Kindle 2: impressions of the first two weeks

One of the best things about living in America is the ability to experience all the newest technologies. That is, if you have the money, which we usually don't. However, in the case of Amazon's Kindle 2, one can almost find the perfect excuse for buying a Kindle: it will eventually save us money, as I am an avid reader. So, as the inventory of new books for me to read was diminishing we decided to get me one instead of new books.
After receiving the Kindle 2 I can say that it is a fun gadget and it does make you want to read more. It is fairly easy to use, although in today's world of touch screens I was expecting it to have one as well. I think, however, that there are too many buttons to control the device. For example, there are two "Next Page" buttons, one on each side of the gadget. Most of the functionality is controlled by the "Menu" button and is quite basic.
The display itself is very readable and easy on the eyes, due to the Kindle's best feature: the electronic ink screen. The display is very power efficient and uses battery only when the display is changed, for example when you turn a page. So far I am very impressed by the efficiency: I haven't charged the Kindle since the initial (and partial as I was too eager to start using it) charge. In the time until now I have already finished one book and more than a hundred pages. On the other hand I scarcely use the wireless capabilities, because I haven't downloaded a book from Amazon yet. The Kindle is equipped with an experimental basic text-based web browser. We tried to use it in Vegas to get some information from the Lonely Planet website, but it was too slow and awkward to use.
The web browser also emphasizes one of the few shortcomings of the device: the display refreshes very - very - slowly. There is a significant latency between the command you give (e.g. turn a page) and the refresh of the display. It's less than a second, but more than a comfortable time lag.
By a recommendation of one of D's classmates I downloaded several books from the free and open library of Project Gutenberg. The books in this library come in various formats, ranging from simple text files to a variety of e-book formats, but none of them is the Kindle's native - and property of Amazon - format. However, Kindle itself supports several e-book formats, some of them can also be found at Project Gutenberg. You can also use Amazon's services to reformat a file that is not supported by Kindle, e.g. Word documents or PDF files. To do that just send the file to an email address provided by Amazon. The reformatted file will be sent back to you either by email (for free, but then you have to manually transfer the file to your Kindle) or directly to the Kindle (for $0.10). See the link above for more details.
One last feature, which I find very useful and I enjoy a lot, is the built-in dictionary. If you happen to encounter a word that you don't know (and it happens a lot in Project Gutenberg's books, as they are all from the 19th century or older), simple use the navigation joystick to point at the word. The dictionary will automatically show you the meaning of the word, and if you want to know more, you can press "Enter" to show a page with the definition. If only I had had that before the GRE course I took...

In summary, I think that the Kindle is an excellent book reader and something that I will recommend to any book-lover. The only small problems with it are the slow refresh rate of the display, and the non-functional web browser. If Amazon are looking at further improvements to the Kindle I recommend they start there. In addition, I think that the price ($359.00) is too expensive, and should have at least included a free gift for several books to be downloaded from Amazon. In a short time the Kindle changed my reading habits and made reading a better and a more educating experience. Just remember: you cannot use it to read books during take off and landing, but I think it's okay to use it in steady flight if you turn off the cellular connectivity.