How To Read More, Longer – Get A Kindle

It was a very happy birthday indeed last week when my wife surprised me with a new Amazon Kindle.  I have more or less been lusting after this product since it was announced.  I even went so far as to do some phone interviews with the Kindle team about a year and a half ago.  I was that in love with the idea of what this product represented.

Due to my book buying habits, I always have about 3 or 4 “new” books that are still unread.  Given the investment I had in unread books, I always managed to convince myself not to buy a Kindle.  Well, that, and it is most assuredly a luxury purchase.  I guess it’s good I have such a wonderful wife who got the hint after two years. <joke!>

There are more than enough reviews of the Kindle out there that I don’t have to waste your time with my own thoughts.  However, I will assert this claim.  If you want to read more, get a Kindle.  The reason?  I have a few that I noted over the weekend.

First, Amazon has inserted a straw into my wallet.  Any book I think I want, I can pretty much get.  Without having to get up.  Groan.  There goes my budget.

Second, because of the form factor, I can bottle feed my daughter and continue to read.  That’s a big deal.

Third, the font size doesn’t change book to book, and neither does the length of the line of text.  What this means (guessing here, as I’m not a doctor) is that my brain can train on consistent spacing, font, pitch and type.  I found that I am moving through the text faster and faster, and I have barely had the unit a week.  Perhaps this is imagined, but it feels real.

Last, there’s no fatigue associated with reading for long stints.  This is one that I cannot explain, but I don’t get tired in the eyes when reading on the Kindle.  Again, perhaps I simply haven’t had it long enough, but I have yet to find my eyes getting droopy.  This might have to do with the paragraph above.  No clue.

Net out?  I blew through some books this weekend.  I mean *blew* through them.  Now I just have to work through that pile of actual books on my bed stand so I don’t feel guilty about those purchases.