Kindle

I pondered the decision to buy an e-book for several months. I am a closet bibliophile and wasn't (and am still not) comfortable with the idea of not experiencing the printed word printed. There is something about the feel and smell of a good book. And I like the practice of sharing or giving away my books.

As I get older, I am recognizing the need to shed some of my material wealth, my stuff. I even did spring cleaning twice this year, just to get rid of clothes and other junk that has accumulated in my closets and other spaces. Compound this desire to not accumulate any more clutter with the rising costs of books, and you can understand why I committed what I thought was a sacrilege. I bought a Kindle. The Kindle 2, to be more precise.



And I love it! It is as thin as a pencil, fits in my book bag, can hold more books than I could haul in a car, let alone a backpack, and (thanks to e-ink technology) holds a battery charge for almost a week. E-books are generally cheaper than the book store price. And the Kindle uses cellular network to download books to my Kindle. Anywhere I can get a cell signal (in the United States), I can order and download a book. Immediate satisfaction.

I did make some concessions. I decided to justify the initial expense by banning myself from Borders and not buying any real books for four months. (I was spending around $150 a month at Borders. By not spending that money, I have made up the expense of the Kindle) I have also had to accept that I won't be able to share my books with others. E-books cannot be shared (legally) with other Kindles.

Another benefit of the Kindle is the subscription services to periodicals. I would never spend the money to subscribe to a National Newspaper like the Washington Post or the New York Times. It would be to expensive and the paper waste would rub against the few "green" nerves in my body. Kindle allows me to get the Washington Post at a very reasonable price without the waste or annoying advertising inserts. Currently, you can try a trial 2 week subscription of any of the periodicals offered on Kindle.

Biggest disappointment - within weeks of me getting my Kindle 2, Amazon came out with the Kindle DX (a 9.7" screen vs a 6" screen). It is more expensive and has some new features. I would have liked the new features. I'm not sure I mind having a smaller screen. My Kindle 2 'feels' like a paperback because of it's size. I think the bigger Kindle DX would remind me of a text book. And, although the cost difference was not prohibitive, I probably would have opted to save a few dollars and stay with a model I can chuck into my book bag.

Check the Amazon site for more details on the Kindle. I looked at several other e-books and settled on Amazons Kindle for many reasons, but I encourage you to do your own research. If your looking for a device for just reading e-books, the Kindle is it.