The only problem is that in Canada its $300 CDN, and I don't know about YOU, but I don't spend $300 on books in a year. I spend about $30 or less. (I am not counting gifts.)Across the United States border its a mere $259 USD, so if you're a cross-border shopper and looking for an ideal xmas gift its a good buy... in theory.
The Kindle can carry up to 1,500 books on its 2GB hard drive and can also play mp3s, share JPGs, Word Docs, PDFs and various other file types. And you can access newspapers, magazines and such through subscriptions.
But here's the silly thing... the fee for downloading a book is about the same price you'd pay to buy a regular paperback book, so the only reason to do this is to save paper. Some books do cost less in ebook form, but most sadly do not. Some are actually MORE expensive, because publishers are worried about people making copies and sharing them.
However at the same time you do get access to a free library of public domain books, classics like "Pride and Prejudice", the complete works of Shakespeare, etc.
Environmentally friendly? No. Because you have to recharge the Kindle ebook, which means approx. 35% of the energy comes from coal power plants... so instead of using paper, you're burning coal and adding to the greenhouse gases. So unless you have your own solar power station, you're not actually being environmentally friendly by buying an ebook.
HOWEVER!!!!!!
I don't think its actually worth $300. Not when you could buy a notebook computer for $300 from Best Buy or Future Shop. You could still read everything you want on the notebook, plus you'd be able to access the internet, play games, movies, etc. and its easily portable.
Over the next 6 years the price of notebook computers is expected to drop dramatically because of increasing miniaturization of electronic parts, mostly driven by the cellphone, iPod and iPhone industry. Cheaper parts = more competitive/cheaper prices. Its expected that by 2015 the price of a new notebook computer will be $100.
See Also: The $100 Laptop
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