I got a kindle for Christmas. Its still an experiment and I am learning as I go about how it works and how ‘I work’.

I have done a lot of online reading over the last few years but primarily in the form of blogs. I haven’t read longer essays/articles online nor books. Its hard to ‘curl up’ with a laptop and read.

I finished my first Kindle novel last night and at this point I would rate the experience as less enjoyable than reading hard copy. I have also downloaded Steve Jobs Bio, as I am curious as to what the difference will be as I try some non-fiction. I read Frosty’s Road to Missional on the iPad and that went down quite well.

So far I can see that from a purely personal point of view the advantages to the kindle are:

– instant access

– cheaper books

– portability

The disadvantages relate more to the experience of reading:

– I don’t ‘feel’ like I am reading a book

– inability to lend (easily)

– a more limited range of books

I’m guessing the Kindle will be good for some stuff and less so for other stuff. Perhaps the Kindle will be used for non-fiction reading?… I still like to accumulate good novels and the sight of a ‘treasure chest’ of books on the shelves still inspires me much more than a small digital device that contains all the same data.

I’m going to persist with the experiment as I reckon there is a place for the Kindle, but its hard to get that ‘new book feel’ when you purchase from Amazon. However when you are in an airport and see an interesting looking novel its a real buzz to board the plane and start reading.

Stay tuned for more reflections as I give it a whirl!