Well the kindle isn't backlit like a mobile phone might be so indeed you can't read it in the dark. The rationale seemingly being partly to reduce screen glare since many kindle readers read outdoors and also to increase the length of time between charging. Apparently you can get little lights that attach to it though that isn't really any different to reading a book with a nightlight. Still, I can't say I've really found much use for mine but then I has plenty of real books yet to read. Also the wireless only thing isn't really convenient for me, although you can get models that work through 3G as well, but mine is just the basic flavour.