> The sheer hatred for this device staggers me. It's become a joke! People who've never used one call it ugly. They call it a waste. It's become a joke of the i

> The sheer hatred for this device staggers me. It's become a joke! People who've never used one call it ugly. They call it a waste. It's become a joke of the industry, and I have no clue why. I agree that the hatin' is a bit over the top. (Though I agree the device is aesthetically challenged, it's the screen that the user is looking at. If the Sony Reader I've played with is any indication, the screen is really all that matters, the button arrangement on the Kindle is considered almost perfect, from what I understand.) That said, I think what some of the critics are seeing is a repeat of the Newton. That was Apple's first stab at a portable "smart" device that overreached; it was expensive and its user experience was mostly alien. Because of its failure, the first successful device in that market space was the much inferior Palm Pilot, and as such, the Newton may be perceived as setting back or delaying the mainstream acceptance of a fully powered smart device via premature birth. (The sector really didn't regain the same capability level in the mainstream until the Blackberry and iPhone came on the scene.) The Kindle might be doing the same thing with the "PADD" (I'm thinking Star Trek here) concept by focusing on books and focusing the UI on that exclusively. Such a device could potential save periodicals and newspapers, but those markets aren't ready for pure digital distribution yet...