And I Was Just About to Buy One

The Kindle's features (and price) had finally reached the point where I was about to buy one....as a gift for someone who loves to read but is not computer savvy. I had planned to load the Kindle with some gift credits, then trust that the recipient could figure out the not-too-difficult process of browsing and buying from Amazon. Ideally, he would have to feel as comfortable on the Kindle as he would perusing the collections at the bookstore or library.

However, this phenomenon reversed my decision:

Spam has hit the Kindle, clogging the online bookstore of the top-selling eReader with material that is far from being book worthy and threatening to undermine Amazon.com Inc’s publishing foray.

Spammers are churning out 99-cent ebooks by pasting together writings authored by others. No original work is provided and both the cost of production and the likelihood of getting caught are low. The Amazon catalog is becoming suffused with junk.

I imagine that Amazon will solve this problem eventually, but until then I won't be buying a Kindle for others or for myself.