My New E Reader
As a reward for finishing The Ghost and Christie McFee, I got myself an E-reader, a Kindle. I also got a cover for it from Oberon Design because I’m an Obe. This is what my cover looks like.This particular design is called Creekbed Maple and the colour is called Saddle.
I decided on a Kindle 4. It’s a basic Kindle with E ink and buttons to turn the pages. I’m not a fan of fingerprints, and the buttons allow for one-handed reading.
I had thought about the Kindle Fire, especially for looking at all the pretty book covers, but since most of my time will be spent looking at the text, not book covers, it didn’t seem to matter. The deciding factor was that I did not want to be distracted by the urge to check email or twitter or whatever the web could offer. I want to pretend this is a BOOK and nothing else.
So, I bought the Kindle 4, took it home, made myself a cup of tea, and got ready to open the pretty box.
It really is a pretty box, with ‘kindle’ in simple shiny letters in the upper left. The bottom of the box has a round “Certified Frustration Free Packaging” seal. Interesting . . .
There’s a tear strip at the top, so, OK, I pull that. Then I find a little thumb hold and pull it out. I lift the lid like the arrow says and there it is—my shiny new “book” which holds up to 1400 books. The flap has an arrow, I pull out the instructions — and take a sip of tea because I want to savour this.
This is a really neat box and my hoarder tendency wants to keep it, but that’s another story.
I lift out the Kindle and find the USB cable tucked underneath. Now it’s time to plug it into my computer to charge.
But first, I need to slip on my Oberon cover. And to do this, I need to take the protective cellophane layer off the Kindle screen. This cellophane has a diagram of how to plug in the USB cable. Of course, it’s completely self-explanatory so I pull off the cellophane and—
Holy Crap! The diagram is on the screen of this uncharged device!
I wonder when it goes away . . .
Almost as soon as I plug in the USB, the image fades and I get the Kindle emblem, the tree. The device driver software automatically installs to my computer. Kindle asks me for my language: I get a choice of English UK, English USA as well as Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano and Português.
The big square button at the bottom middle has directional arrows and I soon see that anything black is active. The next screen wants me to connect to my WiFi. Kindle finds my network and then there’s a pictograph showing me which button will bring up the keyboard so I can type in my password. All I have to do is remember my password, and I do.
I choose my existing Amazon account. My Wifi works and I’m registered. Just that easy.
Next, I click the “Learn More” button because I don’t want to miss anything.
This is so exciting. For a year, I have been downloading Kindle books to a free app on my computer. Now I can curl up and read with this Kindle in its beautiful Oberon cover. And hugging the leather Oberon cover is better than a “real” book.
In fact, plain ole paper just doesn’t cut it anymore.
How about you? Are you a diehard fan of traditional paper? Or have you made the move to Electronic?