I Love It, I Hate it: The Story of My Kindle

When it comes to technology, my husband is definitely the majority decision maker in this house. In this world of online words, he is a much sought after “guru” of technology knowledge and critique’. Go check his YouTube statistics (over 2 million channel views) if you don’t believe me! See, I’m not just bragging because I’m married to him, it’s a fact. That being said, in my world he is still my husband (tech-guru smuru) and sometimes I don’t do what he tells me to do or follow all his tech reviews… or advice. That being said, I should also mention I have learned to revisit my thoughts and opinions on products from him. He’s great at being fair and transparent with his views. I’m now on the road to reviewing more items myself, hence the story of my beloved Kindle.

Things you should know about me before I go into my reasons for buying the Kindle:

1.) I own over 500 physical books (maybe more, I haven’t counted lately).

2.) I read several books at the same time (I tend to have at least three going at once, based on subject matter).

3.) I don’t always finish the books I buy — This one drives hubby mad.

4.) I have a serious affection for words on wood pulp — high gloss magazines are my mind candy and I’m a confessed indulgent!

5.) When we moved from California, I thought about how much I paid for each of my books and the tally runs high; purchase cost, move cost by weight, shelf cost, room cost, heating and cooling my library, time lost looking for the right book within said library. I digress – the list is really long.

Pros

1.) Less bulk and weight. I always agonize on which book to take. Bag real estate is a premium for anyone who frequents TSA lines and sprawling airports.

2.) Less upkeep. No need to find space on my bulging books shelves for e-books, no need to even pay for their “delivery” as Amazon pays for the Sprint charges.

3.) Privacy and ease of use. I can read Jean-Paul Sartre AND Stephanie Meyer without my fellow middle seat passenger striking up conversation about either. Turn on, click title and I’m reading.

4.) Lots of books at a discounted cost. Most of the e-books are cheaper than their paper counterparts and offer a “sample” to try before buying.

5.) No more guilt over dog earring pages,”breaking” spines, or killing trees for my enjoyment.

Cons

1.) Husband will kill me, scratch that – husband will write and tell the world how I was defiant against his better judgement. :)

2.) What if I don’t use it?

3.) It could die if I don’t charge it and there are the take off and landing times of “please turn off all electronic devices”

4.) The Kindle’s expensive! $350.00

5.) It’s possible the books I want to read aren’t offered by Amazon in e-book form.

These lists are short but I could go on and on about why I decided to buy it and why I almost didn’t. What you really want to know is how it turned out, right?

Honestly, I love the Kindle. I use it almost daily while in the bath or before bed. I’ve read three books on it thus far and I’m in the process of reading several others. For my style of reading, it works out well. I like variety and I need it light and compact. Battery life is really good, if you turn the Wi fi off, it’s even better. I’ll admit I haven’t used all the functions, and I’m sure I’ll like it even more as I learn them. I like it for the book reading, the ease of use, that it’s light and stores tons of options for my reading pleasure. If I want to surf the ‘net, I usually use the iPhone (Chris is right there) but everyone KNOWS you wouldn’t want to read an e-book on the iPhone — talk about battery kill! I like the dictionary feature, most of all I like the look of the E-ink and the ease of purchase and download via whispernet. I also adore not having pages falling open or closed; that is a pet peeve of mine, cured!

So there you have it, I’m not a geek, I’m not a guru – just some gal who likes to read and this is my little story of the Kindle. We’ll need to revisit this subject matter in six months. I will reevaluate and see if I’m still happy about the purchase or if I’ve changed my mind.