The 3G feature on the Kindle

I love my Kindle Keyboard 3G, Free 3G , and have reviewed it before.
Ace just reviewed his Kindle.  I also love my Kindle, and mostly agree with Ace's review, except he thinks the 3G feature is not that useful.


Totally disagree that the 3G is not that important.Partly this is because I am clearly more impulsive than Ace I have, more times than I can count, been in exactly the situation he describes as unlikely, where I:

want to read a book, and yet have had no notice at all that you should spend the twenty seconds needed to download a book at home

Seriously, more times than I can recount that's exactly where I've been, and I downloaded a book and read it on the spot.

Sometimes in church our very well read preacher will mention a book that sounds intriguing, and my impulsive and forgetful self can download the book on the spot. Previously, I'd write down the title on a scrap of paper that I subsequently lost and I'd forget all about it.

In some cases I have been there because I have found myself watching somebody else's child on the spur of the moment away from both our home, and I've downloaded a book to read to them, or a dentist visit is taking far longer than planned and I've downloaded a book for my son to read, or my foster sons are more fidgety than usual in church and I downloaded a book for them to read, or on a long car trip my 13 year old finds he did not bring enough stuff to entertain himself so I downloaded a Kindle game to play with him, etc, etc.


I was able to use my Kindle's 3G capabilities when suddenly stranded at Union train station in Chicago due to employee incompetence. My cell phone wasn't working well in the station and it was raining heavily outside.  I used the Kindle to post to FB.  Within minutes a network of friends had offered solutions, and I was stranded no more.

I use the 3G feature to keep up with a couple of blogs when I my news junkie self is away from home and I want to catch up with the news.


I have also used my Kindle's 3G capacity to notify the rest of the family when my oldest daughter and her minutes old son were being transported by ambulance to the NICU because it turned out my grandson had a rare and life threatening genetic disorder. My cell phone wouldn't work in the area where we were driving as we vollowed the ambulance. My husband was 40 miles away. Being able to use the Kindle allowed him to get the news of the emergency immediately rather than 30 minutes later, at a time when every minute counted because nobody knew if my grandson was going to live (Thankfully, as our regulars know, he just had his first birthday and his condition has at last been accurately identified and seems to be under control).

The NICU policies of the second hospital where my grandson spent for about 2/3 of the first 6 weeks of his life did not allow cell phone usage, nor did they allow eating in the room or dozing in the hard rocking chair next to the baby's plastic box/bed. Because my son-in-law, as a just hired employee, could not get off work immediately, I stayed with my daughter for about half of the 40 days my grandson spent in the NICU, so I could be with the baby when my daughter had to eat, nap,pump life sustaining breast milk for her baby, or fill out incessant paperwork. With my Kindle I could communicate with the rest of the family via facebook updates (not only were updates important, but it was also over Christmas, and though I am a grandma, I still have minor children at home as well and it was wonderful to be able to keep in contact whenever we wanted with the Kindle).

The 3G feature has been wonderful for me, and much used.

PS- I have used two book lights for the Kindle, and a Mighty Bright UltraThin Book Light that was given to me a long time ago by a friend, or at least, something that looks just like it. I prefer it to the Kindle lights, mainly because it is smaller, the light is more focused, and it fits nicely into small spaces.

Of the Kindle lights I used, I would prefer the Verso Clip-On Reading Light for Kindle if I hadn't used the mini book light first.

Here's my first quick review of what I love about my second hand Kindle 2 with 3G.

Kindle Games

Devotional Reading for Kindles

Can you believe it? Mother Carey's Chickens is free on the Kindle!! It's a lovely, lovely book for mothers and daughters, and quite a few sons.

how to get more free books, other than just ordering from Amazon. You can also download documents. Read the comments, too. I copied and pasted a list of the Bible class songs for the Two Little Boys and sent it to my kindle, so when tucking the in, I can sing them songs without worrying about whether or not I will forget a word in the middle.