Ode to Kindle

It has been about a month since I started taking advantage of my Kindle and I must report that I have come to the conclusion that everyone should have one of these devices. I now understand all the talk about the future of publishing belonging to the electronic book. It is not only the future of publishing--it is the future of reading.

Here's what makes the Kindle almost indispensable to me: the ability to customize its features. Not only what books you want to read, but how you want to read them. Change the size of the type. Change the back light. Make it super personal by loading it up with your favorite daily reads from newspapers to blogs. And factor in the instant gratification element. It is truly right up there with the i-phone in terms of being one of those "what did I ever do without this?" devices.

Kids need these readers to eliminate backpack overload. Seniors need these readers to make reading kinder on their eyes and their hands--they are very light and portable. Travelers need these readers to make their suitcases lighter. Commuters need these readers to make their commutes more productive.

Book agents love them because they are able to download manuscripts from their computers onto their Kindles (they function as a hard drive) and save themselves the hassle of lugging around thousands of pages of print. Environmentalists love them because we are saving trees. About the only people who don't love them are those who haven't tried them ("But I love holding a book in my hands," is becoming pretty old as far as I'm concerned) and those who aren't getting properly compensated for their electronic sales.

All of this will change--mark my words. A book is not going to be a thing of the past--in fact it is never going to go away. What is going to change is the way we read the book.

And that is something book publishers need to realize. That the possibilities are more vast than they have ever been for break-through hits even when they have made the conscious decision to only purchase "sure things" written by "known" authors or celebrities.

Kind of ironic that the future of the industry is truly in the hands of those who understand the new concept of reading and that these people are not publishers.