I Got a Kindle and I Love it
By: Keith
I bought myself a Kindle a while ago and it’s been a fantastic, if not completely necessary, investment for me. “Why?” you ask? Well, simply put, because I’m not the sort of person who cares for having books lying around that I never look at again after they’re read. Furthermore, I do a lot of reading, and having all my books in one place feels convenient. Is the Kindle necessary? No, not even close. It’s a tech gadget for bibliophiles. Fanboys have their iPhones and iPads which look sleek and trendy but have no actual functional redeeming qualities. Fuddy duddies like me have the Kindle. It might not look super cool like an iPad, but unlike those shiny pieces of useless Steve Jobs barf the Kindle actually has a useful function. No, it’s not necessary, but it makes reading fun and easy. For me that’s enough.
Some Useful Extras:
One thing I am loath to admit is that my vocabulary could be a lot better than it is. When I read I keep a notepad and pencil nearby so I can write down interesting vocabulary. I usually go back to study the words after I’m done with the book. The Kindle comes loaded with the New Oxford American Dictionary, and it has the ability to highlight passages and then store those highlights in a Notes file on the hard drive. To use the dictionary all you need to do is place the cursor next to the word as your reading and a little box pops up and tells you what it means. And with a press of a button the little box goes away and you can keep reading with almost no interruption at all. I read two books last week. The Red Pony and Tortilla Flat (I’m in the middle of a Steinbeck binge). I highlighted 30 words from those two books that I wanted to remember. That’s something that would have been irritating work with a regular book.
Say you’re reading a book and you come to some idea you don’t understand and the dictionary isn’t enough to figure it out completely. Lucky for you the Kindle also has a special option that lets you query Wikipedia, and it brings back the full entry. There’s also a decent web interface (decent but not great) that you can use to search google (I can read Almightydad.com on it), but the Wikipedia function works really well so I just stick to that.
Have you ever been sitting on a train or somewhere else and gotten the urge to read a certain book because you see someone reading it or you’ve just talked to someone about it? You probably either try remembering the title (and then forget it later) or you write it down so you can go to the book store when you get the chance. I do that a lot, and I always forget what I wanted. Forgetting what I want is probably a sign that it wasn’t important in the first place – but sometimes being whimsical is rewarding, and buying a book on a whim can be rewarding too. The Kindle has built in wireless and lets you shop Amazon from wherever you are. With a single click of a button you can have any book delivered to you in a minute. That’s pretty awesome I think.
The public library is the cheapest way to get books. They’re convenient and usually well stocked. I wish the Kindle had a rental function where you’d pay on subscription and be able to rent books for a period of time before they’d be remotely removed from your device. Unfortunately though, that idea is probably not soon to be realized. The next best thing is to be able to buy cheap books. Or at least cheaper than a book store. Amazon has a surprising number (3,500) of free Kindle books. It also has a bunch of nearly free and very cheap books. I bought The Brothers Karamazov today for 99 cents (A trick: Sort your Kindle book searches on Amazon lowest price to highest). Bluebeard (Kurt Vonnegut) is $5.99. That’s not a bad price. There are over 500,000 books, magazines and newspapers available on the Kindle.
DRM is a Valid Argument in some Instances but Not for Fiction Books
For about the price of a movie ticket you can have a book instead. If you go to the movie theater, you don’t get to argue about not really getting to own an electronic book because of DRM (Digital Rights Management); it’s quality entertainment at a good price. If you want to really own the book then you can still go buy the paper version. For my money I’d rather just have the electronic version and the ability to read it conveniently. It’s a fair trade off for me. If there’s a book I find really important then I can buy it for real and keep it on the shelf. Otherwise I’m not married to paper or permanent ownership. I want good entertainment and enlightenment. DRM doesn’t interfere with that. The exception to this is, of course, reference books that you buy and repeatedly go back to for, well, reference. In those cases you ought to get a physical copy because it’s not worth it to keep repurchasing something like that if the publisher has set a maximum download limit (If your machine breaks and you want to put it on another device sometimes, depending on the publisher, you can’t – Some only allow two downloads, others 5 or 6).
