Legal Research

I was on the fence about getting a Kindle a year ago, but my husband surprised me with one last fall, and I'm glad that he did.  I was doing a lot of traveling between California and the East Coast, and the Kindle is truly a godsend for those unfortunate enough to be spending a lot of time in airports and on planes.  I've read about 15 books on the Kindle, and I don't experience any eye fatigue from the screen.  I've changed the text size to be slightly larger than the standard text size, and while that means that I have to click to turn pages more frequently, it seems to keep eye fatigue at bay.  You can read the Kindle in a variety of light settings, including bright, bright sunlight.

The Kindle is pretty hardy.  I've dropped it a few times, and it's survived.  But my fears of hitting myself in the face with the Kindle when I fall asleep reading have been realized.  I have bonked myself in the nose with the Kindle several times when I fell asleep reading, and yes, it hurts worse than having an open book fall on your face. 

The battery life is amazing.  If I turn the wireless off, I can read for several hours a day for over a week without having to recharge.

Browsing and buying in the Kindle store is extremely easy and fast.  For example, I purchased and downloaded Wolf Hall and Matterhorn, two huge tomes, in less than 45 seconds. And there is a ton of classic literature available for free on the Kindle.  I have the complete works of Charles Dickens on my Kindle now. 

I do miss the ability to easily refer back to earlier pages.  Professor James O'Donnell describes the Kindle reading experience perfectly in this Chronicle of Higher Ed article: "The Kindle is great for reading the way ancient Greeks read, on papyrus scrolls, beginning at the beginning, proceeding linearly, getting to the end, absorbed in one book, following the author's lead. That makes it just fine for lots of fiction for entertainment or diversion."  But when you're reading a more complex text, it can be really annoying to be unable to flip back quickly to an earlier chapter that contains important reference information. I still can't imagine using the Kindle or any other e-reader when I'm engaged in a complex research project.  But would I recommend the Kindle for voracious readers who do a lot of traveling?  Absolutely.