Ever since the Kindle and other e-readers began hitting the market, I have wanted one. Given the opportunity I am a voracious reader.
I have a very slight "gadget" fixation. For example after over-dosing one weekend on "Survivor-Man", I sent John out to buy me waterproof matches. Not exactly on the same level as a Kindle, but something I will never use (I hope). He didn't believe they existed. He hunted Cabela's for them and could not find them. He finally found a stack of them at Target. He kept wanting to know WHY I wanted them and I have no explanation. The idea appealed to me. I will carry a box in the car. The rest I will probably lose in the amazing clutter. (I watch "Hoarders" with a great deal of trepidation, looking furtively around my room.....)
This is my Kindle at rest,all closed up and quiet. I get (supposedly) 30 hours of battery time.
After I bought the Kindle I bought the cover which was very expensive and added a lot of weight to the Kindle itself, which is quite light.
The cover has a built in light which is surprisingly good. Means I can read in a car or motel when others want the lights out. Or ask; can I turn the pages a little quieter, please because he is trying to sleep.
Push a button and the page turns, silently.
However not reaching for the page to turn it is like driving a stick-shift for ten years and then buying an automatic, which I have also done. It takes a long time not to hit the clutch and reach for the stick. Old habits die hard.
There are a ton of things you can do with the new Kindle that I do not do. You can move emai around and you can read PDF files-- a lot of books at other sites besides Amazon are in PDF form. You can substitute your own photos for the pictures that indicate the Kindle is "asleep":
I can bookmark a page so that the next time I start the Kindle it automatically goes to where I left off reading. It comes with the Oxford English Dictionary so that AS I read I can highlight a word and look up the meaning without leaving the page I am on.
I may also highlight passages, altho I have not learned how to move them to a file yet.
Well anyway that's my Kindle. I have heard all the arguments against them: "I like to HOLD my books!" well, so do I but there are times when it is better to have this.
Disadvantage big time: no page numbers and no color photos. Everything is in greyscale but I bet very soon it won't be.
Disadvantage Big Time: The reading stock, as vast as it is, is limited. I have spent days looking for Graham Greene's THE COMEDIANS and it is not available for the Kindle. Lots of brand new books are not Kindle-friendly.You just have to wait, or buy them or check them out from the library.
I think as the e-reader craze continues,-- and I have no doubt that it will-- more publishers will relent.
I have been excrutiantingly careful with my Kindle. I never leave it out and unattended. One Basset crunch and one of them-- the Kindle or dog, would be be on death row. It has that leather cover and that irresistable crunch....
And last, I did a lot of research, picked the Kindle because: 1. So did PC WORLD magazine which is my bible for things electronic, and 2. Amazon has more books available than the others.
Right now they are not compatible with each other, but they will be, eventually.
I do not own stock in Kindle and have not been paid for this blatantly positive review.
I have had my Kindle since Christmas. After a couple of months I actually prefer reading on it although I have been a librarian for over 30 years. You do not have to book mark your place every time. If you are on a page, then go to menu or home to do something else, and then go back to that title by selectinging it on your home screen, the page you were on last will appear on the screen automatically. I wish I knew how to search a book that I own for different sections better, though. I have one cookbook on it that drives me nuts!
ReplyDeleteI just got my Kindle last week. It's all Cathy's fault. I had talked myself out of buying one... After talking to her, I realized I wouldn't be putting the publishers out business! LOL.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm still learning all the little tricks but absolutely love it!!!