Kindle!

So one of my favorite Christmas presents this year was Amazon's Kindle, given to me by my wonderful husband. Now, I've wanted an e-reader for some time, but was hesitant for the following reasons:

1. I love BOOKS, real, live books, that have PAGES made of PAPER. So much so that I own

many, many, many of them.

I was concerned that the Kindle wouldn't feel the same as a
regular book.

2. I like to read in bed, and I wasn't exactly sure how cuddly the Kindle would be.

3. They're expensive.

4. I like to share books with my friends. Easier to do with a real book than an e-reader (although the Nook has this functionality now).

Hmm...could this be the same with a Kindle?

I didn't want to invest in a Kindle, Nook or other e-reader until the benefits, as I saw them, outweighed my concerns. Here are some of the benefits I came up with:

1. It's cool. Sorry, but it's true.

2. When I travel, I am often guilty of bringing 4, 5, 6 or more books with me. Often times, at least one is hardback. The Kindle would lighten this load considerably.

3. It would lay flat so I could read while doing other things, mainly knitting, (yes, I do knit and read).
4. Less environmental impact, after a period of time.

5. Some books, such as bestsellers and new hardback books are significantly cheaper at 9.99 per book. Some are even free:


Ok, so Tom knew that I had been going back and fourth on the reader and did a little research of is own to see which of the e-reader options seemed to be the best option. He decided on the Kindle, which is what I got for Christmas. Whee! Since we exchanged presents before we flew back to the east coast for actual Christmas with my family, I was able to use the Kindle while traveling, (which was in the list of benefits, remember?), and I must say I was not disappointed, though I did forget the little bit of time when the flight attendant says something to the effect of "turn off your portable electronic devices". DOH! The Kindle is electronic, therefore you can't use it during take off and landing, which is slightly annoying.

So, Amy, what's it like? Well, it does many things well, like have an awesome display that doesn't hurt your eyes, it organizes your material alphabetically, and it has a little toggle "mouse", (as opposed to the Nook's touch screen), which I find very handy and intuitive. It's easy to order books, and to read PDFs. Note taking isn't super easy, neither is bookmarking, but the search and definition features are well developed and easy to use. Bottom line, I LOVE MY KINDLE!!! (and yes, I do read it in bed, just not in the tub....)

Ok, now this is probably the most technological thing I will ever blog about; I'll leave the rest up to my hubby. And just so we don't start taking things too seriously, here's a picture Shaylee's favorite Christmas present!