My Kindle arrived yesterday in the familiar Amazon box. It was funny how much Amazon is imitating Apple's packing process. Apple has proved that presentation - the way a product is packed - is important. After putting aside the outer shipping box I opened the inner Kindle box.

That cover was an additional purchase.

The "Once Upon a Time" pull tab was a nice touch:

With more fanfare inside the box, it really was like opening an iPod. When I got to the Kindle my brother asked about the instructions listed on the screen. "Is that a sticker?" It wasn't. It was "on" in the box. And at first glance it doesn't look "real." Its not like any computer screen you've ever seen, and its not quite paper either.

The day before the Kindle arrived I'd already gone to the online Kindle store and purchased a couple of titles. Upon arrival the Kindle immediately went to work downloading those books. Keep in mind that I don't have wifi in my office. It downloads over cellular networks. And since you can shop directly from the device, you literally take the bookstore with you. I immediately downloaded the Stephen King short story/novella "UR" in which the Kindle features prominently. King's story was fantastic, and it got me excited about exploring literature I've missed... in this reality (you'll get what I mean when you read his story). I also downloaded a Tobias Buckell novel and Neal Stephenson's "Anatham."

I've only had this device for a day, but I can already tell that the battery life will be incredible. Unlike a computer monitor, It doesn't use power to hold a page. It only needs power to turn a page. I'll read a week or more between charges.

This thing is fun. It will change the way I read and, probably, the amount I read. It isn't cheap, particularly when you throw in the leather cover I bought, but I just can't see anyone being disappointed by this device. You'll probably make up the price of the machine by buying $10 bestsellers over the $30 hardbacks. Older books are cheaper - often around $6. $4 will buy you practically everything Dickens wrote. Some public domain works are free.

Amazon claims that you'll be able to store 1500 titles on this device.

A friend asked me the best question, "Did you disappear into it like you would a book? Did you forget you're reading a machine?" Yes I did. Quickly. I think the stiff leather cover may have helped a little with that. It feels and smells like holding a leather-bound book.

Could it be improved with a version 3? You bet. I would like greater contrast between the type and the background - black on white. Right now its more like black on beige or black on silver. I would like the page turns to be invisible to me - perhaps a quick fade-out of the last page and a fade-in of the next page. Currently the screen goes all black for an instant to reset for the next page. Occasionally there are faint ghost images of the last page that was displayed. It looks a little like an etch-a-sketch that wasn't shaken enough. I would like the display to cover more of the device.

The experimental "text to speech" function is not quite ready for prime-time. If you know someone who is vision-impaired, they might have the patience to learn to hear through the machine drone to appreciate the story, but I'll pass for now. Some of the mispronunciations are pretty funny: the word "Kindle" is even mispronouced.

I look forward to continued improvements in the Kindle store. The store tends to steer the shopper toward newer books. How about some help finding some older Pulitzer winners? With 240,000 titles, there's plenty to read. But no Tolkien, Harry Potter, or John Grisham? Come on guys. Get to work!

But with this second version Amazon has found their iPod. Unless potential competitors improve their game, Amazon will own the ebook market for the foreseeable future.

I'm not worried - as one commenter was - about Amazon going out of business or abandoning the Kindle. I believe that this business is here to stay. Even if Amazon were to go bankrupt or lose interest in this blockbuster (neither seems likely), the Kindle and the Kindle store would be a valuable acquisition for some other company.

4 out of 5 stars.