I love my toys. In times of stress or boredom, my toys become my tools to restoration of my equilibrium and joy. Not to say that I am addicted to say… my computer… or my kindle… but hey, when it quacks, it’s gotta be a duck.
There are more personal computers out there every year, and I suspect the number of laptops easily out-sells the larger, more immobile desktops. I finally bought my first laptop last summer, and absolutely love the ease with which I can carry it with me. I ‘pute in bed (like now) with my Toshiba settled on the bed tray my daughter gave me for Christmas last year. I ‘pute on my desk. I ‘pute on the patio. I ‘pute mostly lately on the eating table in our breakfast area so I can be close to Jim in his recliner in the den. But needless to say, I love my laptop.
A couple of months ago, I yielded to the temptation and ordered my first kindle… a Kindle 2… from Amazon. I saw the electronic reading device on Oprah last year when the Kindle 1 came out. Even back then I was fascinated with the idea of carrying so many books in such a small and easily tucked away device. The cost deterred me at the time from trying it, but in February I caved and ordered the newer Kindle 2, which had just been released for sale.
Pricey, yes. But now I can’t imagine how I lived without it. I carry it everywhere. The slender, lightweight device fits perfectly in my purse. And yes, I spent more and ordered a cover for my naked little kindle. Even now I’m considering a skin, like one of those skins used on cell phones… decorative, but also protective of the surfaces. Not for one minute have I regretted my purchases.
When Jim was in the hospital for surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon a couple of weeks ago, my kindle stayed right there with me while I sat in a horrible, pain-inducing recliner and waited for his body to recover.
Before the hospital experience, I took my baby to our home in Rector for a week’s vacation. I read in the car along the way. Unlike my laptop, the kindle’s screen is not backlit, so there is no battle with sunlight or glare. It’s like reading a page of paper. I don’t understand the technology, and have no need or desire to explore that side of my kindle, but somehow reading on the kindle is just like a page of a book. So it is very take-along-able. Anywhere you’d take a book, you can take this small device.
I like being able to make the font larger. I like being able to write a note and insert it in a bookmarked place within a book I’m reading. I like having a dictionary built it so that I can simply place the cursor at the beginning of a word and get a definition. I like the super fast delivery of books from Amazon through a cell-phone like network called Whispernet. I don’t have to order through my computer, and the books are delivered usually in under a minute. I like that I can download a sample of a book for free. Reading a first chapter can save me money if I see I don’t care for the book, after all. I like that I can have up to 1500 books stored in my kindle for reading anywhere, anytime. I like that when I’ve read a book, I can delete it, but the book is recorded at Amazon, and if I want to download it again, I can… for free… because I’ve already bought it. I also like that the books are reasonably priced… usually not over 9.99.
Did I say I love my kindle?
