Amazon's E-book Store

To get the most out of your Amazon Kindle, you'll need to create an account with Amazon.com. It's a free process -- all you'll need is a valid e-mail address. Once you have an account, you can register your Kindle with Amazon. This gives you access to the Kindle Store through Amazon's wireless network called Whispernet.

Deregistration
What if you've lost your Kindle, or some unscrupulous person has taken a kindled interest in it and stolen it from you? You should go to your Amazon profile and deregister your Kindle as soon as possible. Otherwise, the thief may use your Kindle to download a library of books on your dime.

The Amazon Kindle's EVDO modem gives you wireless access to an electronic store that includes more than 190,000 books, newspapers and magazines [source: Amazon]. Amazon provides the wireless service for free -- you won't have to pay a subscription to access it. The Kindle allows you to buy books directly from the device. Alternatively, you can browse books in the Kindle store using your computer's Web browser and purchase them from your computer. Amazon will send the electronic books directly to your device. You can also browse several blogs online.

You don't need to own a computer to use the Kindle. That's one feature that sets Kindle apart from its competitors. Unlike most e-book readers, you don't have to sync the Kindle to another machine to transfer files. You can browse, sample, purchase and download titles from the Kindle itself.

Kindle accessories
© Amazon.com
The Kindle comes with a USB cord, power adapter and a cover.

The files you access ­with a Kindle are in a proprietary format with the extension AZW. The AZW files include digital rights management (DRM) that prevents you from sharing your files with other users. The Kindle can handle Audible files (.aa) and MP3 files, two popular formats for audio books. Amazon also can convert several other types of files into the AZW format so that the Kindle can read them. These file types include:

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  • Text (.txt) files
  • Unprotected MOBI files (.mobi o­r .prc)
  • Word documents (.doc)
  • HTML files
  • Image files, including JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG formats
  • PDF files -- the Kindle's PDF conversion capabilities are still in the experimental phase and may not work with every file

Each Kindle has a unique e-mail address. You can send compatible files to your Kindle by e-mailing them directly to the device. Amazon charges $0.10 for each file. If you want to avoid the fee, you can e-mail the files to a special address at the free.kindle.com domain for free conversion. Amazon will convert the files and send them to the e-mail address associated with your Amazon account. To transfer files from your Amazon account to your Kindle, you'll need to connect the device to a computer using the USB cable. This is one of the few times you'll have to connect your device to another machine.

Every purchase you make from Amazon goes into a special folder called Your Media Library. Amazon uses a ­cloud storage model where the file lives on one of Amazon's computer servers. That means even if you delete a book from your Kindle to conserve space, the record of your purchase will still exist on Amazon's servers. You can choose to download the book again to your Kindle for no additional charge.

Recently, the Kindle went from a niche electronic device to national news. Find out more in the next section.