Caution is advised.
The Kindle 2 has the potential to permanently alter and destroy consumer rights with regard to written material.
My initial reaction to the Kindle 2 was overly positive. The whole system—the hardware, the software and the wireless connection—are well done and compelling. The Kindle 2 is like having a whole library of books in your hand, almost instantaneously available for a price. It works and it works well.
But I am wary of Amazon and think caution is advised on adopting this device. All the material you purchase, books and magazines, are DRM’d tightly. They cannot be read anywhere else besides your Kindle. [UPDATE: Amazon released an iPhone/iPod Touch application for reading Kindle 2 books on those devices. I tested sync'ing and it worked perfectly. You can switch between devices and keep your place without having to remember where you left off.] You cannot share or lend them. You cannot sell them. You cannot print any part.
The second reason I mistrust the Kindle is the change Amazon announced with regard to the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech feature. The original advertisement/press announcement for Kindle explicitly said that any book or magazine would work with this feature. Then the Authors Guild complained and Amazon did an about face. Now Amazon will let the publisher decide if this feature will be enabled on any book. This is a form of bait-and-switch. This is unacceptable.
If Amazon can change this service at will what will stop them from changing other terms later, without user recourse?
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[...] A major concern I have about the Kindle 2 is that Amazon can do whatever it wants with regard to the owners’ use of the device. They can willynilly change the terms of service and harm owners’s interests without any recourse. I wrote about his in my March 3, 2009 post Amazon’s Kindle 2 Reconsidered. [...]