…And our cavalcade of “buzzworthy” apps continues with the Amazon Kindle eBook reader for PC.

Website: http://www.amazon.com
Developer: Amazon
App Type: eReader, in a way
Why It Matters: For the past year or so, the Kindle eReader has been the proverbial toast of the town. It made readers squeal with delight, the Author’s Guild a tad “litigious,” and Amazon as rich as Scrooge McDuck. The PC version, apparently, is meant to be the “iTunes” to the Kindle’s iPod — a handy, easy to use application for the times what you’re “stuck” in front of your computer.
The Twist: I honestly do not get the appeal of these things. Sure, there are some cross sections of people that could really use a device like this (students, tour guides, avid role players who have to lug around rule books), but by in large, it just seems like a waste. My reasons are the following:

1. If I want to read a book, I will pick up a book. It has weight. It has physical depth. It has pages that I can actually touch. It is not a glorified PDF file on a monochrome screen. If I wanted to read something from a screen on the go, I would use my iPhone or my PSP. So what if the screen is smaller? Text is text.
2. When I want to read something (a book, a magazine, etc), I actually want to get away from a screen. I can’t do that with the Kindle. I am physically stuck staring at yet another screen.
3. When If I do something tremendously stupid while reading a book — drop it into the lavatory, spill Pepsi on it, and so on — all I have to do dry off the pages. Worst case scenario is that I ruined a $20 book. When If I do something similarly as boneheaded with the Kindle, I will be out a minimum of $200.
4. My Danny Wallace books don’t run out of batteries. My Danny Wallace eBook, however, would.

All of that said, I am more than willing to change my mind. It will just have to take a lot of convincing. For this test, I will be using three separate books: The Art of War, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and Oliver Twist. Why did I pick these particular titles? They were free. With that said, here we go:

The Art of War – This is, by far, the nicest PDF that I have ever read. The text is clean and blur free, switching between pages are stupidly simple, and making bookmarks is a snap. That said, it still felt like a PDF. I just cannot get around that.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes – I actually found this one to be easier to read than The Art of War. I have no idea why. It still feels like a classy, high class PDF, however.

Oliver Twist – About the same as Sherlock Holmes. It was easy to read, but … I think you know what my gripes are about now.

Final Thoughts: I honestly can’t say at this point. I need more time playing with it. For now though, I am definitely not a fan. If my mind changes, or if I figure out a way to run traditional PDF files through the “Kindle,” I will definitely let you know.