Finally, a Kindle!

I’ve kept my eye on the raging debate over the pros and cons of e-readers. I follow many different blogs in the writing community and publishing industry. (Michael Hyatt, president and CEO of Thomas Nelson, has some excellent reviews and thoughts on e-readers.)

Literary agent Chip McGregor, one of the most respected voices in the publishing industry, presented a talk about the future of publishing at the Summer Conference for the Oregon Christian Writers and he insisted e-readers will soon be as much a part of our lives as a cell phone.

There is talk of instituting e-readers for schools to eliminate the heavy books (and expensive books) that children have to lug around all day. Publishers are exploring multimedia aspects including videos and author interviews with e-books. The potential is limitless.

So, after a while and after waiting for several “versions” of e-readers to cycle through the public’s hands, I decided. I wanted a Kindle. I have the Kindle app for my Mac and my Android phone, so I’ve been familiar with the system and also downloaded a bundle of free books.

For Christmas, my friends and family gave me Amazon.com giftcards and I was able to order it! When it arrived, it simply did not disappoint.

I’m amazed how much you can do with the Kindle – upload your own documents, pdfs, music, even. Games, internet access, text-to-speech, highlighting and note capabilities. It is more than I expected. I’ve already read a good half of a book in a day and I find the screen to be lovely to read on. I enjoy it not being back-lit and with the built in light cover I got for it, I don’t have a problem reading it anywhere, in any light. One hot-button issue is sharing books, which is soon to be addressed by the industry, I’m sure.

I haven’t forgotten about traditional books – I couldn’t possibly. Right after getting my Kindle I spent a day doing WWII research all with my hard-backed books. And I love the feel of it and the smell of it. But I love each medium in its own right. There’s no reason these two families can’t co-exist together. In fact, I think they are a perfect compliment to each other.

My trips to the library won’t diminish at all, but the ease of finding a book and downloading it 60 seconds is handy indeed for my research or enjoyment. I love the Kindle and I love my towering wall of books of all different ages, shapes and sizes. In short, I have more than enough book love to go around, e-reader and all.