July 22nd, 2009
Dead Finger Tech: Amazon Kindle ebook reader
You may have heard the term Dead Finger Tech before and if not, it relates to that piece of technology that you find essential or important enough to you that someone will have to pry it from your cold, dead fingers. The ZDNet technical bloggers are posting their DFT posts over the next week or two and for the Mobile Gadgeteer blog I had to think about the best piece of mobile gear (not a smartphone) that I treasure. So many pieces of my mobile gear (GPS, MP3 player, video player, portable gaming machine, ebook reader, etc.) can all be integrated into my smartphones so it came down to what one function do I like to perform off of my high end smartphone. Thus, my selected Dead Finger Tech gear is the Amazon Kindle device.
I can hear the screams of mobile gadget fans everywhere wondering why in the world I would select a black and white display large device with a high price tag as my DFT item. I grew up as an avid reader who actually used to pass on movie nights with my buddies to finish a good book I couldn’t put down. I moved to reading books on my PDAs back in the good old days of Palm and kept that up for several years while still diving into paper books. I then discovered the Sony Reader and it changed my reading preference as I found the eInk technology to offer a better reading experience than a paper book and would only read a paper book if someone gave it to me as a gift and it was compelling. I was slow to try the original Kindle since I was satisfied with my Sony Reader, but then gave it a try and was immediately sold by the ability to discover new books and download them with ease without the need for a PC. I rarely use the Kindle to browse the Internet using the browser and have little desire to read work documents on the device. I am primarily interested in book content and that is why the Kindle satisfies me.
Unlike a smartphone too, I enjoy the uninterrupted reading experience on the Kindle and find a book light to be an essential accessory for reading in bed or in poorly litte public transportation environments. I also commute by train 2 hours a day and travel by plane often for business so the Kindle is a welcome companion that always gives me an assortment of content to enjoy. I generally carry about 30 books (and the Reader’s Digest) on my Kindle so I have never run out of content to read. In the past I would finish a good paper book and then have to find a store to pick up something else, but this is no longer an issue for me.
Any other readers consider the Amazon Kindle their piece of Dead Finger Tech?
Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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