Kindle in the wind....

It's cool..it's slim...it ooozes sex appeal...it's about 6+ inches long :) and it slips smugly into my pocket...ladies and gentlemen it's the all new wonder of 2011..the beautiful..the humble...the sleek..the elegant..Kindle!! and I'm in love with it. A very short few years ago when the idea of an electronic reading device was revealed I like many other avid and loyal readers, bought up on a diet of well thumbed paperbacks, were of the opinion that an "ebook" would have a difficult task of trying to prove itself as a worthy substitute for the humble paperback. As a lifetime buyer of books the joy of perusing, selecting, holding, smelling, fondling, and collecting them was a simple pleasure that all book lovers will fight to retain and few will relinquish willingly. The joy of visiting a book store with the smells and sights of neatly aligned books standing to attention awaiting inspection, the enticing comfort and coziness offered by back street book sellers, and the  warmth and friendliness of the local library are all emotions that draw us  to the love the humble book and hold dear the printed word.

         The early ebook readers were chunky affairs, bloated and difficult to hold and manipulate with the hand, then along came Amazon and the Kindle 3…and the whole world smiled, changed and accepted that maybe there was a place beside the humble book for this supposed usurper of the throne. The Kindle 3 made reading and acquiring books easy, in fact download via whispernet took seconds and for a consumer orientated society this was bliss. More importantly the ability to read this amazing ebook without the fear of eye strain, by the use of virtual or e ink was what I believe finally sold the idea of an electronic book reader to a previously skeptical public. From personal experience I find that my ability to assimilate and read a book quickly has improved dramatically since acquiring my Kindle on December 25^th…….but what of the future of the printed word?

         I still love to hold a book, put my nose between the open pages and smell the aromatic essence, caress and fondle and admire texture and flow of the written prose. Today I was in central Bristol (at the NHS walk in…told you I was ill!) and could not resist the pull of my local book store Waterstones! Always eager to read and taste the delights of new authors I acquired Horns by the acclaimed Joe Hill and that great coming of age story Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury…was this an attempt to placate the guilt in my soul..was this a snub at the Kindle 3,…of course not, I enjoy reading the printed word in either book or electronic form and believe that both can live happily side by side not as enemies but as friends who compliment eachother….lets talk tomorrow…

Kindle 2

Kindle 3