About a year ago I wrote my first blog about Kindle as a ‘Kindle Sceptic.’ I like reading in bed, on the beach and occasionally in the bath and I was utterly convinced that sand and water would do a Kindle no good and that the experience of reading using a kindle, during those last minutes before tucking down to sleep, would be a bit like taking your office to bed with you. After all I’d banned TV’s and radio’s from the bedroom, wanting it to be an electrical free, calm space to relax and recuperate.
I had several comments with balanced views on both sides following that post, but I must admit the ‘no’s were a bit like me. In truth, they’d never tried to use one, so they didn’t really know.
It was to my utter astonishment therefore, knowing full well my views on the matter, that my husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas. There it sat in its box until about February when I thought I’d better at least look at it. I plugged it into my PC and must admit to feeling a bit smug when I couldn’t use it to download books because I didn’t have WIFI!
There it stayed until September when we converted to WIFI, after no end of internet problems over the summer. I checked it worked OK, but even then I was reluctant to download a book which I preferred to buy in paperback. For a couple of weeks I leant it to my niece, for research purposes you understand, but in the end she gave it back to me, disguised in a dark plastic bag, so that I did not offend my husband.
Then there was a book I dearly wanted to read, but it was only available on Kindle,
Rachel’s Shoe by Peter Lihou
and so I plucked up courage and downloaded it with ease.
What did I think of the experience:
- I liked the way it knew what page I was on without me having to skim through, if I lost my bookmark
- I liked being able to put it down in my lap and continue to read, with a bowl of cereal in the other hand
- I found it easy to read and turn pages, although I did have to put my bedside light on
What didn’t I like:
- I still had the feeling that it was just another screen to grab my attention…. PC, laptop, TV, iphone…. I was reluctant to use another one, especially in the sacrosanct space where I try to sleep
- I was worried about the effect on my eyes, especially when I was tired at the end of the day
It helped that I loved the book. Rachel’s Shoe will feature in my next Guest Post, and it was certainly a page turner, even though a virtual one.
‘I think I’ll alternate and see how I get on,’ I remarked to my husband. ‘After all I’d like to read more indie writers rather than the old faithful authors I usually beam towards in Waterstones. I do miss my little independent bookshop though, where Rob used to make suggestions and through him I branched out into Peter James and the Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, which I lapped up greedily, waiting impatiently to my return to Horatio’s in Ampthill in order to buy the next one.
Oh yes, that’s another notch in the Kindle’s favour. No waiting time! Just download instantly.
At what cost though, I can’t help but ask myself? Mind you, I’m sure you could argue that I might just as well still be a cave dweller!
What a thought.
Diana Jackson 