We bought an Amazon Kindle several months ago, and up until recently the little lady was the only one of us who had spent quality time with it. I did read one book on it during a previous vacation, but it was a short book and I quickly stopped using the Kindle as soon as we came back to reality. I decided to change that while we were in Alaska. I started reading a monster of a book, Red Mars, which I had downloaded for free from Amazon. I say "monster" because although it's pretty good, it's super long and it feels like it's never going to end. That said, I've spent several hours reading it since we left on vacation in late July, and I've really enjoyed the change of pace. Gone are the feelings of self-loathing I've had all summer since I've wasted so much time watching "Star Trek" DVDs. My reading has been coupled with quality time with mp3 and SACD players, which has also been nice. I do, after all, prefer music over video forms of entertainment.
As far as the Kindle goes, if you're into reading, I highly recommend it. It has a built-in cellular modem and comes with a lifetime service contract--no monthly fees or anything like that. You can shop amazon.com for books or other merchandise right on the device, and you can download books right to the device without ever plugging it into a computer. It's very thin and very light, and it's smaller in your hand than you might think when you see pictures of it. The screen is easy on the eyes, too. A lot of people have trouble staring at computer screens for long periods of time, but the Kindle's screen is different. It's not backlit (my only complaint about it--you need a clamp-on light if you want to read in the dark), and it has a slight gray tint that mimics a printed page. The fonts are smooth, and I've experienced no fatigue reading books on it. The battery life is also excellent; I haven't counted how many hours it lasts, but it has to be at least 20-30 hours.
The Kindle isn't the first e-book reader, but with its wireless functionality, direct connection to Amazon, and ease of use, it's probably the best one out there. You'll start to see more of these out there, and if the other ones I've tried are any indication, the Kindle will be the best of them for a long time to come. Highly recommended.
I used to read a lot more than I do now. Actually, I wouldn't say I read less, I just read a lot of music theory and photography related magazines or books as opposed to literature. There are a lot of books out there I'd love to read, but I just never have the patience. This may help that. I like your mention of the screen not being hard on the eyes or causing fatigue. That's always been my concern when I've seen these because I am one of those people who can't look at a computer screen for long period of times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the writeup.