Yes, yes, yes. Like most technology, I have been very slow to come to this. If it's new, I balk...I freak out, I turn my head in rejection and fear...and then I forget about it...for several years. And then something in the universe shifts, and I see the whole thing from a new angle, and it's like the geeky boy who gets contacts, loses his braces, and cleans up his acne - I'm smitten.
My new geek crush? A thin device that stores 1500 books, weighs 10.2 ounces, and gets nearly a month's run on one battery charge.
So let's talk briefly about why I was so against it in the first place, so you can understand my sudden lust. There is just something comforting about holding a book in your hand, the softness, the smell, the ability to flip a few pages ahead to see where the chapter ends, dog-earing pages, writing in the margins, highlighting, underlining, bookmarking, post-it noting...you name it - I live and breathe and use my books to death. I break the spines, and bend them back, and generally take advantage of them, but I LOVE them, and I hoard them.
In fact, I'm running out of room.
So, we come to the dilemma. No more shelves. Little room to add more without making our office look like a pack-rat lives here (I try to hide that in closets, drawers, cupboards, and the spare bedroom). AND, what am I going to do with them? Sure I look back at some of them, use them for reference, re-read on occasion. But, ultimately, they are just going to be given away at some point, when I'm gone, and my poor children have to have an estate sale, uncovering to the world my, and my husband's necessity to hang on to strange and unnecessary crap (i.e. old musicals on record, 200 childrens books, 3 different cat brushes, 6 bins of "rags", and a room full of things we "plan" to take to the thrift store). So, not only are we becoming a fire hazard, we are also an environmental nightmare.
Hence, my slow warm-up to the Kindle. Twitch...it will keep my bookshelves tidier. Cringe...it will be cheaper to buy books (lots are free, and even best sellers are nearly a third the cost of a "real" book). Swallow...it will be better for the environment.
Then came the spark - an acquaintance let me look at hers. Enh. It was sleek. Pretty. But hard and cold.
And the fire - she turned it on. Wow. It looked just like the page of a book. No glare...even the color of a book page. Hmmm.
And the blaze - it gives the reader the capability to dog-ear pages, highlight, write notes, underline, bookmark hundreds of pages, save notes, transfer them, categorize them...you name it. Imagine, an entire interactive library of all your favorite texts, annotated by you, stored and categorized by you, in a neat package you can carry in your purse. Awesome!
For $189, you can have...
Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback
Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
Global Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries. See details. Check wireless coverage map.
Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight
Carry Your Library: Holds up to 1,500 books
Long Battery Life: Read for up to one week on a single charge with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for two to three weeks.
Social Networks: Share your passion for reading with friends and family by posting favorite passages to Twitter and Facebook directly from your Kindle
Built-In PDF Reader: Carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go. Now with Zoom capability to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics
Read-to-Me: With the experimental Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read content out loud to you, unless the rights holder made the feature unavailable
Large Selection: Over 630,000 books and the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read, including 109 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs. For non-U.S. customers, content availability and pricing will vary. Check your country.
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases from $9.99
Out-of-Copyright, Pre-1923 Books: Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available to read on Kindle, including titles such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island. Learn more
Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy
For the full run-down, accessories, libraries, etc. ... visit Amazon.
3 comments:
Really, how often will you use the Kindle over having a real book? Me thinks the novelty will wear off in under a year.
-K
It IS possible that I will lose interest. It wouldn't be the first time technology became useless in my household. But...the fact that I have no more room for books and that I would like to reduce my reading footprint, as it were, is enough to peak my interest. Besides. At 20 bucks a pop for a hardback...even if I lose interest in a year, I'd save money. 10 books? Or a kindle? I think I'll take my chances.
Melissa, Go for it! Bruce bought me one for my birthday and I haven't given him the chance to even really look at it yet. I love it. Plus if you get the cover (I highly suggest it) then it has the weight of a book and opening the cover is just like opening a book. Plus unlike a book that you have lost your bookmark to...it opens right to the last page you were on.
Theresa
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