I waited on this one.

Why would anybody want to write a review about a piece of hardware that was out almost three months ago? Simple. I wanted to give myself some real time to properly evaluate the product. I wanted the awe and giddiness of a new device to fade from my emotions. I wanted a routine to set in. I wanted some real use cases to pop up where I needed a book, or wanted to pick up a novel. I wanted to see how the Kindle altered my life - for better or worse.

Let's start with the cons.

This device is not for everyone, despite what Jeff Bezos wants you to believe. It is the best eBook reader on the market... but it's still an eBook reader. It's not a replacement for books. There is a certain aesthetic to books that makes them unique when compared to media like music or video. With those media, you're still listening and viewing, no matter what the delivery mechanism. With books, on the other hand, the reading process is just as important as the book itself. Books require imagination - which in turn requires an immersion into the medium. It requires all senses. To alter a person's reading experience is to alter their imaginal wanderings.

The Kindle 2 is a great "reading" device, but to succeed it's just not enough to replace the delivery mechanism. For eBook readers to make their way into the mainstream, they have to improve the reading experience. The Kindle 2 makes it easier to buy and store books, but does little else to improve the reading experience itself.

Bibliophiles will not like the Kindle; nor will readers who take great pride in their collection of say... Neil Gaiman hardcovers. The collector and fan will not take too quickly to the Kindle device.

Additionally, the Kindle has no color as of yet - which is a drawback. It also can't quite mimic or improve on the ease of flipping through a book to quickly find a page for research reasons. The Kindle is proactive in that it allows bookmarks and clippings, but that's assuming a linear reading and research process, which is often not the case.

Kindle eBooks are still too expensive. There are no paper or ink costs, no distribution costs and no warehousing fees, yet many publishers are guilty of jacking up the prices on their eBooks (I'm looking at you O'Reilly), whether Kindle-based or not.

With all of that said, let's take a look at the pros.

If you're the type of reader that tears through books and often throws out, recycles, sells or gives away the book when you're done, the Kindle is definitely right for you. Anybody who reads for readings sake and doesn't get emotionally attached to the physical representation of their books will have a grand old time with the Kindle 2 - if they can find the books that they want.

The other winner in the Kindle 2 release is the tech crowd (like me). A full 1/3 of my book collection is tech-based. Many take up too much space; many are outdated; and many don't often make it to the office with me, resulting in Internet searches rather than utilizing the familiarity of the book I just read. The Kindle 2 solves many tech problems. I don't have to worry about which books to bring with me, and I certainly don't have to worry about what to do with a book when it goes out of date. Every tech book company sells eBook versions of their releases, so I don't have to worry about if it's available in the Kindle store or not. If only tech book publishers would get on the ball and reduce the cost of their eBooks (some range anywhere from $25.00 - $35.00) everyone in the tech industry would have a Kindle.

So what does all this mean for the Kindle 2? It means the Kindle is great for certain types of readers, but isn't ready for the mainstream quite yet. Color, better navigation and improvements on the experience (rather than trying to simply replace the experience) will do wonders for the Kindle in the future. It's not quite there... but it's definitely getting there. And I recommend it to anybody in the technology industry.