The Amazon Kindle
21 November 2007 00:21![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juldeaThe device has been invented which has the capacity to ruin my social life and finances, and I don't think I'd be the only one going down.
The Amazon Kindle, a portable, wireless reading device. Buy it for $400 (currently), then buy your books on it from Amazon for $10 or less, download them in under a minute, and get to reading on its "electronic paper" screen technology. Turn the wireless off and its battery lasts for over a week, up to two. Also use it to read the newspaper before the paper copy gets to your neighbor's door, or magazines before they hit the stands. Check Wikipedia from anywhere. When reading a book, dogear a page, make a note, highlight - and it automatically bookmarks your spot for you. I don't know its full book list yet, but I did a quick browse of the fantasy section and on the first page were six books I wanted to read, and that was out of twelve shown, out of 1,560 total results.
I cannot express how much this device would change my life. I admit that I don't read as much as I used to mainly due to laziness. I don't own all the books I want to read, and I don't want to own all those books either, mostly because I don't want to move them, not that I don't want to pay for them. There's a library vaguely nearby but - laziness - I don't really go there much. Plus, carrying around books is difficult, they can be heavy, you can lose your place. Then there's the situation where you've left the house without your books and then realize you want them instead. Now there's a device I can fit in my purse that boom, is all my books in one. And more! I can get a book at any time! Anywhere.
There's no subscription fees, apparently. They get the money out of you when you buy the Kindle itself, currently $400, and when you buy the 'books' for however much - I see 50 cent titles and 10 dollar titles, so I guess it depends. There's no signup for wireless, they use their own network and don't charge you for it. Oh, and it's not WiFi, it's like a cell phone network, so no worrying about finding a hotspot - get your book or magazine or blog or Wikipedia from anywhere a cell phone would get signal.
I would spend way too much money on books if I had one of these, and I would interact with people a lot less, as I'd be reading more. But damn... reading more is a good thing, right?
Want.
The Amazon Kindle, a portable, wireless reading device. Buy it for $400 (currently), then buy your books on it from Amazon for $10 or less, download them in under a minute, and get to reading on its "electronic paper" screen technology. Turn the wireless off and its battery lasts for over a week, up to two. Also use it to read the newspaper before the paper copy gets to your neighbor's door, or magazines before they hit the stands. Check Wikipedia from anywhere. When reading a book, dogear a page, make a note, highlight - and it automatically bookmarks your spot for you. I don't know its full book list yet, but I did a quick browse of the fantasy section and on the first page were six books I wanted to read, and that was out of twelve shown, out of 1,560 total results.
I cannot express how much this device would change my life. I admit that I don't read as much as I used to mainly due to laziness. I don't own all the books I want to read, and I don't want to own all those books either, mostly because I don't want to move them, not that I don't want to pay for them. There's a library vaguely nearby but - laziness - I don't really go there much. Plus, carrying around books is difficult, they can be heavy, you can lose your place. Then there's the situation where you've left the house without your books and then realize you want them instead. Now there's a device I can fit in my purse that boom, is all my books in one. And more! I can get a book at any time! Anywhere.
There's no subscription fees, apparently. They get the money out of you when you buy the Kindle itself, currently $400, and when you buy the 'books' for however much - I see 50 cent titles and 10 dollar titles, so I guess it depends. There's no signup for wireless, they use their own network and don't charge you for it. Oh, and it's not WiFi, it's like a cell phone network, so no worrying about finding a hotspot - get your book or magazine or blog or Wikipedia from anywhere a cell phone would get signal.
I would spend way too much money on books if I had one of these, and I would interact with people a lot less, as I'd be reading more. But damn... reading more is a good thing, right?
Want.