Vacation Reading


One of the sweeter things about vacation is having time to read.  However, one of the heaviest things to pack is a book.  Dead trees are heavy.  But what if you could take along as many books as you could possibly read with some in reserve just in case you’re not in the mood for the books you planned to read?  How cool would that be?  Enter the Kindle 2.  The ability to read in direct sunlight is critical and the Kindle eInk is perfect for that.  Over 40?  No problem just slide the controller to pick your font size.  Voila.  Instant large print edition.  We also have the Kindle program for the netbook and iPhone I’m taking.

So we’re packing several books – but leaving behind the dead trees.  We also got the leather cover to protect the Kindle.  As a side benefit it feels just like a “real” book when you hold it.  I’d ask Joy for her input, but she’s reading her Kindle right now.

6 Comments »

  • ris says:

    The Kindle is incredibly interesting, and I cannot wait to hear your review on book selection availability and diversity. Let us know how it does in direct sunlight. I hadn’t heard about it’s anti-glare feature! Keep us posted. xoxo

  • Chris says:

    Fun, innit? I don’t have the kindle, but my digital book was my best friend on the road.

  • Chris says:

    Left behind the dead trees, but picked up a dead cow? Ironic.

    Check out http://www.gutenberg.org they’ve got a huge selection of public domain books in an array of formats (I think google has acquired gutenberg since I started using it, so I’m looking for a new independent source to support if anyone has better options)

    • Tom says:

      Ah, the old dead cow conundrum. I knew even as my fingers were typing the word ‘leather’ that I was stepping into a hornet’s nest. There are at least two good arguments against the use of dead cows. (1) Eating cows instead of grain is inefficient. It requires more grain to feed the cow who feeds us than if we ate the grain directly. This places a burden on the world’s poorest people. This issue has been further exacerbated by the implementation of grain for fuel policies whereby instead of depleting the carbon fuel supply we power our engines on the stomach’s of the poor. (2) Cows, and in particular cows in feedlots, are a significant source of methane which is a major green house gas contributing to global warming. But there are also a couple of arguments in favor of dead cows. (1) The native American philosophy of consuming all of the carcass for useful purposes. A position also stated as “Waste not. Want not.” and (2) hamburgers. Without being flip (which I have just done in point 2), I could go on for hours on this topic as I’m sure you could. The truth is that it is difficult if not impossible to pass through this planet without leaving a trail and I appreciate everyone who thinks about how to minimize their trail in such a way as to leave the best planet for the next generation and make the planet as good as it can be for those around them today.

      The gutenberg books can be had through the Kindle bookstore at Amazon’s Kindle Store under their Free Book Collections link.

  • Gayla says:

    Um, Chris has less against dead cows so much as she is FOR irony 🙂
    Right, Chris?

    BTW – I know this is “my” Chris because I would recognize her tone anywhere.

  • Tom says:

    Wait, I thought she was my Chris.

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