have you had a kindle before? are you an avid reader? did having your kindle help you to read more? so far i have owned each of the 6inch versions of the kindle and i just checked my amazon account and my kindle 3 is shipping soon!

the design on the first generation kindle was unique, it suffered from some issues with button placement, but overall was a very nice reader. the second generation kindle had a sleeker chassis, and improved on the button placement, added more book capacity, longer battery life and slightly better screen.

i'm looking forward to this third generation kindle for a few reasons:

• first is the smaller form factor. the screen is the same size, but the chassis overall is smaller.
• another reason im looking forward to it is the ability to have wi-fi. the built in 3g is great, don't get me wrong, but when i'm at home and using the kindle to catch up on blogs, etc. the wi-fi will be faster.
• one final reason i am looking forward to this new kindle is the screen, they have added more contrast and this will make reading in lower light easier.

if you haven't seen a kindle in person, i encourage you to find one. in a pinch you can check out the nook at a barnes and noble bookstore, they use the same screen as the kindle 2. although the amazon kindle 3 is the industry leader in e-readers, they dont have the marketing group like the folks at apple do.

in order to help this, amazon should market one of the greatest features of the e-reader devices on the market today, the e-ink screen. this screen is nothing like a computer screen, sure it isn't color, but it also inst a computer screen, it is more like a printed page. this is a huge plus to this device over say an ipad. don't get me wrong the ipad is sweet, and has many uses and is a great e-reader in its own right, but the e-ink screen does not give any eye strain to the user.

i sit at a computer all day and by the afternoon the strain on my eyes is noticable. i'm sure you have noticed this as well. the e-ink screen is like paper, it gives the reader the feel of reading a normal paper book and as such you can sit all day and read without the strain of a backlit computer screen.

i for one am excited, do you have one, leave a comment and share with the class.