The Kindle and Simple Living

When Amazon first released the Kindle back in 2007, I thought, “No way I’m going to read books on a little screen!”

I love to read and I very much enjoy the feeling of a new book in my hands. Pages crisp and untouched. And library books have their charm. Smelly and full of history.

Also, I struggled with the “gadget” thing. Should I pay hundreds of dollars for a device that I don’t need just to read books…?

S0 I didn’t buy the Kindle. But I continued to read. New books, library books, borrowed books, and swapped books.

Imagine my surprise when on my birthday, I received the latest Kindle (which now costs only $139, btw) as a gift from my husband. (It’s the one in the picture… Don’t you love the purply cover??)

It sat unused for a few days (I already have a stack of books waiting to be read). However, when I was getting ready to go on a business trip, I thought it would be nice to bring the Kindle along instead of a book. So I downloaded The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani (great book!) and thus a new relationship was forged.

I love the Kindle!

Here are some of the benefits:

• Less information on each screen results in better focus (at least for me)
• It’s searchable!
• No paper wasted (probably my favorite benefit)
• If you buy a lot of books, you don’t have to worry about bookshelf space
• Books are cheaper
• It fits in your purse! (If you happen to carry one of those)

And a few downsides (at least may be for some):

• No books to display on the shelf
• The upfront cost is still substantial
• It requires power (although I still haven’t had to recharge!)

I have decided that the Kindle is the perfect Simple Living gadget. It (eventually) saves you money, saves tons of trees, reduces clutter, and allows you to read wherever you are. It’s simply fabulous.

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