I got a Kindle for Christmas, and I love it.

I love that is a single purpose device.  As I managed to brick my iPhone the other day, so it wouldn't turn on, that meant that this multi use device, which is also a phone, wasn't even a phone. That's a bit limiting!

Things I love about my kindle are:

  • ease of getting books onto it via WhisperNet
  • ease of getting additional files onto it via the @kindle.com email addresses (paid for or free via the free.kindle.com address)
  • my case - the green leather case makes it a delight to hold and interact with
  • ability to highlight text in a book, and get at it later to include in a summary
  • ability to annotate text, and again to later get at it for summarisation etc
  • the screen works well in many different light conditions - outside, inside, lit naturally, artificial lit
  • it doesn't go beep or distract me in any way, meaning that I can get involved in whatever I'm reading

Things I've learnt are:

  • turn off the wireless access if you don't need it, this saves a lot of battery power
  • there's a minesweeper game on it
  • you can take a screen shot

My kindle goes most places with me. It goes to work with me every day, and for the first time in years I can often be found reading a bit of my novel during my lunch break. During the two weeks whilst I was in Hull, dealing with my Dad's death, the ability to get at new books easily and quickly was wonderful. I could stop myself from getting too upset by losing myself in an engaging bit of fiction, not necessarily a book I'd have bought in other circumstances, but that was really suited to my situations. And it was only a couple of clicks away.