I understand about that. (I've got two Kindles, a K1 and a K2) and it's annoying...but I rarely buy new releases unless it's an author I really like, and I dont like most of the big name authors right now. So, I've been buying classics and the occasional scifi novels (went thru all the Stargate novels they had)

I'm a big fan of fanfiction. (stories written by fans about tv shows that are either still in production or cancelled) I've been putting some of the fanfic stories into Word and then emailing the documents to my Kindle and using the Kindle to read it. It's a lot easier on my eyes than staring at a computer screen, and I can take it anywhere. (to the gym!)

I have to pay to email documents to my Kindle, but so far the largest file only cost me about 30 cents...and I think I've only spent about $3 emailing fanfiction to my Kindle so far. Some of the fanfic stories I've put on the Kindle have been novel length stories, and they're sometimes written just as well as storebought novels.

It is irritating that Amazon is being so stupid and kowtowing to the publishers for new releases on books. They're going to end up pushing people into buying other e-reader devices. I'm not planning on buying an iPad (the iTampon...lol!) because it's backlit, and the backlight will hurt my eyes.

First the publishers and the authors made Amazon disable the text-to-speech, and now they're going to make us wait for new releases (unless the author/publisher wants to release the ebook with the hardcover release)