Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Embracing the New Technology - Part II

My Kindle 3 was delivered yesterday. Even though I know the UPS truck gets to my neighborhood after 5:00 PM, I didn’t want to leave the house. What if it was early? What if I needed to sign for the package? Every time a heavy vehicle went by, I looked up from my desk to glance out the window. As it turned out, I was up to my wrists in bread dough when the doorbell rang at about 5:40. I almost ran down the dog trying to get to the front door.

Although I’ve been self-publishing through Kindle and Smashwords for a while now, I really had no idea what a Kindle would look like. I don’t have any close friends who own one (yet), and so far they’re not available in retail stores around here.

As recently as five years ago, I was one of the many readers who said you’ll have to pry my print books out of my cold, dead hands. I couldn’t see the point of an e-reader, and my only experience with trying to read a digital book was something I uploaded to my Palm Pilot. A really crummy way to read anything, especially when a person reaches that certain age—the one of presbyopia, or nearsightedness.

So what do I think of the Kindle?  WOW! This is amazing! It does so many things, certainly more than I expected. And there’s a learning curve here to figure it all out. But I’m very impressed.

Those of you who already own one are nodding. Those of you who don’t probably share my previous opinion of this whole business. Trust me, you might change your minds yet.

1 comment:

  1. I don't own a Kindle, but I use Kindle for PC and prefer it to other ereader software. Everyone I know who has a Kindle loves it, and I'm impressed by the new brighter screen. It still isn't quite what I need. There are some new ereaders coming out that will be much like the iPad, available through Barnes & Noble and Borders, and I'm going to be checking them out.

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