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Is Amazon Kindle right for the non-techy? Pros & cons

We recently had a DeGeeked visitor ask about the Amazon Kindle. In essence she wondered, Is the Kindle a viable choice for the non-techy? A great question, and frankly one that should be asked before making a tech buy for anyone who may not be at ease with today's technology choices.

The pros and cons of the Kindle lay out like this:

3 reasons why the Kindle is a great gift idea for a non-techy:

• It operates essentially free from wires. Meaning it doesn't require any connection to a computer, as it can access everything wirelessly.
  
• The Kindle does more than just books. It can deliver any type of print content. Books, newspapers, magazines (not to mention any blog or website feed).
  
• It reads like a book. Amazon has placed a lot of effort into being sure the Kindle screen is easy on the eyes. Text looks amazingly close to its print counterparts.
  

3 reasons why its a bad gift idea for a non-techy:

• It is new and different piece of technology. Any way you put it, new is new, and change is change, and some people are uncomfortable with that. It's likely a non-techy has zero issue with picking up a book, paper or magazine and settling down for a read. Why ask them to change?
• Its expensive. The Kindle retails for $359, making it a pretty risky bet if you are not sure your non-techy will adapt to it well. 
• Kindle Books are not free. You'll still have to shell out $10 or so per book that you download.
  

If your giftee is fairly tech savvy and loves a good read, the Kindle is a good bet, and sure to be a hit. However, don't expect a technology averse friend or loved one to suddenly decide they'd prefer a fancy computer book machine to a good old library book.