Tech Connect For You

[#1]

I’m a reader. Are you?

Recently, I moved my love of books into the tech world of e-readers.  I fought it for years.  I felt that I must have that book with the pages, to touch and feel.  And yes, the smell of a book.  There is something about it.  Something I’ve loved and collected for all these many years.

As a child, growing up in a foreign country and having no TV, books were my friends.  I spent three of my early years as the only student in my class.  The maximum number of students we ever had in our K-6 American School was twelve.   Besides being essentially tutored for those years, I managed to read nearly every book we had in the school library.  And some of them I re-read because they were so good.  I’m talking about classics by authors such as Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book or Just So Stories.

It helped that both my parents were avid readers.  My mother read to my siblings and me throughout our childhood.  Or at least until we returned to the U.S. and TV became a bigger part of our lives.  Even then, I’ve always had a pile of books with a list to spare.  I have seven bookcases and that’s down from a total of eleven at one time.  Books about nearly everything you can think of.  I love independent authors, those treasures you find in a bookstore in a small town and nearly impossible to find in a large “big box” city.  Books, books, books!

Through the years, I’ve turned more and more to online book purchases.  I almost always add to my order to get the free shipping.  And for years there have been the ads about Kindle readers.  For the longest time, they were only available through one retailer.

That ended a couple of years ago, while I was still a Blue Shirt working at a nearby store.  It was the year we started carrying the Sony e-Reader, Kindle and Nook.  Each one offered advantages over the other.  I had such a great time learning about them and working with our customers to decide which one would be best for him or her.  Great gift idea for the holidays, or Mom’s day, or just-because-you-are-special day.  But I couldn’t get myself interested enough to buy one.  How could I ever consider giving up books…oh, gosh…no!

But then something happened besides filling my bookcases to the point of teetering over or collapsing from all the weight.  A friend insisted I try her Kindle and opened a whole new world for me.  I took it with me to the car repair place and read while my car was being serviced. I tucked it under my arm and took it with me to lunch.  I opened it to see if the battery needed charging (it didn’t because a charge lasts nearly a month) and ended up reading a few pages more.  It was convenient.  And it acted like a book.  It left off exactly where I left it with no bookmark needed.

I fell in love.  For my “Happy Birthday to me”, I bought my every own Kindle.  In a flash I hooked it up to my service and in less than ten minutes, I was online downloading my very first e-book.  Which one did I pick?  Although not usually a fan of his, I did pick Stephen King’s Dark Sky, No Stars and it’s quite the interesting psychological thriller.  I’ve got a couple more e-reads marked and ready to be downloaded any day now.

Will the Kindle ever totally replace my books?  I don’t think so.  There are some books that need to be kept and touched.   At least that’s how I feel now.  But with the advent of the new Kindles and the Kindle Fire, who knows.  Never say never, right?

I say, go out and try one.  You might be surprised.  I was.

[#2]

Your post has been moved to TV & Home Theater for review.