Why Kindle Is the Most Underrated Gadget
Soul Letter #45
Hello👋 folks, Shubham here with another edition of Soul Letter🗞
Yesterday, I convinced my friend who is a sporadic reader to buy a kindle. Talking to him, I realized maybe I should write an article on the same.
So here I am!
We all know the positive impacts of reading still, only a handful of people pursue it. A few years ago I was one of them.
I always wanted to read books but, a poor vocabulary was a major letdown. Reading was a nightmare as I ended up spending more time with the dictionary instead of the book.
Eventually, I gave up the practice accepting it’s not meant for me.
Then one day I bought a Kindle on a whim. Hands down it has been the best investment I have made in my life. From a person who read 4 books in 20 years of his life, I went on to read 100 books in the last 5.
Believe me, I am a big critic of technology however, Kindle turned out to be an exception. Me vouching for it is a big thing.
Kindle has a plethora of cool features that no one is talking about. I am baffled why doesn’t Amazon advertise these qualities. But worry not I will take the onus and do it for them.
Kindle often receives unfair criticism from hardcopy book worms. I will also try to make some rational arguments against them.
So let's begin.
Unlimited Books
If you read physical books, you know the pain of carrying multiple books especially while commuting or on vacations.
Practically one can carry infinite books in a Kindle, how cool is that?
I assume all my hardcopy fans will unwillingly agree to this.
Instant Delivery
Another killer feature of Kindle is instant delivery. You want a book, you buy one, and boom it loads on the device.
In the case of a physical book, you either go to a store or order online. Online delivery may take days.
During the pandemic, my friends struggled to acquire new books due to lockdown restrictions.
Inbuilt Dictionary
This is the sole reason I bought a Kindle.
When you encounter an unknown word (which happens with me often), you can long-press and the meaning will be displayed.
It also searches online to find any relevant information. So you can easily understand references to famous people or events.
Vocabulary Builder
This is an extension of the inbuilt dictionary.
There is a dedicated vocabulary builder feature. It has the history of all the words you search. There are also have flashcards for each word.
In all, it is a great way to master new words.
No Need of Bookmarks
I always lose my bookmarks while reading books. LOL.
Kindle keeps track of the last page you read. It’s super easy to pick up from where you left. This comes in handy if you devour multiple titles at a time.
X-Ray
Another awesome feature of Kindle is X-Ray.
I assume none of you might have heard about this. With X-Ray, you can get the history or context of any character in the book.
Suppose you are reading a book after a pause or the book has multiple characters. It is easy to confuse one character with another. Plus it becomes irritating (also embarrassing) when you are halfway through the book, and struggle to remember who was who.
X-Ray works like a charm.
Its a similar feature like on Amazon's sister platform, Prime Video
Goodreads
The next feature is called Goodreads. Though anyone can make a Goodreads account, if you use a kindle all your book notes and highlights get synced with Goodreads.
One can just open Goodreads to read or share them.
I love it!
Read across Multiple Devices
You don’t need to carry a kindle everywhere. You can download the Kindle app on a smartphone or tablet.
The book updates sync seamlessly across all devices.
At home, you read on Kindle. The next day while commuting you might continue with the same on your smartphone.
It’s great for ad-hoc reading.
Read in the Dark
I assume this was a key feature during the advent of Kindle. It was a unique selling point.
Reading in the dark had been a major problem for many book lovers.
Kindle solved the issue by adding inbuilt light.
Kindle uses black-and-white screen technology which is more relaxing on the eyes than the backlit LCD or OLED screen you’ll find on a phone. Some of the Kindle devices have a built-in light, but these are front lights that spray light up the screen rather than directly at your eyes from behind.
Now one can read even at night.
Cheap Books
Kindle books are usually cheaper than hardcopy editions due to obvious reasons. There are no printing costs involved.
Yes, a Kindle device is costlier than a book. In the long run, it is a great investment.
Eventually, you can recover the extra money spent on buying Kindle by reading books at a cheaper price.
Books Become Immortal
A printed book eventually degrades over time.
However, Kindle books are sort of immortal.
One can lose or misplace a hardcopy, but there is no such issue with a Kindle edition. Every purchase is synced with your account.
New Lockscreen
A cool new update dropped on Kindle that automatically sets the book you are reading as its lockscreen wallpaper.
It’s not much but I admire the developer who came up with this idea.
Final Words
I assume I made some solid points. When I began writing this, I didn’t know I’ll come up with these many.
The main motive of this piece was to encourage people to read. People must have taken reading books as a New Year resolution, Kindle can be your unsung hero.
The secondary aim was to inform hardcopy bookworms that Kindle is indeed cool, and it receives lots of unfair criticism. I know people who agree with everything I just babbled but still prefer reading via tangible books.
The only drawback of owning a Kindle is that you won’t end up with a cool bookshelf.
By the way, there are several Kindle models available in the market. I own an entry-level Kindle Paperwhite which costs around ₹7,999 or $90. In a sale, you might grab it for a bit less around ₹6,500.
Hope you enjoyed this edition.
Signing off for today :) Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️
Previous Soul Letters 🗞
