Dumping Physical Books for the Kindle Paperwhite

For the longest time, I did not understand why anyone would buy a kindle when phones, tablets, and laptops are all over the place. I also thought I preferred reading physical books to a digital device. I was wrong.

My co-founder James Malcolm called my attention to the Kindle Paperwhite, so I purchased one a month ago. It has totally changed my approach to reading.

Here are things I like about the Kindle:

light weight; lighter than most physical books
ability to adjust font and sizes to best relax my eyes
ability to read it easily in the sun (e.g. I read it waiting in lines at Six Flags and while at the lake) while also being able to read it with the lights out prior to sleep
cleaning out all my shelves of the physical books; we’re selling all those books and reducing the clutter of our home
having a ton of books in a small form factor; at any given time, I might be reading many different books and it is great to have them all available at any time
not having to worry about losing bookmarks
having the non-subscription 3G option that lets me download any book, anytime, anywhere.
ability to jump around the books easily
highlighting, note taking, and ability to view those online
cross device syncing (e.g. iPhone Kindle app to Kindle device syncing)
having a meter at the bottom of the book that tells you how fast you’re reading and how much you have left
long battery life

Things I’d like to see improved:

Instapaper support; it’s there but fairly unusable
having good bookshelves in which to sort books of different types
the lack of color images matters for some books, but not many, and is not easily improved with the existing technology

Do you use a Kindle? How do you read books?

Related articles