Put a Kindle in the Window: Summation

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Put a Kindle in the Window: Summation

POSTED: Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 5:09 PM

They sent me a Kindle 2 to try out for 10 days. I just sent it back. Sadly. It was just like the end of Harry and the Hendersons, not the part where it turns out there are like LOTS of Bigfoots, but the part where John Lithgow slaps Harry and is like "you smell get lost creepo" but he's just doing it to save Harry from the Bigfoot hunter.

If I was rich, I'd probably buy the Kindle, for use while traveling and such. I'm not rich. I can't even afford to travel.

It's $350 for the device plus $10 or so per book. Some books are way cheaper, like $.99. A lot of old public domainish books on there. I was given a $30 account by the good people at Amazon to download from the Kindle's always open, always connected store. I found a collection of sci-fi short stories I hadn't heard of and decided to give it a try. It was only a buck. Pretty early on I was wondering why the author though he could get away with a piece of about a colony of Moonpeople interacting with the astronauts. then I looked up the story. It's from the 1940s. We've been to the Moon since then. Nobody there. So, I suppose there are good bargains on the Kindle, but you gotta be choosy.

I just started Infinite Jest, as the the Infinite Summer challenge. (Oh man, I wanna out-read Colin Melloy.) And I cannot deny that the considerably lighter Kindle would be way preferable to hauling David Foster Wallace's 1,000-page monsterpiece around.

And I like the way Kindle looks up words with the flick of the cursor, even if it can seem a little condescending when you do it accidentally. And I dig how you can download newspapers and magazines, though I wish they were more easily navigated, with expansive tables of contents. I really like the screen, and found bed-reading particularly comfortable.

Most people who checked out the Kindle were like, "I think I'd still prefer reading from a book." To which I say: Fine. But there's something to be said about the convenience and comfort of a digital reader. And there is much being said, mostly about stuff I wouldn't encounter after only 10 days with the thing.

Kindle Copy Controls Stink on synching with the iPhone Kindle app
Rethinking the Kindle on download limits
Kindle gnaws at books' shelf-esteem one writer's love/hate affair with e-books, puns
How to Add Color to the Kindle for some reason
Kindle Could enjoy iPod-like Success no it couldn't
Analysts: Kindle Book Price Hikes Are Coming great
Kindle Content to Appear on More Devices well as long as the Kindle is content
Old, Real Book vs. Kindle Alternative: Which Wins? great headline, guys
Owly's Kindle Debut comic book on the Kindle
Finding the Kindle Beater who can defeat this mighty juggernaut?
E-Link's Acquisition Could Mean Cheaper Kindles good
Kindle Joins a Bookstore Ritual on getting it autographed

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 5:09 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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