I got my first Kindle a few days ago. It’s a significant evolution for me. The Kindle is one of those revolutionary pieces of technology – like the phone or the Ipad – that transforms culture and human behavior. There is guilt, controversy, opportunity surrounding this device and the impact it has on traditional ideas of reading and writing.
It is customary for people to apologize for getting a Kindle. They love bookstores, they still love paper books, they only read mysteries or romances on it. I will skip over that part. I love the Kindle, it has surprised me. It is very classic, simple to use. It feels like a book and is very easy to carry around. I have ordered two mysteries and one non-fiction book about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I saved $40 in two days. I sat up in bed reading it using the simple light that comes out of the top.
In the two days since I got the Kindle, I’ve also ordered three books from my local bookstore, Battenkill Books. I can see that I will order paper books if I think they are special, if I want to give them away – I love giving books away – or if I want to keep them and re-read them, something I rarely do. As much as I know about the Kindle, I am shocked at how easy and inexpensive it is to buy a book. How wonderful for writing and story-telling and book reading. I also see the impact on bookstores this machine has had.
An amazing dichotomy really – if you love books, you almost have to love bookstores. If you love books, you have to love getting one on this very easy-to-use digital book (many books within) in seconds, for very little money or for none. And isn’t this the drama of the Internet? It liberates information and cheapens it. I can tell you it has changed my life also, and not just for the better.
Still, apart from my personal considerations, the Kindle is a window into the world of reading, and I am simply confounded by people who say this technology spells out the end of books or reading. I can’t imagine how that could be true. E-books are books, and the Kindle is one book with many inside of it. A miraculous thing, in many ways.
For some people, bookstores are a window into the world of ideas. For others, they are an obstacle, a place they have to drive or walk to, a place they might feel uncomfortable, a place some feel they cannot afford. I have never felt uncomfortable in a bookstore, but I am also not an elderly person home bound, or a kid in college strapped with big loans, or a soldier in Afghanistan or a commuter with a full briefcase.
I believe the world has room for good bookstores and for Kindles, but that is not up to me. I loved this device right away, and I hope no one who buys one ever has to feel the need to apologize for having one. For me, a book is not defined by the material that binds it, but the material inside of it. Stories are alive and well in America.
Soon, the Kindle will take on an additional dimension for me. My first E-book original, “The Story Of Rose” will be published on it, the Ipad, Amazon, Bn.com, the Nook and anywhere digital books are sold (computers also). The book will be published in mid-August, and will soon be available for pre-ordering online.