Thursday, February 25

Kindles: an Update

A relative received a Kindle for Christmas and I've had ample opportunity to play with it.

My obstacle is that I am a seasoned library user... I don't pay to read books (well, except through my property taxes, but let's not start into that discussion). While I recognize that most Kindle titles are priced less than new print versions, they're still more costly than "free."

That said, there are a few convenience items I recently considered... and ultimately rejected.

1. Book Club. We meet once a month, eat and drink, and perhaps discuss the book. I thought that monthly book might be a nice splurge for myself on the borrowed Kindle. Unfortunately, I've found that the books of choice are often one-offs in my reading habit, and I'm less inclined to buy something I can't give away for the love of someone else's reading.

2. Travel books. As I planned for a family vacation, it occurred to me that I could pack a single Kindle more neatly than 4 thick travel books, PLUS the hi-lighting would be digital in place of a scrambled mess of bookmarks and Post-Its. Unfortunately, as mentioned in reviews of Kindle vs. the larger Kindle DX, the standard Kindle doesn't handle graphics well. On a preview version of one particular travel book, I was unable to zoom in on a map of California. This wouldn't be a problem if California weren't the size of, say, California.

Still, the device appeals on a certain level. Of the public domain pieces I own (thank you, Project Gutenberg), it's luxurious to sit in bed with this light, thin piece of hardware and read from any position.*

I also feel powerful in the knowledge that I could, at a moment's notice, download almost anything from Amazon. And isn't that why yearn for cool personal electronics? For power over our world?


*I know what you're thinking, and no, I haven't ordered The Kama Sutra.

3 comments:

  1. For more discussion, I recently discovered the "I Love My Kindle" blog (http://ilmk.wordpress.com/)... also available as a Kindle blog download for $0.99 per month.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have to pay to read blogs? That's just wrong. And I'm sure Ken is glad that you're aren't reading during more, ahem, intimate moments.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You don't necessarily have to pay to read blogs, as you can eventually find them through the "experimental" web browser. However, if you want them to seamlessly load on your Kindle as they become available, Amazon will charge you for that service.

    ReplyDelete

Merci!