How a happy reader gets even happier.
For my fellow book lovers out there, I have to tell you: the new digital book reader from amazon.com, called “The Kindle,” is a real treat. After just one week, I’m hooked! I highly recommend it to anyone who finds happiness in the written word.
Now, before going any further, I will tell you that the device isn’t a design wonder like, say, the iPhone, nor is its usability quotient really up there like, say, the iPhone’s. But despite those two drawbacks, it’s still sure to make any book (or magazine or newspaper or blog) reader very happy indeed. Here’s why:
You can visit the Kindle store on amazon.com and with one click order a book. Within minutes, it’s beamed wirelessly to your Kindle. You don’t need to download content and transfer to your Kindle. It just magically appears! And herein lies the crucial difference between the Kindle and other digital book readers that have been offered (and that haven’t taken off).
The books cost about half, or even less, than the kind made with paper. You can select from a handful of major newspapers, like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, to be delivered to your Kindle early every morning. The same basic approach works for magazines and some blogs, too.
Now if you’re a reader who likes pretty pictures, the Kindle isn’t for you. The images are grainy and in black and white, and most of the content comes devoid of the supporting imagery you would find in actual printed edition. But for a lot of us content junkies, that’s OK; it’s the words that matter most and if something really jumps out at us, we can go online for the color images.
Just think about it: With a Kindle, you can wake up every morning and put right in your hands your favorite newspapers, blogs and books ready to be savored along with your coffee and pastry.
December 18th, 2007 at 9:11 am
The digitization of print for convenience is the way of the future, but is it at the expense of savoring the experience of reading. For the Kindle to be a true companion for the book lover, it will need to replicate the aesthetic qualities of a book: the crack of the spine on a new hard back, the smell of page, the sense of accomplishment of completing a book when the back cover is closed. Much like the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sensation of a warm cup your hand is a morning experience can’t be improved through another medium, the Kindle 2.0 will need to bridge the gap between transactional and sensatory.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I want one of these. I need to check out yours.