I’m a fan of the Kindle, but not because it’s a necessary household item. Rather, it’s because people like gadgets, myself included, and if I’m going to spend my money on a gadget it’s at least going to be something practical. I read more than an average person and therefore a Kindle is a fun and useful gadget for me. Flashing lights and weak video entertainment are the purview of the iPad and iPod which aren’t for reading any more than a walkman is meant to replicate Carnegie Hall.
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The dictionary feature sounds really useful. Being a dinosaur, I have no clue what’s out there or what it’s for. Thanks for the info.
I’m trying to decide between a Kindle and an iPad for my wife. The Kindle meets her functional requirements (read books) but the iPad seems to have a more game-changing potential for her, since she can use it to browse her blogs online, watch movies, etc.
The Kindle app is available for the iPad as well as a bunch of other devices. In your opinion, is the Kindle’s light weight and ‘do one thing well’ design a compelling reason for someone to choose it over Apple’s more generic and heavier offering?
Mike: If all you want to do is read then the Kindle is by far the better option. The iPad is too heavy to hold comfortably for long periods and the LCD screen is not easy on the eyes for book reading. But, if you’re into apps and games and web browsing then, yes, the iPad is better. The Kindle has a web interface, but it’s not very good (I can read my blog on it but it’s in a basic format). The Kindle is very good at what it does. Reading? Get a Kindle, no contest. But, if you’re interested in other stuff like surfing the web, playing games and other stuff then perhaps the iPad is a better choice. I’m just a very singularly minded person when it comes to my choice. I don’t want the apps and I don’t really need to be online all the time. Thus the Kindle is right for me. I hope that helps some. Thanks for asking.
I think you’ve just about convinced me, Keith! I’ve had my eye on the Kindle for quite some time, but now…now I REALLY want one.
P.S. The Brothers Karamazov is a great book. Have you read it before?
P.P.S. I’m currently reading The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly. So far, so good…
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..baby #3 =-.
Stephanie: I’ve never read The Brothers Karamazov. It was recommended to me by a friend so I figured I might as well get it. I’m reading Of Mice and Men now to finish off my Steinbeck kick then I’ll get to The Brothers. The kindle is really a great thing for avid readers. If you do a lot of reading I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by it.
I also read a good bit. It would be a wonderful device and I’m so jealous! But the price is a little intimidating for me right now. And I do like having books around me, dusty and cluttery though they are.
I have a novel that should be coming out some time next year and I hope Kindle will want to put it on the list. Then I’d HAVE to get one, right?
Beth: That’s awesome about the book. A friend of mine just wrote a book and I bought it on the Kindle for 9 bucks! Yes, you’d definitely have to get one when your book comes out
My mom has a Kindle and loves it. I expect that one of these days I am going to pick one up for myself. I’ll never give up on a real book, but that thing is great for traveling.
.-= Jack´s last blog ..Why Do They Want To Kill Us? =-.
I’ve toyed around with getting a Kindle for a while. I totally agree with you that it is kind of a waste to have books lying around. Unless they are reference material it highly unlikely you’re going to read them again. Still I’m tempted to get a iPad like device because I’m against uni-taskers, if you will. I saw your objections to it as a reading device and that makes sense, but I also want a tablet type device so my wife can surf the net and check out Facebook while I’m using the laptop. I’m still a ways away from doing anything, though. I’m not inclined to purchase a first generation of anything, so the iPad is out for now. Plus I’m curious to see what Google Chrome OS looks like and what type of competing device they will have out this fall. Decisions, decisions.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..DROP. YOUR. SWORD. =-.
PJ: You’re right. If you’re using the thing for surfing the internet and doing all that sort of stuff then the iPad is going to be better. Also, Kindle is definitely a uni-tasker. Even though it’s great at that one task, it’s still just a one trick pony. But, that’s the sort of person I am so it works great for what I want it for.
I’ve had a Kindle on my wish list for about a year now. Then the iPad came around and the confusion began…which one is better? Thanks for your input – I’m most likely to use the device for reading only so the lighter (and less expensive) Kindle seems like the way to go.
.-= Tina´s last blog ..The Razor Sole Skate – What’s The Craze All About? =-.
A rent feature would increase my interest in a kindle substantially.
.-= Hedy´s last blog ..Sunday Stealing-May 2, 2010 =-.