Yes, I broke down and bought a Kindle. I love it.
Frankly, I didn't buy it merely to read books. My main purpose was to have something to demonstrate while I gave talks on e-publishing. I've been doing that for a long time, and I had two such presentations lined up in a row. I was on a panel at the California Crime Writers Conference in Pasadena and doing a talk on e-publishing for the Public Safety Writers Association's Conference last weekend.
I downloaded Gary Phillips latest book on the Kindle because he was the moderator for the first panel. He'd never seen a Kindle so obviously not his book on one either. He was tickled.
I also purchased a couple of my own books on Kindle to see what they looked like: No Sanctuary and an old romance, Lingering Spirit.
The Kindle is great, easy to figure out and nice to read on.
The one drawback is it is far too easy to buy books. I have about six on there now. I'm saving them for when I go on a trip and that's all I have to take with me.
Because, I have a huge stack of regular books to read. I got three books from a publisher to read and review--and they are really big and rather literary, so they'll take awhile. Then, while I was at the PSWA conference I bought way too many books. When the author is there and talks about his or her book, I can't control myself. Oh, and that brings me around to one more drawback about the Kindle--you can't get the author to sign them.
Most of the big publishers haven't figured out yet that you shouldn't charge so much for books. E-publishers who have been around for a long time, know that the cost should be low if they expect to sell a lot of books. All of my publishers are putting their books on Kindle as well as all the other e-book sites. Yes, there are lots of ways to read an e-book--iPhones, iPods, Sony E-Reader and others, Kindle is not the only one.
Over the years I've had several e-readers, but you had to connect to your computer to buy a book. The Kindle is magic--you can order the book through Amazon's Internet site if you want, but you can just as easily go to the book store on the Kindle and order. In 20 seconds the books is there.
And that's what I have to say about my new Kindle.
Marilyn a.k.a. F. M. Meredith
I don't (yet) have a kindle, but I may eventually.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I don't like: it's the loss of that great, old-fashioned, low-tech feel and weight of a book in my hands and pages to turn. I always loved an old Garrison Keillor phrase that the simple and humble object known as a book was many things, including "durable as a turtle"!
One thing I think is great: how the Kindle allows you to change the typeface size, which is so wonderful for others in the household to pretty much instantly turn any and every book into "large-print". I think that's wonderful for people with lower vision, etc., and makes the sharing of the pleasure of reading easier and faster.
I'm thinking and hoping that tech like the Kindle will only add to and enhance reading, and that BOTH our hard-shelled and our soft-ware books will be well-used and well-loved.
I'm so jealous! I want a Kindle but my budget just can handle it right now. Can you read outdoors with it? The screen is visible outside?
ReplyDeleteRhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
I bought a cover for my Kindle and it opens like a book--and yes, you can read on it outside. It isn't back-lit like some of the readers, the pages are more like pages in a book.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very much like reading a regular book except it's lighter and easy to turn the pages. If you fall asleep, it'll go into sleep mode.
The only reason I was able to get it was because of a ghost-writing job I had. I say "had" because the man I was doing it with decided not to make his next payment, but the initial one was enough to buy the Kindle.
Marilyn a.k.a. F. M. Meredith