I got a Kindle for my wife for Christmas. She really enjoys it, I know its not a problem for a lot of people, but where we live (rural SW Virginia) we are a good 45 minutes from a big book store, and the selection at your local Wal-Mart is not really adequate. She can browse a book, download a sample chapter or two, then decide if she wants to buy it. If she does download it, it takes about 30 seconds...