Kindle - Don't Buy It!

The Amazon Kindle has been topping the electronic bestseller charts since its launch last November. Many customers bought this electronic book reader for its portability, readability and its ability to store thousands of books. Some fans of the Amazon Kindle even go as far as claiming it to be the ultimate replacement of real books.

Hefty Price Tag - The cost will have to be the biggest flaw of this e-book reader. At nearly four hundred dollars, how many books should one buy to make up for the price of the Amazon Kindle? Calculations based on the price of an average book reveals that you will need to purchase 40 books a year to make up for the cost of purchasing the electronic reader. I personally barely read ten books a year. Do you? According to statistics, the average reader in the United States buys about 4 books a year. Here, it will take up to 10 years for you to recover the cost of buying the Amazon Kindle.

Portability? - Portability is one of the main selling points of the Amazon Kindle. Having the dimensions of an average paperback and measuring just 0.7 inch in thickness, it boasts of the capability to store thousands of books at any one time. The truth is, how many of us read more than one book at any one time? According to online polls, most book readers do not read more that one book at anytime, thus although having the option of storing thousands of books in a little gadget may sound like a cool feature, in truth, this feature will rarely be used by the average reader.

Environmentally friendly? - Many tout the Amazon Kindle boast as a 'green product'. It is supposedly more sustainable, leaving less environmental impact on the planet compared to real books. It is true that many trees are cut down every year to make books, but is the production of an electronic book reader any more environmentally friendly? These electronic readers, like many other electronic products, are made of plastics, microchips, conductors and many other components. Real books on the other hand, are made of just ink and paper. It takes much more resources and energy to produce the Amazon Kindle and if everyone in the US were to buy an e-book reader, the carbon footprint left by the production line will far greater than those left in the production of books. Moreover, real books are 100% recyclable and can the same be said of the Amazon Kindle? The electronic reader needs to be charged every two days, unnecessarily increasing the consumption of energy of the average person, which contributes of the causes of global warming.

All in all, Kindle is another highly hyped gadget that is only useful for elite readers who purchase more than 40 books every year. Unless you have lots of cash to throw around or a collector of gadgets that you will barely use, stay away from the Amazon Kindle!

For more real reviews of the Amazon kindle and other e-book readers, visit: http://www.e-book-readers.blogspot.com/