Fewer Cheetos and other Kindle-related observations

"Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual." - Terry Pratchett

I've been using the Kindle e-book reader now for a solid month. I'd like to be able to say that I either love it or hate it, but I can't. The reading experience isn't better or worse than a paper book, just rather different. And there have been some surprises - fewer of a technical nature and more of those that are behavioral or social. So...

• I am much neater about eating and drinking around this device. It's one thing to get Cheetos fingers on a book page; quite another to gum up this pearly white and costly machine.
  
• While it is very nice having the decreased weight of multiple books on a trip, it's almost unnerving not to be able to read during take off and landing. The airline magazines suck. I worry about leaving this machine (I suppose I should give it a name) in the airline seat pocket - which I have done more than once with a paperback.
  
• The LWW is not happy when I buy something for the Kindle that she also wants to read, such as Sedaris's When You Are Engulfed in Flames (which is very funny). She also needs to ask me what I am reading on a regular basis - sometimes 2-3 times a day. The relatives who normally buy me a Barnes & Noble gift cards are now flummoxed.
  
• Non-fiction doesn't hold my attention any better on the Kindle than it does on paper. I am finding the much celebrated Here Comes Everyone a little tedious. Sorry, fans. Perhaps I am just in a summer mindset, requiring my books revolve around guns, goons and gorgeous girls rather than the social implications of Web 2.0.  Zzzzzzzzz.
  
• It's annoying to find a book you want to read NOT available for the Kindle. I can see I will need to use two formats - print and electronic - for quite some time. There are some books this device just doesn't do justice to. The Back of the Napkin which depends on graphics to get its message across is a poor choice for reading on the Kindle.
  
• I was really hoping that the adjustable font size would allow me to read without having to find my K-Mart reading glasses. It is certainly possible to make the text that big, but it then means turning the page every 30 seconds. Four or five words per line doesn't help the narrative flow. The clicking noise of the select wheel drives the LWW nuts when she is trying to get to sleep.
  
• It is much more difficult to find your place after losing it on the Kindle than in a print book. And given the unfortunate, much lambasted position of the page turn buttons, it is very easy to lose one's place. If you let somebody borrow the device to play with, you can be assured you will be spending time finding your place again.
  
• The device has a primitive web browser, but the software is pretty crumby yet. I don't see that Amazon has much incentive to improve it since one could use it to read for free the blogs it sells on a subscription basis. I've not yet used the device to listen to an audiobook or a song or to view a photo. I did trial subscriptions of both a newspaper and a blog. The newspaper didn't have the funnies and the blog was expensive so the subscription to neither lasted past the trial.
  
• I love how the Kindle tells you the time. If you press ALT-T while reading, a small script appears that says, "Six minutes of eight." or "Half past seven." Just as though you had asked a person.
  
• I am amazed at the body of support that has already developed around the Kindle. Stephen Windwalker is releasing the draft of his book The Complete Users Gide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle. Lots o' blogs, discussion groups, etc. "I was so busy learning how to use the book, I never got around to reading it," Groucho might now say.
  
• My mother-in-law's biggest complaint is that Amazon allows one to read the beginning of the book rather than the last chapter before purchase. Margaret always reads the end of a book to make sure it has a happy ending before she buys it. Given that only English majors and film critics much care for tragic endings, perhaps Amazon should re-think its preview policy.
  

Will I keep using it? You better believe it - I've got $360 wrapped up in this puppy. It works great for trips. It's much easier to read at a table when eating alone.  It has features I've not yet explored enough. And it does become transparent when the reading material is compelling. It just needs to be priced much, much lower to find a popular market.

It is the future. Have you noticed that the future always seems to take some getting used to?

Does reading the Kindle make your brain...

larger or

smaller?

Comments

[Paul C]

I'd say the anvil rather than the cone head.

[JB]

In order to avoid losing your spot while reading, be sure to bookmark your spot. Click on "menu" and then "add a bookmark."

[musicgirl]

Thanks for the information on Kindle. I had thought about buying one, but I think I'm going to wait a little longer. Maybe, someday, someone will invent an affordable, portable, handheld pdf reader that is user friendly. I'll be first in line, then.

[Doug Johnson]

@ Hi Paul,

Thanks (I think.) I rather like both looks!

Doug

@ JB,

Yeah, I know I can do this. It's just so easy to go to the main menu and have the device return you to the spot where you were last. Laziness on my part only!

All the best,

Doug

@musicgirl,

The rumor boards have two new Kindle models coming out before Christmas. Hoping they are less expensvie.

All the best,

Doug

[Dona]

Interesting about the annoyance of books not available on Kindle. Since I am driving in my car a lot, I listen to books from audible.com. and I get quite annoyed when I find a book not available or in an abridged format.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Dona,

I always appreciate the abridged formats!

Doug