Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts

Monday, June 13, 2011

New Little Buddy.

Earlier in the year I made some foolish declaration about not buying magazines anymore. That didn't last as I have an addiction. This is my excuse. A pathetic one I know. One I should certainly be able to address.

However, I have made some steps towards *reducing the paper waste in our family. I have bought a Kindle. I got it a while ago and I love it. Now I know many of you are going to poo poo this e-reader saying it signifies the loss of the written word and the death of books etc etc and to some extent I agree. I am not saying I am going to stop buying books. (When I was in Melbourne Mich took me to Artisan books on Gertrude street where I had to buy a book about the history of Colour- such a beautiful book shop, and just down the road was another book shop called Books for Cooks which I could absolutely recommend and of course I bought Chef a book too. ) In fact quite the opposite but I am only going to buy books that are like reference books, like I have written about before. But all those disposable books, you know the crime kind of ones that you sometimes read when you don't want to use your brain too much, that you read in a few days?? that you pick up on a whim? I am not going to buy them anymore.  I just have an image ( Mich has hear this spiel before) of a book factory pumping out Jodi Picoult books by the thousands and just think about ALL THAT PAPER. Think about it....it's not like her books are life changing novels? ( sorry to pick on Jodi, but you get what I mean) so these can be downloaded onto my kindle, if I feel that way inclined, for a fraction of the price. ( about $8)

Which brings me to the kindle. It is not like reading a computer screen at all. Nothing like it. I have tried to show you the screen, this is Fantastic Mr Fox which I have a real copy of but wanted to see if it showed the pictures when I downloaded it- which as you can see it does.  

You turn the page on by the little button on the side. You can change the font size and type -this was hugely important to me- what if it was in comic sans - *shudder*. (I know you don't think it is that bad LC and you cannot comprehend the enormity of my contempt for it )The keyboard at the bottom is so you when you dial up Amazon you can type in the name of the book you want, they are downloaded onto your kindle in about one minute. This is great for someone like me who is not always good at delaying gratification. It is instant.

Because I am a rampant consumer I had to buy a nifty cover for it.  I take it everywhere. It is great for holidays, as it is light as a feather. The battery lasts for ages too.  It is my new little buddy and I have already converted a few friends too.
* this is how I am justifying this purchase.