One of the nice things about reading is that it enhances ones vocabulary, but only if one can learn the new words that one meets. I’ve always dreaded using a dictionary because one has to manually find the right page, and for them to contain all relevant words they need to be huge. When one is used to computers, this just seems terribly inefficient. Luckily now there are many online dictionaries. Sadly they don’t help very much when one is lying on the sofa or in bed and reading. This is where I think the kindle really shines. When reading a book on the kindle, one can instantly look up a new word without leaving the page. This alone is often compelling reason enough to buy it as an ebook than to buy it in paperback.
And if the book you’re reading is a physical book, you can still use the Oxford dictionary that comes with the device to look up words just by typing them in. And because the device is very power efficient, one never has to worry about it running out of power any time soon.
Read my review of the kindle for more information on the device.