Why I Went Over to the Dark Side and Purchased a Kindle

I used to have prejudice against e-readers. Mainly because I don’t like reading from a screen. There is also nothing that can replace touching and smelling a book which never runs out of battery. Still, in the end I convinced myself to purchase a Kindle paperwhite for a few reasons:

// 1.
Books are generally cheaper to buy for e-readers.
This way I can buy more books and read more. When you live in an isolated island like Iceland where most things are imported, book choices are more limited and buying books online and having them sent across the ocean both takes longer time and costs more than having them sent domestically. I also figured that with an e-reader I could possibly buy my university school books cheaper and save more money.

//2.
I can travel with more books at the same time.
The type of kindle I have can store up to 1,100 books and the battery life is up to 28 hours. I often go weeks without charging. I used to take 3-5 books with me when travelling because I couldn’t decide which one I would end up being in the mood for reading when I decided to read on the plane. This both saves luggage space and luggage weight. How can a bookish person complain about being able to travel with all his/her books anywhere?

//3.
The screen is designed in a way that it feels like you’re reading a real book.
I don’t get headaches from reading my kindle like I do from reading from my computer. I am so little a screen reader that I tend to print out all my reading materials from school so I can read on paper. However, I have no problem with kindle.

//4.
You can read in the dark!
Now I can just enjoy having dim lights and candlelight when reading instead of worrying about harming my eyes from the lack of light. No matter whether it’s dark on the bus or you need to turn off the lights to allow your partner to sleep, you have no problem reading in the dark with an illuminated screen.

//5.
There is a built-in dictionary on kindle.
If you’ve procrastinated reading difficult literature like Shakespeare’s plays for example, fear no more! When you come across a word you don’t understand you can simply tap on the word on your kindle and get a full dictionary explanation. What also happens is that your kindle creates a list of “New Vocabulary” so you can see all the words you didn’t understand but possibly do now after getting the dictionary reference. I’m sure every reader wants to expand their vocabulary. Here’s a perfect way to do just that.

//6.
It doesn’t take much space.
Traveling with books in your purse has never been so easy.

//7.
Amazon allows you to download old classic books for free.
Old books that have been published again and again, like Shakespeare plays, books by Charles Dickens or Jules Verne, don’t have real copyrights limited to one book publishing company anymore. Therefore, you can get them for free on kindle.

//8.
Professional pirates can now download books and load them onto their kindle.
I’ve downloaded books I am not sure whether I want to buy or even school books,and found the joy in being able to transfer them to my kindle. Now I don’t need to read downloaded books on my computer. But shhhh! Pirating is frowned upon.

There is not one day where I have regretted investing in my kindle. I call it my book bae, I am so happy with it. With that being said, my love for real, old-fashioned books will never fade and always be special. No e-reader can replace my beautiful books, my precious bookcase confetti, but I cannot deny anymore that kindle is super awesome and helpful!

What do you think? Do you have experiences with kindle?