Kindle: good for reading, not for anything else

But then, it doesn't need to be.

When I first tried out the Kindle, a few things made for a jarring introduction:
(1) the screen flashes black-with-white-text when you turn the page, (2) the large button on the left-hand side turns forward one page (sorry, left-handed folks, this is just too weird), (3) you can't adjust the zoom/amount of text per screen (or, I couldn't easily figure out how to do so) and (4) the square controller is small and it's far too easy to hit "Back" instead.

Once I got past these peccadilloes, though, the Kindle was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. The varied screensavers of authors and illustrations warmed my literary heart, the lack of backlight was a nice change, and it's incredibly light and sturdy. In fact, in one way it's actually superior to a print book -- I could read it while walking to and from the Metro. (Travel at your own risk.)

I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and found myself able to focus on the story and mostly forget that I was reading it on the Kindle. Trying to navigate to another book, do anything interactive ("Tweet that you have finished this book"? "Rate this book?"), or find any features or settings (see zoom issues above) was considerably more difficult, or at least not immediately intuitive. I'm not particularly tech-savvy, but it can't be too complicated - can it? (Help me out here, Kindle users.) Bottom line, though: I really enjoyed the Kindle as a device for reading.

Who needs technology? Just give me a book - electronic or otherwise.