 (Ten cents USD). If you send it to them and have them email it back to you it's free, but you'll then have to copy the file to your Kindle. Another point: The Kindle is not crystal-glass fragile. Like all of my hand-held electronic devices, my Kindle has earned its wings. Twice. Both times while in its cover and both times from waist-high to a carpeted floor. It hasn't shown any bad side effects, but I don't recommend the practice. Steve

I was referring to the cost of the Kindle itself (plus the added bonus of having to quickly notify Amazon so that whoever gets it can't buy books under your account). You can back up the books to your hard drive and/or keep them on memory cards. Plus, Amazon keeps a list of the books you've bought so you can download them to your new Kindle, or you current one if you've managed to delete all the content, for free. Steve

I have one and use it so much I bought one for my girlfriend as her birthday present. She loves it too. Pros: - Books are usually a lot cheaper for the Kindle - Amazon makes it crazy-easy to buy Kindle books - You can read the first chapter or two of books for free and buy those you want to continue with - Having blogs delivered to your Kindle every day is very convenient (but they cost a buck or two per month each) - I've heard that automatic delivery of magazines and newspapers is nice, but I don't subscribe to any right now - Very easy to read - Easy to hold and manipulate, but it will take some getting used to - There are sources for free books (public domain, Creative Commons, etc.) such as: http://www.feedbooks.com. - Free internet access. Not just for Amazon, but any internet address that works well on a mobile device. There is no sign-up for this: It comes with the Kindle, even if you never buy a book, blog, magazine or newspaper from Amazon! Cons: - The Kindle is very expensive (but pays for itself if you read a lot) - Same light problems a real book has -- If you can't read a book in the available light, you won't be able to read the Kindle (buy a book light) - As with a real book, but more so, there are some glare problems in bright light (if you use it outside, find some shade) - If you lose your Kindle it's a loss worth hundreds of dollars; if you lose a paperback it's a minimal loss - Doesn't handle books with graphics, charts, graphs, etc. very well -- I have three on my Kindle. The text is easy to read, but the charts and the position of the charts within the book while visible and readable aren't optimal With all of the above mentioned, I heartily recommend the Kindle and would replace mine in an instant if I lost or broke it. Steve