I have the Kindle 2 and yes, you can get on the internet but even if you are in a 3G area it is a little slow. I can NOT get my broadband webmail but I can get Yahoo mail so I forward all emails from my webmail to my Yahoo when we are gone and I don't take the notebook.
It has helped us out a couple of times in cities when we need a quick map or to search for a place.
I'm not sure exactly how the new ones (wifi) work as I haven't paid much attention to them.
And for those who think it's another way for them to get $$$ I want to say that I have bought only a very few books in the last 1.5 years! Only authors that I HAD to have the new book or authors that had offerred the 1st of a series as a freebie to entice buyers. Also most of the books I did buy were $6 or under.
They have an awful lot of free books - you just have to check often as the selection changes.
I love my Kindle!!! No more dusting a library worth of books, moving them place to place or selling them at yard sales ;-)