The Kindle

Originally 12/28/10, updated 3/8/2011

I've got to say that I have been ambivalent about the Kindle with 3G service. I'm a fan of the tactile experience of reading a book or magazine and I like to see the color illustrations. Like all children, I like illustrations. After registering, my first book was Jeff Cooper's, "Art of the Rifle". One thing I like is that I am able to but the "book" down (turn it off) and come back right to where I left it. I can search for other such books from this one. I can search by author or title. Still, there is something to turning the page, smelling the ink, etc. Intangible pleasures not available in the digital version. Also, since Nana got one, I've had a bit of a problem working two Amazon accounts off one e-mail address. However, now that her account is functioning, we can let it be as she orders off the Kindle device with one-click payment. One of the biggest selling points of the Kindle for me is the accessibility of free, pre-1923, books. I am particularly interested in Theodore Roosevelt's writings. Heretofore one had to buy a print version or lug it back from the library IF you could find a copy there. This will be infinitely easier.

The 3G Kindle would seem to be a bargain as one doesn't pay for the service but can surf the net using Google and Wikipedia (which is neither awful nor exemplary but is useful) as a starting point.

We have had a problem with Nana's  Kindle cover.  A patent leather looking folder with what appears to be a felt lining and a hook system to secure the Kindle to the cover, it certainly doesn't have a high-tech appearance but it must be.  You see as soon as I put the Kindle in the cover the device kept rebooting.  Finally, it locked up and had to be manually reset.  I called customer service and as soon as I explained what was happening the tech on the other end told me to take the cover off.  It has worked perfectly since.  We tried re-installation of the cover with the exact same problem.  Another call to Amazon and I was told that the cost of the cover would be reimbursed to Nana's account and to order another cover.  I did so.   Knock on wood.

The new Kindle cover worked just fine, for me.  Nana had it in hand for about 10 minutes and it started to reboot.  I took off the cover and it worked fine.  I think I've discovered the problem.  It is in how she holds the Kindle when in the cover.  She holds it in such a way that the power switch on the bottom of the Kindle is pushed to the right and held for over 15 seconds which causes it to reboot.  She doesn't hold it the same way out of the cover and so doesn't get this effect.  She's now using it without the cover but my use with the cover shows that it doesn't reboot.

My kindle reading list...

Title		Author
An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill		COL Cody, William F.
American Rifle: A Biography		Rose, Alexander
A Rifleman Went to War		CPT McBride, Herbert W.
Art Of The Rifle		Cooper, Jeff
Broad-Sword and Single-Stick With Chapters on Quarter-Staff, Bayonet, Cudgel, Shillalah, Walking-Stick, Umbrella and Other Weapons of Self-Defence		Allanson-Winn, Rowland George Allanson
Common Sense		Paine, Thomas
GOD DOES NOT FORGET: The Story of a Boer War Commando		Reitz, Deneys
Hero Tales from American History		Roosevelt, Theodore and Lodge, Henry Cabot
Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches		Roosevelt, Theodore
Hunting with the Bow and Arrow		Pope, Saxton
Letters to His Children		Roosevelt, Theodore
Red Eagle and the Wars with the Creek Indians of Alabama - Famous American Indian		Eggleston, George Cary
Roosevelt in the Badlands		Hagedorn, Hermann
Sailing Alone Around the World		Slocum, Joshua
Sailor's Knots		Jacobs, William Wymark
The Art of Fencing The Use of the Small Sword		L'Abbat, Monsieur
The Bible
The Colt 1911 Pistol a Mechanical Engineers Perspective		Werner, Malcolm J.
The Emma Gees		CPT McBride, Herbert Wesley
The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon		Baker, Sir Samuel White
The Rough Riders		Roosevelt, Theodore
Through the Brazilian Wilderness		Roosevelt, Theodore
With Axe and Rifle		Kingston, William Henry Giles
Wild at Heart		Eldredge, John

Links:
- Note on Kindle Cover Problem