Like many people I took a while to warm to the idea of an eBook reader. What if it's a bit rubbish? What if the books I want to buy aren't available digitally? I like books, so if books are still around then why buy an eBook reader? After all, if it ain't broke then why fix it? It was seeing one my friend's Kindle that convinced me that I want one.
So Santa came, and even after using my Kindle for a few days to me it was like cruise control: I couldn't work out how I ever lived without it for so long!
The Pros:
- Books are cheaper on the kindle. I don't think I've bought one for more than £4 yet, and I'm probably averaging about £2-3 per book
- When I see a book, I can be reading it in a minute. That's pretty damn cool.
- It's compact, smaller than most books. Even using the slightly bulky lighted leather case (more to come on this later) I can fit it into the pocket of my winter jacket. If I were to take it out of the case it will fit in my suit jacket pocket.
- You know when you come across a PDF that you want/ need to read but don't really have the time when you find it? You can just email it to your Kindle. Mega kudos here just for being cool.
- The battery life is excellent. Even making use of the WiFi & 3G features and reading for at least an hour a day it lasts about 1-2 weeks between charges.
Since buying my Kindle I have completely opened up the books I read from being all Stephen King to a wide and varied collection. This is partly due to some of the classics which I wouldn't normally look at being free, but also due to Amazon's pricing structure. Prices seem to be variable, the price for one book changing on a very regular basis. When I see a cheap book I immediately think something along the lines of "do I really care about £2.50 even if I don't enjoy it"? If I spend between £1 and £3 on a load of books and don't like one or two of them then is it really the end of the world?
It wouldn't be fair to talk about the Kindle without addressing a few negative points. You might have heard one or two of these before, however some of my points are not the usual moan.
The usual Cons:
- It doesn't feel like a book. I like the feel of a book. The weight of a hardcover, the shuffle of pages between my fingers. (The leather cover is really good quality leather though).
- It doesn't smell of a book. I like the smell of a book.
When I'm reading, I often flick forward a few pages to work out if the end of the paragraph is a good place to stop, or if I can get away with finishing the chapter (say, before the bus arrives at my stop). The refresh rate on the Kindle is fast enough not to intrude on reading but it's simply not fast enough to do this well.
I didn't realise this until recently, but whenever I pick up a book I assimilate the cover with the name, author and plot. When you start reading an eBook the cover is there but you only see it once before it disappears, never to be seen again. By not seeing the cover every time I read it I am now starting to struggle to visualise a book I've read whenever I hear or see the name of it. Maybe this is just the way my mind works, but personally I'd like to see the cover of the book I'm currently reading (in colour) every time I pick up my Kindle, rather than a random collection of pictures that Amazon has decided are significant.
And lastly, I'm spending a lot more on books. Books might be cheaper but this is meaning that I'm buying a lot more of them! I haven't decided yet if this is necessarily a bad thing, but it's some damn clever marketing by Amazon.
In summary, the Kindle is an excellent, well made gadget which is very good at doing exactly what it was designed to do. If you're not sure whether or not you'll like it then just find someone you know who has one (you won't have to look far) and ask them if you can read something on it. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.
