<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/rimg0017.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-5720" title="Exif_JPEG_PICTURE" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/rimg0017.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>My new Kindle 3 arrived this morning. Why did I order one? Few reasons really, and those uppermost are probably not the ones in the mind of most Kindle buyers. I write books for a living so I need to know what's going on in the marketplace.

Also I have an unfulfilled desire for something that will let me research and revise my work more efficiently than ink and paper. Not that they have no place, in revision or the final product.

The key attraction of Kindle for lots of people -- as a way of moving from printed books to digital ones -- isn't mine right now. I want to use this primarily as a writing and research tool and will write about how it does that a little later.

But first let me try and explain what I understand Kindle to be, because it's not what I thought. A lot of people are somewhat baffled by the concept, not least because it <em>isn't</em> that familiar piece of hardware, or at least not entirely. There's lots to say here and I won't manage it in one go. Also I'm new to this thing and will doubtless get some stuff wrong -- if so please correct me in the comments.<!--more-->

Kindle is a way of distributing digital media invented by Amazon, owned by Amazon, controlled by them. So you can't shop around other bookstores for products, at least not easily, though there are tons of free books you can get for it, through Amazon and elsewhere. The implications of that are huge but for discussion on another day.

In the beginning the only way you could get Kindle was by buying one of those physical Kindle readers. Now it's open to a much wider audience. There are Kindle reader apps for Windows, Macs, iPhones, iPads and Android phones. These read books bought through Amazon's Kindle store. Plenty of free ones and you get sample chapters of commercial books. If you want to explore what Kindle is about I'd just download one of those free apps and play about for a little while to get the idea.

The point about Kindle is it's what geeks call a 'cloud' service. With most of our digital toys we worry about storage. How many photographs can I get on that camera memory card? How many tunes on my iPod?

Kindle doesn't work that way. When you buy something through it on Amazon -- or even acquire a free book -- Amazon knows that and keeps a copy on its own network. Imagine you have Kindle on your work PC, a Mac laptop, an Android phone, and you own a Kindle reader too. You can read it on each and happily delete all of them and it won't matter. When you want to read it again -- even years down the line presumably -- you just retrieve it from your Amazon archive. And you can manage all this online through a simple interface, below.

[caption id="attachment_5726" align="alignnone" width="490" caption="Kindle management through Amazon account"]<a href="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/kindle.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5726 " title="kindle" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/kindle.jpg" alt="" width="490" height="193" /></a>[/caption]

See what Amazon's hoping to be? Your new replacement library. What matters are the books. How you choose to read them is up to you. This is a very new concept, quite unlike that of any ereader that's come before. Took me a while to understand frankly. That said, this thing is beautifully designed through, from the hardware to the system of delivering books. My K3 arrived this morning ready set up for my Amazon account. I didn't have to enter a username or a password. As soon as I turned it on it knew who I was and downloaded the books I already had from my Kindle app purchases.

The other big difference is the buying experience. Because there's only one store, Amazon can make that as simple (and as powerful for their own purposes) as possible. Buying for a Kindle app is a doddle. Buying on the reader is even easier. The K3 has wifi and, if you pay the extra, international free 3G coverage too. You can sit down anywhere you're connected, browse the web store, download book samples to see if you like the look of a title, then purchase it on the spot and have the thing delivered in short order.

It's mind-boggling frankly and I'm only scratching the surface here. This is not like using a personal computer at all. It's simple, logical and probably about as easy to understand as it could be. Think of the nightmare of some ereader purchases -- downloading DRM software, buying through PCs then copying files over through a USB cable. It's a world away from all that nonsense.

But back to my principal purpose next. Research and revision. How well does it handle these? And is there a difference between what's available to owners who have just the apps -- not the ereader -- when it comes to the clever stuff? The answer to the second is, surprise, surprise, yes. And it's a big one.

If you own the ereader Amazon give you a special Kindle email address. Send a Word file -- say a book manuscript -- to this and it will convert the thing into Kindle format and send it back to you to read on your Kindle reader or app. If your agent or editor owns a Kindle (and not just the app) you can deliver your books in the same way.

Big thing number two. You can search books easily and quickly. You can make notes and highlights. <em>And all those notes and highlights will get synced from device to device. </em>Can you see the possibilities both for research and revision?

I can. And there has to be a gotcha somewhere. Let me play with it in real life and try to find them.  I will report back when I have something to say.

Oh, and as for the Android-based giant phone Dell Streak I wrote about earlier. Great piece of kit and very versatile.

But next to the Kindle for book revision... big time loser I'm afraid. Plus it costs over £400 against the Kindle's £109 for a wifi only device and £149 for free international 3G on top.

The Dell is going back.

The Kindle is a keeper. As we used to say on ancient newspapers... more follows later...