I finally broke down and bought an Amazon Kindle. Yeah, I know.
When I first heard about it, I wasn't interested at all. I spend enough time in front of screens, I thought. I like that new book smell too much, I thought. Serious readers and writers need stacks and stacks of hardcover books on shelves, under shelves, under beds, piled on the floor, I thought. Then, I held one.
So pretty and shiny.
It's only 1/3” thick and weighs next to nothing. I'm not good at estimating weight so I'm going with it's pretty light. It holds over 1,000 books. That's a lot. You can download newspapers and magazines, too. I began to imagine getting on an airplane with just the Kindle, instead of half a dozen paperbacks and magazines. More room in the carry-on for regulation-size lip gloss and moisturizers. No more toting around huge clunky European or Caribbean guide books – voila: it's all on the Kindle! I began to imagine tossing the Kindle into my bag while assuming the role of chauffeur for Third Kid so I'll always always always have something to read while waiting for him to finish his classes or driving lessons or whatever.
Best of all: my desire and longing for instant gratification would be fulfilled. Interested in the new Richard Russo? I can have it in under a minute! Kinda bored with Three Cups of Tea? I can switch to the latest issue of The New Yorker! I can have what I want when I want it? Sign me up and ship it overnight, please.
I love it.
It's the end of something.
ReplyDeleteYour check from Amazon is in the mail.
ReplyDeleteYou make me almost want to buy one. Almost. That lipgloss thing? That practically put me over the top. Then I remembered: I don't travel!
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your new technology. I'm sticking with the hefty and smelly crowd for now.
I'm tempted for all the reasons you state, however ... it still needs a little tweaking for my taste. But if it weren't for pioneers like you, that tweaking would not happen.
ReplyDelete