Kindle, how do I love thee?

I think I first heard about the Kindle early last year. I heard it was this amazing reading device being sold by Amazon.com and that everyone who loved to read was getting one. I dismissed it out of hand, telling people that I was the type of person who loved books, not just reading. I loved the feel of paper between my fingers and binding in my hands. I just didn’t think that any electronic device could feel as good to me. Little did I know that my opinion was about to change completely.

Last Christmas, by this time the latest generation Kindle World had been released already, and one of my closest friends and fellow book lovers kept raving about the Kindle saying she had read over a dozen new books in two months and that now traveling was easy since she could pack over 1,500 titles in her Kindle without having to decide which precious few books would be brought in her luggage. She kept going on and on and on about it until I decided I wanted to give it a try. After all, I reasoned, I would never lose my love for books and if I really liked a title I would still buy it. Why not try this new electronic reader?

With my mind made up. Nino bought me a Kindle for Christmas and I waited anxiously for Amazon to send it. I felt like a kid again waiting for Christmas morning. When it finally arrived, I was stoked! It was so ergonomic and smooth and pristine white with a small keyboard and buttons for menu, home, next page, previous page, etc. And it was so light! At just about 1/3 of an inch it is as thin as a magazine and at 10.2 ounces it is lighter than a paperback. To say it was pretty would be an understatement. But the physical aspect was only the tip of the iceberg of my new addiction.

As soon as I opened it, my friend Sasha helped me set it up teaching me how to use the 3G wireless (all over the world, with no monthly contracts), how to personalize it with my information, and how to order books online in the Kindle store. It’s really easy — you essentially order the books off Amazon, either from your computer or straight from your Kindle and within minutes the book gets sent to you. If you have e-books on your computer in PDF format, you can have them converted to Kindle documents easily by sending them to your free Kindle email account (each Kindle is given one). Once you send them, they get emailed back to you (almost instantaneously) in Kindle document format. It’s so easy and efficient.

And that’s not all; the little device uses special paper print technology, which makes this e-reader the best (in my opinion) in the market. The screen reads like paper ensuring no glare even in direct sunlight. Plus, since it is not backlit like a computer screen, it doesn’t hurt your eyes and you can read for hours comfortably. You can choose from thousands of titles in the Kindle store including getting newspaper and even magazine subscriptions sent straight to your device. Plus, when ordering books, you can even get the first couple of chapters first to test if you really want to buy it.

I’m gushing, I know; but with the Kindle it was love at first sight. Even after all the hesitating I did before getting one. Now, I can’t imagine life without it. In the first two months alone, I have read over a dozen new books and I am hungry for more. I even brought the Kindle with me to a trip to the beach and was so happy to have so many books to read right in my bag, without taking up space! I’ve invested in a waterproof case for it as well so I can read near the pool without any fear of water splashing on the device. (I’m so O.C. with my books so the slightest watermarks or tears or damage would drive me crazy, so this is saving me tons of headaches!)

I don’t even think I can express how much I love the Kindle. I think it is an amazing invention and I highly recommend it to everyone and anyone who loves books and loves reading. After all, it was just as I predicted, my love for Kindle did nothing to diminish my love for books either. I still love buying real books and putting them on my shelf. Of the dozen new books I have read, I still ended up purchasing almost half to add to my mini-library. If anything, I think the Kindle encourages my love for books and vice versa. After all, who can really get enough reading? I know I can’t!