But I love my Amazon Kindle. I really like the feel of a book, the ability to underline and make notes in the margin… and yet, this techno toy is fabulous.
I’m actually able to take books with me without carrying huge weight (I had around 2kg of books on the last leg of the trip). I can download guidebooks as I go, without finding a shop. I don’t have to pay airport bookshop prices (AUD 60 for the NZ Lonely Planet). I don’t have to worry about posting the book home.
There are even some books that have been made available for free (I have a great modern version of the Bible that I downloaded for free). And I can write my own stuff and send it to the Kindle too so I can read that anywhere (lots of motivational quotes and my own learning documents have been done already!).
And although not every book is available for Kindle (I can’t find a Laos travel guide yet) I can find loads that I really want to read. At reasonable prices.
And I can take notes and highlight stuff, and even share it with others. And it puts all those notes together so I can skim through.
Amazing. And it actually is a crisp, easy to read screen, too.
Downside? Well, with Kindle, Amazon control the publishing price – so heavy discounting isn’t possible – and neither is the possibility of second hand purchases… so perhaps if it really takes off, book prices will actually increase.
Oh, yes, and perhaps it’s actually TOO easy to buy a book now. I can find something on Amazon, buy it and be reading it in around 2 minutes wherever I am…. and that might be just a little too easy for the book junkie that I am…
Explore The Adventure. . . . . 
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