Kindle Me Softly
12:00 AM
Basically, the Kindle and other such device were for techies and other people, plus I couldn't afford it and had better things to do with my money. I was one of those people who would share the stick figure drawing of a person destroying his friends Kindle in defense of books. Then I was turned to the dark side.
It didn't happen dramatically with the crack of lightening and thunder. It was more like that drip under your sink that eventually fills the bucket. First I came across a series of eBooks that I really liked. It was free and was an eBook, this meant I had to read it from my computer screen (something I still am not a fan of) or print it out (waste of perfectly good recycled paper).
Then my sister got a kindle app on her android phone and purchased the Hunger Game trilogy and The Fifty Shades of Grey series. She got to read them right away and was onto another set of "books". It took a while before I got to read the Hunger Games trilogy and I still haven't read Fifty Shades.
No problem, I can learn to live with out being able to simply download books. Then one day a friend sent a link to a free eBook on Amazon. I quickly went and got the book, but the only way to read it is from the Kindle App on the Amazon website. Reading from a computer screen is not fun, it's like you are handcuffed to the computer and what happens if you want to read on the go, in the bank in a line or while traveling. Sigh.
The straw that broke my camel's back, I found a website that shares the links to free eBooks on Amazon and free eBooks from a site called Smashwords that lets people publish eBooks. So here are all these free books, but that would mean I would have to read them from the computer or print them out which means wasting ink and paper. It's a conspiracy I tell you.
What doesn't help is the following:
- Sometimes, the eBook is cheaper than the actual book
- This is a great way to decide if you really want the actual book;
- Less cluttering of one's home with books you just didn't like or just found were okay;
- Free eBooks;
- Access to less mainstream authors who are quite good;
- As I live on an island, the price of the book will not be raised with the cost of shipping and importation taxes;
- I won't be tied down to the computer;
Don't get me wrong, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, I would feel bad about not supporting the local book stores more. I'm not crazy about another device to charge and be attached to. I'm not saying with a Kindle, I'm not going to support the local bookstore, but I will be a better cheapskate and work on living with less.
The reality is technology is continuing to grow and expand and one can't help but grow with it, but one should be aware of themselves and integrate it in a way that it is beneficial to their lives as opposed to jumping on the band wagon just because the technology is there.
Yes I have a Mac and an iPod, an Android phone, but they are not the latest and greatest. They serve a purpose and I am content with them. And now that the price of the Kindle has come down considerably, I have no problem with adopting it into my device family. Don't get me wrong, I still own a vintage rotary phone, a trusty desk lamp and my TV (which I haven't used in months) is not a flat screen and my DVD player is not Bluray.
As I embark on this next step in my Technological journey, I still have a desire to hold on to the things of the past. I'm craving a camera that uses film. It feels like technology is pulling me along kicking and screaming. For the record I will not be doing implants, be it in the skin or in my eyes or brain, I have some limits.
Are there any devices you have been resisting? What are they? Do you think technology is moving too fast? Leave your answers in the comment section below.
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