Ironically I had held off getting one in part because of having a lot of physical books. In the interim, I kept buying books because I read a lot so the problem has just been getting worse. Time to go digital. Between now and when I move again (I think about 2 years) I’m going to give away or sell my physical books and replace the ones I want to keep with digital versions.
Five reasons why I love my Kindle:
- Case with light – Kindle Lighted Leather Cover (Amazon) combined with the Kindle made my 24 hours sans power in my apartment much more bearable.
- Carrying multiple books at once. I can go out for the day with a novel and a non-fiction book and alternate between them. Well actually a whole array of books, but the point is – reading multiple books at once is much more pleasant. Also, I flew back to the UK for 3 and a half weeks and my suitcase and backpack were that much lighter – I didn’t bring any books, just my Kindle.
- Free books. There are TONS, particularly popular classics like Pride and Prejudice etc although it’s hard to find the page listing them on Amazon. You can also look for limited time offers. Also, lending books is possible. I think I was holding out for this feature before I would get one! Anyway, if you want to borrow one of mine that I write about on here let me know – I’ll be happy to share it with you.
- Reading novels is fun again – when I decide I want one, it arrives instantly. No waiting, no need to go to the bookstore. I love it.
- It doesn’t feel like a gadget. I’m just reading a book. I’m not distracted by popups or alternative activities (a black and white web browser is just weird). I find the UX to be really well designed for the context – it just gets out the way.
The downsides. I’m flying a lot at the moment and the Kindle is considered an electronic device that should be powered off on takeoff and landing. Yes, for real. Perhaps they’d like me to power off my digital watch as well? Hopefully airlines will come up with a sensible policy for this as given that it only uses power when you change a page, I don’t think it can’t be considered an electronic device the way an iPad is. That is a little frustrating.
Bigger was Amazon’s response to Wikileaks which I wasn’t keen on. I’d literally just committed to buying all books from them and then that? I was not overjoyed by that. It does tie you in to one supplier, which can be problematic.
But, overall, I’m really happy I bought one.