I’m a Kindle 2 convert!
Okay, so I’m the kind of person who, all too often, buys into the hype of a new item on the market, only to be disappointed and abandon that product after a few days. (Examples: my Wii Fit, iPod speakers, random makeup miracle products, etc.) This partially stems from my obsession with shopping, television, magazines, and random internet media like the NY Times and PerezHilton. On the other hand, at times I’ve truly fallen in love with my “must-have” item. (Examples: Nintendo Wii/Guitar Hero, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, BareMinerals makeup, iPod, FlipMino, etc.)
I have been an amateur bibliophile since I was four years old. My parents quickly found their wallets could not keep up with the volume of books I was reading, so they sent me to the library. As a teenager, I even started working part-time at the country library to help pay for this habit. Barnes & Noble giftcards are consistently at the top of my Christmas list.
So, when I first heard about Amazon Kindle, I was intrigued. But when it comes to electronics, I prefer to get a second-generation item, or wait until enough of my friends have road-tested it to make my purchase. Despite my impulsiveness, I do read tons of reviews before I make my purchases!
Like the nerd I am, I researched the Kindle. I thought about how great it would be to have my library become PORTABLE, especially considering the nature of my job as an Army officer. I travel a lot, and I have been known to tear through a lengthy book in a day, so it seemed like something that could keep up with me. I did think about how much I love the feel of a book in my hand, the cover art, the smell of the pages, marking the pages and underlining passages with my pencil… I love used books, and I didn’t think that downloading books instantly would give me the satisfaction I had buying well-loved used books at Caveat Emptor. So I put off purchasing the Kindle, even after Oprah made it one of her “favorite things” last year. (I admit it, I read “O” Magazine every month.)
Then, while perusing the NY Times online, I saw a live blog of the press conference for the release of the new Kindle. Intrigued, I read everything I could about it. The new aesthetic, the size, the convenience, the VOLUME… (It can hold over a thousand books!) I told Jon about it, and he offered to buy it for me as my birthday gift this year; he said he’d rather buy me that than another $300 handbag like I usually get. (Don’t judge! It’s wearable art.) So as soon as pre-ordering was an option, we jumped on the bandwagon.
And then I waited. I was at work when Jon called; my Kindle had arrived.
Immediately I was in love. I couldn’t get over the screen, which doesn’t seem like a screen. “It looks FAKE, it looks like a page not a SCREEN!” I kept saying. It was so thin and light and CONVENIENT.
I couldn’t be happier. For my life, it makes sense. I am very likely deploying in less than a year, and instead of carrying my favorite books with me and buying paperbacks overseas that I have to carry home with me, I can load my Kindle with a library to last me the whole time. (Last year, I deployed for two months. I deployed with one book, and returned home with a dozen. After TWO MONTHS.) Okay, so I’m sacrificing the look and feel of “real” books, but you have to admit the convenience and portability is awesome. Also, there are tons of free books (mainly literary classics) that are available online legally at manybooks.net, for example. I have the complete works of Jane Austen, works by D.H. Lawrence and Victor Hugo, classics like Little Women and Vanity Fair and Middlemarch… Basically most of the books from Mr. Hays’ English class you can get online for free. All stored on this sleek, CUTE, ultra-portable machine!
I’m sold. You can change the size of the text for easier reading, which I think is great. You can use Wikipedia, use the dictionary, and download books in under a minute from Amazon.com. It’s just so user-friendly! You can even send it Word documents and PDFs. I’m in love already.
So to those who think a “real” bibliophile wouldn’t convert to an eBook reader, I beg to disagree. I think it’s a great new medium, and I intend to use it extensively. But there will always be purists, the same people who refuse to use an iPod because vinyl sounds better. I admit, vinyl DOES sound better, but I can’t take a record player to the gym with me while I use the elliptical machine. I love books, but I can’t take my library of hundreds of books with me on deployment, or even on vacation. It’s just so practical and relevant to my life. I’m a Kindle convert. And I’m spreading the word.
I have been an amateur bibliophile since I was four years old. My parents quickly found their wallets could not keep up with the volume of books I was reading, so they sent me to the library. As a teenager, I even started working part-time at the country library to help pay for this habit. Barnes & Noble giftcards are consistently at the top of my Christmas list.
So, when I first heard about Amazon Kindle, I was intrigued. But when it comes to electronics, I prefer to get a second-generation item, or wait until enough of my friends have road-tested it to make my purchase. Despite my impulsiveness, I do read tons of reviews before I make my purchases!
Like the nerd I am, I researched the Kindle. I thought about how great it would be to have my library become PORTABLE, especially considering the nature of my job as an Army officer. I travel a lot, and I have been known to tear through a lengthy book in a day, so it seemed like something that could keep up with me. I did think about how much I love the feel of a book in my hand, the cover art, the smell of the pages, marking the pages and underlining passages with my pencil… I love used books, and I didn’t think that downloading books instantly would give me the satisfaction I had buying well-loved used books at Caveat Emptor. So I put off purchasing the Kindle, even after Oprah made it one of her “favorite things” last year. (I admit it, I read “O” Magazine every month.)
Then, while perusing the NY Times online, I saw a live blog of the press conference for the release of the new Kindle. Intrigued, I read everything I could about it. The new aesthetic, the size, the convenience, the VOLUME… (It can hold over a thousand books!) I told Jon about it, and he offered to buy it for me as my birthday gift this year; he said he’d rather buy me that than another $300 handbag like I usually get. (Don’t judge! It’s wearable art.) So as soon as pre-ordering was an option, we jumped on the bandwagon.
And then I waited. I was at work when Jon called; my Kindle had arrived.
Immediately I was in love. I couldn’t get over the screen, which doesn’t seem like a screen. “It looks FAKE, it looks like a page not a SCREEN!” I kept saying. It was so thin and light and CONVENIENT.
I couldn’t be happier. For my life, it makes sense. I am very likely deploying in less than a year, and instead of carrying my favorite books with me and buying paperbacks overseas that I have to carry home with me, I can load my Kindle with a library to last me the whole time. (Last year, I deployed for two months. I deployed with one book, and returned home with a dozen. After TWO MONTHS.) Okay, so I’m sacrificing the look and feel of “real” books, but you have to admit the convenience and portability is awesome. Also, there are tons of free books (mainly literary classics) that are available online legally at manybooks.net, for example. I have the complete works of Jane Austen, works by D.H. Lawrence and Victor Hugo, classics like Little Women and Vanity Fair and Middlemarch… Basically most of the books from Mr. Hays’ English class you can get online for free. All stored on this sleek, CUTE, ultra-portable machine!
I’m sold. You can change the size of the text for easier reading, which I think is great. You can use Wikipedia, use the dictionary, and download books in under a minute from Amazon.com. It’s just so user-friendly! You can even send it Word documents and PDFs. I’m in love already.
So to those who think a “real” bibliophile wouldn’t convert to an eBook reader, I beg to disagree. I think it’s a great new medium, and I intend to use it extensively. But there will always be purists, the same people who refuse to use an iPod because vinyl sounds better. I admit, vinyl DOES sound better, but I can’t take a record player to the gym with me while I use the elliptical machine. I love books, but I can’t take my library of hundreds of books with me on deployment, or even on vacation. It’s just so practical and relevant to my life. I’m a Kindle convert. And I’m spreading the word.