9 reasons why I ordered a Kindle
August 26, 2010
Amazon has made a big change to how it approaches the Kindle. I was intrigued when I saw the price drop and legions of sceptics flock to the page to pre-oder version 3 of device. Looks like a lot has been improved, and Amazon is finally opening up, just a smidge, to the rest of the world. Here are my reasons for joining the crowd on this one:
- It’s cheap. My Kindle, case and shipping came in under R1,500. For anyone who loves gadgets, a price point like this is very refreshing.
- The books are cheap. A considerable number are even free, or cost less than $2. By all accounts, I’ll make my money back if I buy about 30 books at an average price of $10 (saving R50 or more off the price of a paperback).
- There are a lot of books. Even considering region restrictions at Amazon and other sellers, there are still hundreds of thousands of books available (not to mention all those free classics I’ve been meaning to get around to for a while). When I played around with Kindle for PC (great free app), I had no trouble getting pretty much everything I wanted.
- It saves shelf space. This is a huge benefit for me – anyone who’s seen my bookshelves will attest that they’re at critical mass. There are lots of books that I haven’t bought because I simply don’t have the space to store them. Now, I can buy these one-off reads and don’t need to worry about physical space.
- It’s a single-function device. When I read, I don’t want to be distracted by status updates, email, videos and all the other flotsam of the web. This is why I wouldn’t get an iPad for reading – it’s simply too distracting. I’m looking for a reading device, not a tablet PC.
- The screen is awesome. The reason why I don’t read on my PC is because of the bright, glaring screen – after a day at work, the last thing I want to do is spend more time staring at a monitor. The Kindle screen is reflective and reads just like a sheet of paper. The grey-scale images are beautiful too.
- It supports most formats. Aside for Amazon’s proprietary format, the Kindle now reads MOBI, PDF, Word, Text and a few others (the notable exception is EPUB, the ebook publishing standard). This is great since I’ve amassed my share of PDF ebooks over the years, and since other ebook sellers and providers (like the awesome Gutenberg Project) use one or more of these.
- It has other nifty features. You can download book samples to explore new authors, make notes in the books, use Wikipedia or a dictionary if you get stuck and sync with a whole range of other devices. This sounds like just enough functionality without becomeing distracting.
- It’s about time. I’ve been itching for an ereader for ages, and it no longer makes sense to hold out for the perfect one. The Kindle sounds like the best deal, with the best price and widest range of material, that is available today.
So now I’m one of millions of people in the long waiting list for the new device, arrival date still unknown. Since I’ve waited this long, a few more weeks won’t hurt!
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3 Comments
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Great article Anna – each point is spot on!
Point 5 is probably the most critical point for me. When I read I want to read and leave the real world behind and engage with the content, plot, charaters, etc. I do not want the ability to jump to Twitter, Facebook, Email, etc or have notifications appearing.
Point 2 is also very interesting in that the device can quickly pay for itself.
Thanks Mark!
I’ve had long debates about point 5 with people who say there’s more value in a tablet device – but exactly like you said, I want a reading device, not another procrastination tool.
I think I’m actually almost convinced! Seriously. I’m a book nut and in reading through your post I started to feel the allure of the Kindle!