My Kindle Paperwhite has warmed me up to the idea of e-readers
I work in digital marketing. Anyone who has seen an office or desk space of mine knows that I am fairly minimalistic. I try and digitize most documents and work in order to reduce clutter and stress. Having a digital backup for well, just about everything, has bailed me out on more than one occasion.
Despite that, I never really enjoyed reading on a screen.
When I’m in an office and am reading an industry-related white paper or other longer-form piece, I will save a copy in Evernote to have a backup but actually print it out to read. I intentionally have print subscriptions to our local paper, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic and Wired.
Yes, I prefer reading Wired, a magazine about emerging technology, on ink and paper.
Of course that translates over to books. I had tried reading a few books on a Kindle iPhone app but couldn’t quite get into it. I love holding a book. Something about physically turning the pages and holding the heaviness of the binding makes the experience more real to me. Sounds corny but it’s true.
Plus, my books don’t have distractions built in. There are no other apps. No push notifications to interrupt the paragraph I’m diving into. Reading on an iPhone or iPad offered way to many opportunities to veer off course.
Then we moved. Packing boxes was a pain. I love reading and love the feeling of holding a new book in my hand but realized that I wasn’t going to have a library that you see in Beauty in the Beast. I needed a better solution.
So I bought a Kindle Paperwhite. And honestly, I kind of love it.
The Paperwhite is the closest thing to reading a real book that I’ve experienced with an e-reader. It doesn’t give me eye strain like a normal screen and doesn’t have any other distracting elements. You just read. When you finish what you’re reading…you read something else. That’s it.
It’s backlit just enough to let me read at night after Megan has gone to bed without keeping her awake…and once again, without the blue light strain. I switch off my Paperwhite and sleep just as well as I would with a regular book.
I don’t like reading on a screen all that much - but the Kindle Paperwhite has warmed me up to the idea. It’s been the next best thing to me.
The Best Part
One of my favorite things is its integration with Goodreads - my new favorite social network at the moment. I love being able to keep track of everything I’m reading and see what my friends are into.
Kindle has a fantastic integration with Goodreads. Not only does it allow me to make a “to-read” list on my Kindle to buy books when I’m ready (well-played Bezos….) but the highlight function is amazing. Any passage I highlight in a book automatically syncs up to that book’s page on my Goodreads account. Being able to digitally store all of my book highlights on the fly like that has been really cool.
Am I Giving Up On Analog Books?
No, not at all. Few things beat holding a book and physically turning each page. It’s relaxing. I love it.
I will likely be a little more judicious on what I choose to take up the small amount of shelf space we have in our home.
Was I paid by Amazon to write this? Not at all. I just appreciate the fact that I can be a bibliophile and clutter free at the same time.
Was this post boring? Possibly. But isn’t boring and mundane a nice change of pace for what we’ve been used to on the internet lately?