Saturday, January 24, 2009

A good toy for grownups

A few people have asked about my Kindle. I am certainly glad to have it, although it's hardly a necessity like bread or wine. My wife encouraged me to buy one, and since of course I am a sucker for self-gratification, I spent the 350 or so bucks. It means buying fewer books, but that will never stop completely. Kindle is a great device with a non-glare screen and reasonably easy navigation; open a file, and you go right to the place you left off. Downloads from Gutenberg are free, and current books cost no more than $10 (that I know of) from Kindle. The complete works of Mark Twain set me back about $2 from Amazon.

Is it economical to buy a Kindle? It depends on how many books you normally buy. It's going to be a long time before my gizmo "pays for itself," if it ever does. But as grownups' toys go, it's a good one.

6 comments:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Boys never outgrow their toys!

My husband's favorite it his I-Touch - got it for him so he'd not be bored when accompanying me on book signings.

And I don't think one gets a Kindle with the intentions of saving money...

L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net

Shari Lyle-Soffe said...

As a children's author I was sad to hear they are not equiped for books with color graphics. Too bad. Still I would love to have one if they would cut the price in thirds. $350 is way out of my league.

Shari
http://www.sharilyle-soffe.com
http://rooterandsnuffle.blogspot.com
http://nothingstopsnoah.blogspot.com

Morgan Mandel said...

I settled for putting Stanza on my Iphone instead since I already had the Iphone.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Connie Arnold said...

I'm way behind on technology and don't like reading very long at the computer, so not sure a Kindle would be my thing. Holding a book in my hands and enjoying the cover and pictures as well is important to me.

Ann Parker said...

I've been tempted by the Kindle. But I'm waiting for the price to come down. I figure all things electronic eventually do...

Ruth L.~ said...

Keep me posted about the pros and cons. I'm very curious.