JeremyBarrick

Kindle Reflection

Was it love at first sight with the Kindle? I really feel that it wasn’t. I saw it as

another piece of technology to conquer; although the Kindle is an interesting mechanism.

I saw it for what it served as, a learning tool. The Kindle comes in a nice, protective case,

it appears that if I would drop the device, it would break. At first, I thought that the

Kindle was broken as it would not turn on; any piece of technology that does not turn on

automatically I fear that I purchased a faulty device. So society really did not eliminate a

non hands-free lifestyle yet. It still takes energy to get up and plug in a device so that it

can charge. Just as the first remote controls for television, users still had to get up off of

the couch and physically turn the television on. The rubber non-slip backing, with

symbols engraved on it, was sort of useless to me, I like to hold a gadget in my hands

and use it but I can understand the purpose of it. The device itself was set up like a mini

computer, it has a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse device that scrolls. I do enjoy the ease of

technology but there is nothing like holding and the smell of a book in the physical sense.

I like to be able to turn the pages of a book and mark my place by folding a corner of the

page down. Technology may seem convenient but it is more work than going into a

bookstore, purchasing a book, paying for the book, and reading the book; the user of the

Kindle has to plug it in, if not charged, turn it on, find the preferred book on the device,

click on it, and ,finally, read it. The Kindle also retails for a whopping $399.00 that

could be detrimental to the wallet.
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Rest assured if one gets lost with the Kindle, I Googled “Kindle” and found a lot

of valued information on amazon.com. For instance, there were many pictorials, a

product overview, a video demonstration, a description, testimonials, technical details,

and reviews.

The menu option took me to a store that I was able to purchase items related to

the Kindle (if properly connected to the internet), and a settings menu where I found

myself engaged for some time. I was able to restart the Kindle so upgrades were able to

be loaded, and a legal menu to protect the software.

This is a device better found in electronic stores, online shops, and expensive

gadget stores like Brookstone or even Radio Shack, so there is a market for them just not

on the inexpensive side.

The physical look of the device was thin and sleek. It looked like something that

would be able to be carried anywhere, anytime. The buttons on the left and right helped

me navigate through the pages. There was a split-second delay between pages. Two Next

Page buttons, probably for lefties or righties, a Back button, and a Previous Page option

were helpful but all of the options became a bit confusing after a while. I just wanted to

read, and I was unable to because I had to look at which option I was choosing. The

greatest aspect of the Kindle was the fact that I was able to scroll to a line of text, press

the Scroll button in, another menu was produced. The menu had options like: Lookup.

Add Highlight, and Add Note. When I hit Lookup, the device sent me to a screen that

gave me definitions of every word on that particular line. I was also able to add or delete

highlight to a line of text (choice). I then pressed the Scroll button again, on the same line

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of text, I went into the Add Note option and I was able to write a note on that particular

passage; what a good concept for college students.

While I do not think that the device is very practical, I do think that it may come

in handy for students. I actually could sit with the Kindle for hours (time permitted) and

run through the various screens, or click on the particular options. I love gadgets,

especially digital ones. If Seton Hill University is interested in purchasing one of these

for every student majoring in the English field, please do so because I cannot afford one

of these alone. I would also recommend some color in the device itself, and the body of

it; a variety is what people want to choose from, I know I do. This little device is really

neat, I just wish I had a little more time to spend with it.