6.15.2011

The Kindle Reading Experience

I like it.

Okay, I'll elaborate. I really like it. When I received one for my birthday (mmm....banana cream pie!), I was excited. There's much to like about going digital, not the least of which is the impact on the environment.

That said, I felt a little anxious too. I thought about books, and the fact that reading is one of my favorite things to do. Books have been such a large part of my life. From the time that I was able to read, I have always had one going. I love the TBR pile, and the stack of stories waiting on my nightstand.

Heck, I love the smell. You know you do to!

I love bookstores and libraries and browsing for gems at sales.

But I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the experience of reading on that little baby. I picked up a copy of Stephen King's "UR" (not very good; a solid Amazon ad, though) and dove right in. I found the ink highly readable and the formatting nicely suited to the 6" screen. It's essentially a lighter paperback in my hands, with some really neat scrolling features.

I can see myself becoming pretty attached to it.

I was happy to see the formatting on These Strange Worlds made the transition well (though I need to fix a spot here or there and make the table of contents searchable).

Overall, it's light years removed from the sterile reading experience I had suspiciously conjured in my mind. I'm going to grab a little cover for that sucker and load him up with books. And, even though I have the Kindle, I'm not turning away from print. In fact, I'm taking Lyla to the library tomorrow.

Happy co-existence, folks. It's all about the happy co-existence (although that's a bit of a far cry from this article)...

2 comments:

Aaron Polson said...

I love my Kindle, but it hasn't completely replaced paper.

Yet.

Daniel Powell said...

Yeah, I don't see it happening for me anytime soon. It will be an interesting exercise in the course of the next, say, year to see how I purchase my favorite collections and novels, though. Download or dead-tree, that is the question.

Your work, by the way, is really nicely presented on the Kindle, Aaron. Excellent job with the formatting!

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