Thanks for dropping by. I note that you are also on the Saanich Peninsula. We’re both blessed to live in the best spot on earth.

Keep watching for my new podcast, The Novel Experience. It’ll have all sorts of ideas for pros and neophytes.

Cheers.

Nicola

What a delightful note, thanks! It’s fab to hear from actual Kindle users. I greatly appreciate your description of your evolution from dino to kindle lover. From your experiences, I can easily see why.

You’ve offered me some new insights on the gadget’s capabilities; I hadn’t really understood its communications capabilities. I especially enjoyed the thought of you mixing the old with the new: embroidering while being read to by a computer. How cool is that?

My best to you this holiday season; please keep in touch. I’d love to hear about your ongoing experiences. Cheers!

Thank you for your interesting and uplifting comments. It’s so cool to hear from someone who has actually held a Kindle. Unfortunately, here in Canada we’re only just getting them and in a reduced capacity so I’m still waiting. BTW, I love the image of you standing in line reading while your eggs cook!

Cheers, my best to you in Maine this holiday season and please keep me up to date on your new gadget.

Here’s the shocker… I LOVE it! I can’t even believe how much I love my Kindle. A friend of mine wrote a detailed critique of the first Kindle, and I have to say that the new design is a vast improvement. Aside from being slimmer and sleeker, there are plenty of places to hold the device comfortably without activating any functions. The screen is easy to read off of, and I honestly believe that I can read faster on a Kindle than I do with a traditional book. I’m not sure why. Faster page turns? What I can tell you is that it’s exceedingly comfortable and easy to read off the Kindle anywhere, but especially when you have limited space–like on public transportation. You can easily hold the Kindle and turn pages with a single hand.

The Kindle has several features that could best be described as… cool. My eyesight is fine, but I can choose the font size that suits me best. Likewise, I love the text-to-speech feature. A big frustration in my life is that I can’t work on my embroidery (I’m a dinosaur, remember?) and read at the same time. Now, I can have the Kindle read to me while I stitch. Yes, it’s sort of tinny and mechanical, but it’s still a really nice option to use occasionally. In addition to reading published books, I read a lot of unpublished manuscripts. It’s not uncommon to see me schlepping around 600 pages of loosely bound paper. The other day I had the amazing experience of forwarding an email with a manuscript attached to my dedicated Kindle address. Within seconds, the entire MS was in my Kindle, formatted and ready to go. Amazing! I can even make notes on the MS in the machine.

However, possibly the best thing about the Kindle is the fact that I can get internet access for free, almost anywhere. I use it to check my email all the time now. I wouldn’t want to write a novel on the keyboard, but it’s sufficient for brief communications. Now when I go away for the weekend, I can leave my laptop at home! It also works fine for basic internet surfing.

One last thing I was unaware of is how much free or nominally-priced content there is for the Kindle. I’ve got plenty to read, and I haven’t purchased one $9.99 book yet. My first Kindle “purchases” were all free public domain titles. Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle–how can you do better than that? I also read the Kindle Daily Post in the Kindle store religiously. You never know when you’ll be offered free content like a back-listed Lee Child novel or some contemporary fantasy. Other authors such as Boyd Morrison and J.A. Konrath are offering novels at prices ranging from $1 to $2 dollars, as a way to find new readers. One more favorite is the free Amazon Daily blog, which is like a fun, timely magazine with short articles that update constantly. The perfect entertainment for brief snatches of time.

No, I never would have bought a Kindle. And “real” books will still be a big part of my life, but I will never be without a Kindle again. This dinosaur is evolving.

I’ve only had to contact customer support once (via email), I accidentally purchased a book (a Harlequin romance novel at that) and I was instantly refunded the charge, excellent customer service. I actually bought this device a lot for the Web Browser. Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, my local newspaper, all available, usually in 3G access, even on the beach where I go to school in Southern Maine.

One thing I absolutely recommended subscribing to is the The New York Times – Latest News, only 1.99 a month, and it updates about 2-3 times a day on your kindle (with 10 or so stories, usually with Images). Perfect for when I go to the dining hall to have breakfast, I just pull out the Kindle, weighs less than pound so I can stand in line with my plate waiting for my daily eggs, and at the same time I have the news from all over the world.

Best purchase I have ever made.