I am a second or third adopter. I have my Kindle because someone else gave it to me. This makes me demographically different from someone who really wants a Kindle in advance of receiving it. I’m glad to have it. I figured I would get one some day, but the truth is that I probably would never have gotten around to buying it for myself before someone gave me one. Facing the actually device and contemplating using it, my feelings toward it are oddly ambivalent. It is as if a part of my brain is afraid that once I become accustomed to reading on a Kindle I will love it and abandon paper books. I may have to change how I define my love of books. I’m not sure I want to do that, but I’ve heard really good things about reading on a Kindle.
Of the current electronic reading platforms, I was most attracted by the Kindle. I’m not sure why.
As with any new gadget there was a learning curve as I figured out how to adjust settings and to use it. There were some moments of frustration during this process. There are probably still some yet to come. The most persistent one is that my subconscious believes that the buttons on the right should page forward while the buttons on the left page back. Both sides have page forward and page back buttons, but it creates momentary confusion when I accidentally page forward when I meant to page backward. This is already fading as I retrain my brain.
The Kindle feels small in my hands. I kind of want a cover for it to give it more heft. I’m a little afraid that I’ll break it somehow. One of my habitual reading times is while I am eating. I’m concerned about splatters and spills.
The page refresh is mildly distracting right now, but I suspect that I will learn to tune it out in the same way that I tune out the turning of a page.
The biggest ongoing resistance that I have to the device is that it is electronic. Somewhere deep in my brain, I expect to be able to check twitter or email. I keep staring at it, and being distracted from absorbed reading. I suspect this will fade as my brain learns what to expect from this device.
I have yet to buy a book for it. I’m testing the waters with free books. I find I have an aversion to spending money for an electronic book. In theory I know why e-book pricing is where it is. In theory I support those prices. But I’m resisting plunking down money for something I can’t really touch. It is an interesting mental block this attachment to a physical object. I’ll take the leap at some point. It is probable that the mental block has more to do with the spending of money than the purchasing of e-books.
I can visualize how this Kindle will be useful. There are books I want to read, but I don’t want to have cluttering the house. I’m looking forward to taking it on trips loaded with books. I don’t have any trips before August, so we’ll see how my habits shake out between now and then.
It will be interesting to look back on this entry in a month to see how much my attitudes have changed.
The Kindle will grow on you, even the misplaced buttons, and eventually you’ll never want to heft a thousand page hardcover again.
But you can go to Twitter and check your email if you have a web-accessible account like Gmail. On the main book list, press the menu button, go down to Experimental and you will find a web browser.
And if you go to the third page of Settings, you can set up your Kindle to post on Facebook and Twitter as well.
I kind of like that gmail, facebook, and twitter are hard to access via the Kindle. It encourages focused reading rather than distraction. Thousand page hard covers are a major encouragement to adopt electronic readers.
Which version of the Kindle do you have? I have an extra cover due to my husband’s deciding he didn’t like the first style he got after it was too late to return it.
I think it is the most recent version. I know it has 3G and wireless.