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I've been perusing the net today and I've noticed that Amazon's new Kindle device is getting a lot of hype.
My question is: is anyone actually buying the Kindle?
Because, personally, I have yet to see anyone reading anything off such a device. This has led me to believe that their market penetration isn't as great as they would like people to believe.
Personally, the idea of reading anything, a book or a magazine, on a portable digital display device just isn't that appealing. For me, reading is a sensual experience. I climb into bed with a bag of chips or a bunch of grapes. I lay back and open the book, propping it on my chest and losing myself in the pages.
The thought of staring at a screen and having to fucking scroll through a 345-page book just does not appeal. And there is an immediacy to reading a book that the Kindle can't compete with. You want to read a book, you pick it up, open it and start reading. You want to read with a Kindle, you pick it up, probably have to check the battery power, boot it up and then scroll through screens to find where you stopped. And if the battery is low, you probably have to plug it in or something.
God forbid you actually come across a book that you want to share with someone else. Are you going to loan them your Kindle? If you do, you lose access to all the other books you've downloaded, and that, my friends, would suck.
No, to me, the Kindle is just an overcomplicated gizmo, or maybe a faux status symbol. Sort of like those gadgets you could buy at The Sharper Image.
My question is: is anyone actually buying the Kindle?
Because, personally, I have yet to see anyone reading anything off such a device. This has led me to believe that their market penetration isn't as great as they would like people to believe.
Personally, the idea of reading anything, a book or a magazine, on a portable digital display device just isn't that appealing. For me, reading is a sensual experience. I climb into bed with a bag of chips or a bunch of grapes. I lay back and open the book, propping it on my chest and losing myself in the pages.
The thought of staring at a screen and having to fucking scroll through a 345-page book just does not appeal. And there is an immediacy to reading a book that the Kindle can't compete with. You want to read a book, you pick it up, open it and start reading. You want to read with a Kindle, you pick it up, probably have to check the battery power, boot it up and then scroll through screens to find where you stopped. And if the battery is low, you probably have to plug it in or something.
God forbid you actually come across a book that you want to share with someone else. Are you going to loan them your Kindle? If you do, you lose access to all the other books you've downloaded, and that, my friends, would suck.
No, to me, the Kindle is just an overcomplicated gizmo, or maybe a faux status symbol. Sort of like those gadgets you could buy at The Sharper Image.
