The "Kindle" Experience

I taught myself to read when I was about four years old. Since then, I’ve read everything that had print on it. I read stuff upside down. Labels on cans. Instruction manuals. I even tried to decipher the “short form” chart on the back of the old stenographer’s notebook; you name it. When I was a young person, I wasn’t part of the group culture around me, for a number of reasons. One main one was the companionship of my nearest sibling (15 months), and another was my love for reading. For me, curling up somewhere with a stack of books to devour was much preferable to going places and doing things with others. (We didn’t call it “hanging out” in those days. That’s what “bad” kids did in pool halls.)

I have written occasionally on my enjoyment of reading, and the pleasure and comfort I have always derived from it. But, something new has happend in my reading world, and I am amazed.

My son and his wife gave me an Amazon Kindle for Christmas/my birthday. It arrived the other day, and I have spent the time since then learning my way around it and customizing it to my particular habits. I guess it would be superfluous to say here that the experience has been more than I ever expected. For someone who has spent a good amount of every day’s time with a printed book in my hands, I never expected electronic reading for enjoyment to be such a pleasurable pastime.

I won’t go into trying to describe the Kindle or its operation here. The link above provides a lot of information about the little device, and you will get a lot more out of that set of information than anything I could provide here. (Clicking on the image will show you the exact size of a Kindle.)

But, I want to tell you that my experience with this little pad and its “strange” Pearl screen technology (it doesn’t “light up” or glow, for instance, and, just like a paper book, you will need to be in the light in order to read the page), has been so positive that I wanted to share it with you.

If you have been thinking about trying a Kindle, I urge you to take the plunge. It’s not a panacea. It’s not for everyone’s tastes or needs. Best-seller downloads cost around $10, some more, some less, and there are thousands of old classics that are available for free. It’s ideal for travel, for waiting rooms, and for quiet afternoons in the hammock. It “feels” like a book. In other words, when I am reading it, the experience is logged in my mind as a “book,” not as a “computer,” or other device, which makes it enjoyable and relaxing.

If you try it, I hope you like it as much as I do. But, then, I haven’t changed a bit. I will still read anything with words on it.

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