Time passed, and I didn’t order a Kindle. Still, a teaching colleague talked about the device from time to time. She was very much like me: she thought she wanted one, but was a bit daunted by the price and the question of how much she would actually use it.

Then, along came Oprah, and my colleague was sure she wanted one. I was still skeptical. Finally, she got one for Christmas from her parents and showed it to me in January. I liked it a lot, but I’d started hearing rumblings about a Kindle 2 and thought it best to wait.

Soon, another colleague told me she’d ordered a Kindle, but was on a waiting list. Then, Kindle 2 was announced, and this colleague told me she’d received an email saying she’d be upgraded to the Kindle 2 automatically. After it arrived, she brought it to school, singing its praises, and I was hooked. It’s easy on the eyes (both in terms of its sleek appearance and the electronic paper’s readability) and easy to hold. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up an actual book in hand, but it turns out, I’m fine with it.

Now, I’m one of those folks who lives in a place not covered by Whispernet, but downloading a Kindle book to my computer and moving it to my Kindle 2 is not a hardship. It’s done in a flash. Sure, sure, Whispernet’s more convenient (I’ve used it when I’ve been out of town.), but you know, it’s not like I sit around moaning about the lack of Whispernet. Heck, I’ve got too much reading to do to worry about that.

So, in short, I love my Kindle 2. It does pretty much what I need it to do. (Incidentally, I don’t need to read to me, so I’m not so worried about the text-to-speech thing.)