My Civic Duty

Thinking about getting another car - a Chevy HHR. The car I have runs fine. It's a 2001 Kia Sportage with 141,000 miles. Here's the deal. That's pretty much several thousand miles beyond the life expectancy of the Kia. My wife and I tend to hang on to our cars several years so we get our money's worth. We've gotten our money's worth out of the Kia but it's going to be a little hard to see it go. We drove from Spokane to Minneapolis in that car. Used it to take our only child to college and logged a ton of trips between Spokane and Seattle before we moved from the former to the latter. But now - in an act of patriotism - I am thinking about turning the Kia over to the federal government to have it destroyed as a gas guzzler. Contrary to appearances it only averages 18 mpg. In return for my sacrifice, my country will knock $4,500 off the price of a new car. In talking to a local Chevy dealer (I mean, I should buy American, right?) they will take another $3,500 off the price of the car for a total reduction of $8,000! That's more than 30% off the price of a new car. I want to do the right thing to stir the economy and show my loyalty to my country, so I'm willing to say good-bye to my foreign-made import and drive off in a new American made car - for the right price! And this new car gets over 35 mpg, comes with a new 100k warranty and 12 mo of On-Star. Now, we just wait for the official announcement from Joe Biden on July 29. Just thinking that this is change even I can believe in!

The Amazing Kindle

Amazon announced this week that they are lowering the price on their new Kindle2 for $359 to $299. That's good news for those of you considering adding this amazing book reader to your gadget collection (bad news for all of us who shelled out the $359!). I've enjoyed my Kindle for several months now so I'm okay with the price cut if it means more people will purchase a Kindle. After several months of using the Kindle book reader I'm ready to comment on its pros and cons.

Pros

First is the coolness of being able to read hundreds of books on a slim device that weighs only 10.3 ounces. It boggles the mind to think that this little hunk of metal and plastic could hold my entire library.

Second is the convenience of being able to tote around dozens of books. Gone are the days of packing 2-3 books in my carry-on for the outbound flight and having 2-3 others in my checked luggage for the return trip. I can flip between multiple books because the Kindle always remembers what page I was on. I brought my Kindle to a baseball game recently and my wife used it to read an entire novel while I enjoyed the game. Bonus!

Third is the correct price-point for purchasing books. Most are just $9.99. Some are more, lots are less and with over 300,000 books available I seem to be able to purchase any book I want (expect for John Grisham, what's up with that?).

Fourth are the many features built in to the Kindle including the always connected 'WhisperNet" that allows me to purchase books directly from the Kindle. No more being tied to my laptop and a Wifi connection. I also like the text-to-speech feature although I haven't used it myself except to demonstrate it to others. The variable font size is nice, too. If you know someone with limited vision the combination of these two features may re-open the door to reading books for them. That's pretty cool. You can download music to listen to while you read and you can download or send yourself text documents.

Fifth is the ease of reading. Since the screen emits no light eye strain is reduced and you can easily read the Kindle outside – even in bright light. This feature also is kinder to the battery which in turn means extended use between charges of 1-2 weeks.

Cons

The Kindle is a book reader – not a mini-computer. It has certain limitations. One is that it is not easy to jump around within a book. If you're following a sermon with the Kindle you can read along a passage but if you are directed to another book to read 1-2 verses you'll never get there in time. A Bible edition may be available that allows for quicker navigation but I haven't seen it yet. Another limitation is that you have no idea which page you are so you cannot reference a specific page number while leading a group discussion or teaching a class. You get a percentage bar across the bottom of the page that tells you how far along you are in the book but having corresponding page numbers would be nice.

Another con is that it might just be too thin! It feels a little fragile even though it is not but the thinness can make holding it over long periods a little fatiguing on the thumbs.

I would have to include the fact that its sleekness also makes it pretty slippery! A little non-skid material on the back would permit the reader to place the Kindle on your knee.

Some people have mentioned that they think they will miss the smell of a book and actually turning pages. I think these are pros! Musty old books are cool to look at but who knows where that book has been and where the stain on those pages came from? With the Kindle there are no more paper cuts or losing your place. Hopefully, the next generation Kindle will have a color touch-screen. I will probably buy one of those, too! All that said, I really like my Kindle. It is so easy to use and so convenient that I am reading more. I would recommend the Kindle to anyone who likes to read.