I have owned a Kindle for a little over 3 months. As someone who has had a longtime addiction to books, I wasn't sure how I would take to the device. Surprisingly (or not?), I've discovered I'm a fan.
Reason #1: Reading on the Kindle feels like reading anything else, and I love reading. (I also love stating the obvious.) Admittedly, the Kindle is a little harder to prop up on my knees when I'm reading in bed, but a pillow does the trick, and I find myself quickly absorbed in the story and no longer aware that the text I'm taking in is not on an actual page.
Reason #2: Holding the Kindle in my hand feels like walking into a good bookstore. What I mean is that there's a moment of excitement when I first enter a bookstore that goes something like this in my head: "oh wow, oh wow, there are so many books here . . . and i could get any of them . . . any of them could end up being mine . . . oh wow, oh wow" The Kindle lets me carry that moment in my purse; having thousands of tomes constantly at your fingertips is awesome.
So how has my passion for old-fashioned book collecting fared now that I've been converted to the ranks of e-readers (yes, that was an intentional re-purposing of that word)? Well, a quick analysis of my bank account reveals that paper volumes are still a very active line item on the budget: since acquiring the Kindle I have spent approximately twice as much money on physical books as I have on Kindle downloads. (No, I won't tell you exactly how much that is -- even I know when something goes from mildly self-incriminating to flat out embarrassing.)
It seems the Kindle is fueling the book fire rather than curtailing it. Why choose between the old and the new, the actual and the virtual, when I can have both, when -- oh wow, oh wow! -- any of them could be mine?
29 March 2011
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