I bought the Kindle 2 in February. A few days ago, I dropped it, and now half of the screen is perpetually garbled, making it unusable.
Oh well, it was a fun seven months. 
Bummer. The first thing I did was find an old leather notepad holder with a zipper on it, stick a strip of velcro in it and one on the back of the kindle to prevent just such a disaster.
Yeah, I actually have something like that! I just happened to have it out of that case that day.
I better say it before someone else does. I dropped a book the other day and it is fine. I hate when I break electronics, which I do on a regular basis. I need to bubblewrap everything!
Wow, that sucks. So much for their “drop demonstration” videos. I take it you didn’t buy the extended warranty and accidental damage plan? Have you spoken to Amazon about repair costs?
I accidentally stepped on my Kindle1. Put a crack in the scroll window. Now the bottom four lines, below the crack, are sort of fogged up so you can’t see the cursor unless you scroll it above the crack. Still works, though. If it didn’t I’d see about getting it repaired. I can’t live without this thing.
This is a little late but Amazon has been great about replacing broken kindles. You can often get one for half price. Just make sure you call KINDLE support, not the normal support lines.
I love paper books, I do. But I just spent a week in a hospital watching my grandmother die, and then ten hours stuck in the Atlanta airport yesterday, and that Kindle was a damned godsend. We went up to Pittsburgh as a regular vacation, not a deathwatch, and I would never have packed the number of books I ended up reading. I would have been stuck reading whatever they had in the hospital bookstore.
This is one reason I haven’t gotten a Kindle or any other kind of e-reader (that, and I’m waiting for them to get cheap enough that I can read one on the subway without worrying that someone will follow me off & mug me for it). I’ve dropped a book I was reading two feet onto a cockroach (or slammed it onto the wall where a centipede was crawling), wiped the cover and gone right on reading. I can’t see doing that with a Kindle.
You might want to try some “percussive maintenance” on the thing before condemning it to the e-waste pile.
It’s already broken, right? Can’t really be any worse? If you have any clue of what end or side of the thing hit the floor first, try rapping the other end against the floor. (Or a table, desk, etc. that won’t be damaged when you smack it with a Kindle.)
I know, it sounds goofy, but I once fixed a Palm Pilot the same way - the LCD got knocked out of position and was unreadable, but giving it a couple thunks the other way put it back into position.
I knew someone who dropped his laptop and was able to get a new one through his homeowner’s insurance. How he did this, I don’t know? But he did it.
I feel for you, I am a good one for breaking stuff.
I know it’s too late for the OP, but do they sell insurance for this kind of thing? I know you can buy coverage for your laptop if you spill coffee on it and things like that
What he said. Call Kindle support muy pronto.
You think a mugger is going to steal your book reader?!? That’s like saying you’re afraid someone will steal your D&D character drawings. My Kindle is the one thing I feel safe leaving around anywhere.