I chanced upon a man reading a book on his Kindle this week.
A Kindle is a device introduced in 2007 by Amazon.com that stores books electronically for reading (e-books). It measures about 8 inches by 5.5 inches and weighs 10 ounces and can easily be held with one hand.
Most any book you want to read can be purchased from Amazon for $9.99 to store on the Kindle and Amazon keeps track of those purchased in the unlikely event they are “lost.” They will restore them for no fee.
The gentlemen I approached (Jacques) said he loved his so much he gave his wife (Delores) her own.
When I asked them what they liked about it, they said simultaneously, “Just about everything.”
They loved the fact that the font size can be changed to make it easy to read for “older” eyes; that it has a dictionary to immediately look up any words you don’t know; that its screen can be read even in bright sunlight and that it can bookmark passages for later study. They also loved the fact that it was so lightweight and portable that you could have it at your disposal at any given moment. They said it was great to have for unexpected (or expected) waits and delays.
The $350 price tag has made it prohibitive, in my opinion, for me and for most people I know. So it will be a long time before the Kindle becomes a household name. But sometimes it seems tempting enough that I might start asking for Amazon gift certificates for gifts.
The dictionary option would be its most important selling point for me. I rarely have a dictionary by my side when I’m reading and I’m more often than not too lazy to get out of a chair to walk to one.
And I love the fact that you can bookmark passages or ideas without pencil and paper.
I use the library as my primary source for reading materials, and often when I read something I want to remember, I’m tempted to turn down the corner of a page so I can come back to it. I then notice that it has been already turned down by someone who had the same idea before I did.
Jacques said that you can also subscribe to national newspapers on a daily or weekly basis.
Newspaper reading might take some getting used to, but the more I think about it, the more I do like the idea of not having to deal with all the folding and refolding those big pieces of paper. On a Kindle, you turn the page with the touch of a button.
Jacques and Delores agreed that the only thing they don’t like about their Kindles is that after they’ve finished a book, it can’t be passed along to another person. However, they said that is the only downside.
Like many, I enjoy the feel of having a book in my hand and books are certainly easy to find. In addition to the library, used bookstores and antique malls are full of bargains, and although you have to pay a minimum $4 for shipping charges, you can find many titles at Amazon.com for literally pennies – at a fraction of the original price.
My husband reads at least one book a week, most lent to him by others or purchased at used book stores; so the Kindle would not be in his best interests either.
So for now we’ll stay anchored to the past, with “real” books, not e-books in hand.
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