So, Santa ;) magicked me up a Kindle for Christmas (well, New Year... :p ), so i thought i'd review this new-fangled reading device.
The first thing that hit me about the Kindle was, I must confess, the packaging, which is comical in its size and volume. (*small things...*) It's like an evolution of box to book, getting ever smaller as you go...
Anyway, once i had actually got through the packaging I finally found my new library - it's sooo small (in a good way). About the size of an average book page, but about 5mms thick. And basically, the whole thing is like magic. It's as if someone has magically trapped a book inside underneath the screen. It's not like a normal computer screen at all. It doesn't reflect and when you 'turn the page' the pixels just rearrange themselves into the next page. Quite where it fits in anything - storage, intelligence is beyond me - it makes no noise or anything, it just magics the book onto the screen.
What's even cooler, is that if all of a sudden you decide that you need a new book, as long as you're somewhere with wireless, you can just shop for it on your kindle and have it delivered there (i can only assume, by magic) within seconds.
So how does it compare to a 'real' book?
Well, much as i was stauchly in the 'i like paper' camp before i went travelling, this does have massive advantages for wayward strays like me... And infact, if you can get over paper-snobbery, this has all the advantages of a book, but with other cool points besides...
No need to ruin the corners of your pages, since it know where you last were. You can flick between books without having to carry them around, and books are cheaper. Infact, if you're into the classics, you can get most of them free one way or another, and many modern books are nearly half their print price on the kindle making just buying books rather more affordable (whilst encouraging you, economically, to read all those classics you'd not otherwise get around to).
One feature i am rather ambivalent about is the fact that along with other statistics, the Kindle tells you what percentage of the book you've read... which for people like me who can't help but be competitive at heart, is rather dangerous. You become competitive just with yourself. And it also encourgaes you to think you're reading quickly and, therefore, can afford to read more. Of course, you always turn out to be mistaken when you actually have to get up in the morning.
That said, there are those other stats i mentioned. You highlight phrases you like or want to come back to, and moreover, see what other people have themselves highilighted - sometimes quite enlightening. You can also make notes as you go along - which is really good if you are reading any kind of infuriating or confusing book. And when you're reading Derren Brown's book, as I currently am, it is crucial that the OED is also included, since he uses gratuitously obscure words to no particular effect... Interesting, but just as well there's a dictionary...
Anywayz, i have yet to stretch it to it's full travelling/coffee shop potential. I would take it out with me, but i want to get a case for it first. I'm sure it's hardy enough, but being so thin makes me slightly nervous about how much it would stand up to being in a bag at all. So i'm looking into that (but since they don't sell the kindle in Canada, i'm researching on the web first, rather than just being able to go out and buy one...). (Some of the Amazon ones have lits in them that are powered from the kindle itself, which is rather genius, since the one down side of the screen being so cleverly non-reflective, is that it isn't lit up in the same way a computer screen is, meaning you have to use that old-fangled invention, the light bulb. How arduous. ;) )
All in all though, it fits the 'i don't want to collect material things in Canada' brief given, rather excellently! And i am sure i will return home a learned lady as a result!
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