Pros and Cons of the Kindle in a Compelling Narrative Format

Well, big news today. I can FINALLY buy a school book on my Kindle. None of my other books for school were available on the Kindle!

Yes, yes, I’ll wait until you stop gushing. It’s true, I have a Kindle. I read an electric machine. My odds of getting a paper cut from turning a page are less than yours, because you still read primitive, paper-based books.

Actually, I’ve slowly started to realize there aren’t many perks to a Kindle. I can’t really recommend books I’ve read on the Kindle to other people, because I am not able to let them borrow the actual book when I’m done reading it. Conversations around Kindle book recommendations end up going a little like this:
“Oh my gosh. I just read this awesome book. And I finished the book… probably won’t read it again for a while, if ever, and NO! You can’t borrow it. Buy your own g*ddamn copy!”

People assume I’m really protective of publishers’ rights, but that’s not the case at all. There’s just no way for me to share my digital copy. If I could, I would share books all day long.

The coolest thing about my Kindle is talking to other Kindle users about it. Here’s how that conversation goes:

Them: Yeah so I read it on my Kindle, no big deal. I have a Kindle. Did you hear me? I have hardware to read books.

Me: Oh hey! Me too!

Them: You?

Me: Totally, do you have a DX too?

Them: Well…no just a regular one.

Me: Oh. Hm. That makes me a more sophisticated reader I suppose.

Them: (defeated look)

Anyway, I’m going to buy my book on the Kindle, and I’m going to read it, and then, I’m going to take my Kindle to class, and when people reference certain page numbers to provide evidence for their claims, I’m going to angrily throw my Kindle across the room because there are no page numbers on a Kindle!

Where was I? Oh yes, I’m going to buy my book on the Kindle and have the book right away, no more hidden shipping costs or having to wonder when my book will arrive. I will have my book, and it will be glorious, because when the class is done, keeping the book won’t really take up any space! It’ll be stored compactly against all of my other awesome, instantaneous reads.

So there you have it: the pros and cons of a Kindle presented in a compelling narrative format.