I first heard of the Kindle back in 2007 from one Heather Anne Hogan. It was the Thanksgiving that I drove to DC to meet The Collective and when I'd finally found my way and parked and lugged all of my stuff into Kat's adorable apartment, Heather Anne told us all of a magical device called the Kindle.
She'd been sitting next to a woman with a Kindle on her flight to DC. And, being Heather Anne Hogan, she became best friends with this stranger and learned all about the wonder of the Kindle. How it was magic and could hold practically a million books inside and also how it cost a lot. We were all amazed, if not slightly suspicious, because who doesn't love the feel of a real book in their hands? In any case, I filed this information away because I didn't even have an iPod at that point, so it wasn't like I was going to go run out and buy this mysterious Kindle. (At the time, I thought everyone was saying Ken Doll instead of Kindle and I was all, "How do you read off of a Ken Doll?" but don't worry, I eventually figured it out.)
Last year, Joe started a new job. Since he started when everyone was getting their Christmas bonuses, he wasn't going to get one. So his boss gave him a Kindle. Yeah. No bonus for you, but here's SOME MAGIC instead. I'm not going to lie to you. I was jealous. And not JUST because my Christmas bonus consisted of a booklet about the history of the company and two movie tickets. But, I was also happy for him because I love him blah blah blah and anyway, he let me read books on it sometimes.
The brand new tiny Kindle came out right before we got married. My coworkers gave me a gift card to Target that was JUST ENOUGH for a Kindle, so we tried to find one before the honeymoon. Unfortunately, we weren't successful so, AS PER USUAL, I ended up packing five books in my carry-on, oh, and buying two others over the course of the trip.
But when we got home, we found a faraway(ish) Target (around Hoover Heights, Heather) and soon I had a Kindle. It was like POOF here's your Kindle, that's how easy it was. I soon had it loaded with a couple of books, but it's so hard to stop at a couple of books. Especially when it's so easy to buy them. You only have to click ONE BUTTON on Amazon's website and then it's loaded onto your Kindle. I had no idea books could disapparate, but they keep doing it! From Amazon, straight to my Kindle! IT IS MAGIC, YOU GUYS, DON'T TRY AND TELL ME DIFFERENTLY.
I need to stop, though. I am exceeding my book budget by, like, a lot. Luckily, there are a lot of free books for the Kindle, classics like Pride & Prejudice and Gulliver's Travels. So I loaded all the free books I could find onto my Kindle. I found about 40 of them. I'll be taking all of them with me to DC this weekend and I just hope it's enough.
i downloaded gulliver's travels, too :)
ReplyDeleteso excited our ken dolls get to meet!
Speaking of Hoover Heights, we need to go pick up our Harry Pottery soon. They called me again about it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yes, the Kindle is awesome.
I checked out a Nook from Barnes & Noble (cause they let employees do that) and I read a book on it but I didn't like it at all. It was very satisfying to download the books, I admit, and since BN was paying for them, I have to confess that I downloaded about fifteen books even though I knew I wasn't going to read them . . . just because I could.
ReplyDeleteBut actually reading the book on the machine felt so wrong to me.
Granted, the Kindle might be different, but I don't think it would be different enough.
I'm so happy for you! I feel like everyone who reads a lot should have a kindle (or ipad or whatever). Thanksgiving is the first time I heard about the Kindle too. Kat and I met Heather at the airport and she made the lady come show it to us. I was awed (in awe?). I got a bunch of Amazon giftcards for Christmas last year and now whenever I buy a book for my iPad (from the Kindle store) it's FREEEEEEEEEEEEE! I love it.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Ashley, this is what I constantly send to people who bash on the kindle: http://www.thetrephine.com/2010/04/25/if-this-were-a-video-i-would-be-dressed-up-like-chris-crocker-and-i-would-be-shrieking-leave-kindle-alooooone/
I'm seriously like five seconds from moving to Hoover Heights.
ReplyDeleteI was (Dawson) leery of the ken doll at first, too. And Joe has the bigger one, which I think is kind of awkward (for me) to read, but I got the smaller one, which fits in my hand better. That's what she said. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteAbigail: I'm not saying the Kindle is evil (although that is actually what I have said in the past), but the actual experience of reading on that thing was just so unpleasant for me because I just love BOOKS. When I read, I don't just read. I smell the pages. I flip ahead. I write on them. But mostly, I love the smell of the physical book. Old ones. New ones. Moldy ones. Falling apart ones. Ones that have old food stains on them. Kindles don't smell :(
ReplyDeleteAnd like I said, maybe I would like the experience of reading on a Kindle better than a Nook, but it made my hands hurt and the clicking was weird.
I can foresee certain circumstances where I would prefer a Kindle, like for PDF files to carry around, and if you wanted to read a ginormous book, like Les Miserables or War and Peace or whatever, but other than that, it's just not for me.
(I tried! I really did!)
Also, Kindles don't have book covers. God, I love a good book cover.
ReplyDeleteI bought a case for my Kindle that simulates the book cover. It's awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I want a Kindle.
ReplyDeleteThe Kindle is way better than a Ken Doll, that's for sure.
ReplyDelete