One Persons Struggle with the Kindle

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The last article I have decided to use is from the New Yorker titled “A New Page” by Nicholas Baker. In this article Baker receives a Kindle in the mail and dissects it from a consumers point of view. First off he states that the display is grayish and not appealing to the eye. He also has a hard time trying to find books and makes a laundry list of books that are not available for the Kindle. He acknowledges that the book title will grow but for right now its a burden on the Kindle user. He also points out that while books are cheaper than on the Kindle than in paper the price is very small usually one a few dollars not enough to spend 359 dollars on the Kindle itself. He also points to the fact that you cant read competitors versions of books on the Kindle. For instance Sony Reader e-books can't be read on a Kindle and vice versa. He then goes on to explain what E-Ink does and how it is designed to allow the reader to have an easy time reading on such a small screen. Baker then explains that some have suggested that with the new Kindle 2 clarity on screen actually got worse. He actually says that it got worse then the first Kindle. The author then states that the Kindle DX was designed to help the newspaper reader transition into the e-book world ultimately killed the joy out of reading newspapers themselves. Baker even goes to suggest that the reader pick up an iPhone or iPod touch and download the Kindle application as it does everything the Kindle can do and is much cheaper and easier to use then the Kindle itself. However the author does make a mention that he was able to enjoy a reading on the Kindle 2 after all the difficulties beforehand.

If one were to use this article to help back a decision for e-books or not they would ultimately have to use this article as one person account of the Kindle. Baker does an excellent job of displaying his opinion on the Kindle by demonstrating why it has flaws. Those who would use this article could use the detail that Baker uses such as his how he goes into the background of E-Ink and why it was used. They also would want to use the facts presented by the lack of books available by Amazon and how this hurt the authors opinion on the Kindle. This source does an excellent job of giving a step by step account of a person's account with the Kindle. As well as the detail involved make it an important article to consider reading when trying to answer whether the e-book is the wave of the future.