When I set off for work on the morning of November 19, 2007, I had no hint of the momentous change ahead. Bundled up in my coat, I heaved my heavy backpack onto my shoulders and headed off for the train. I was carrying a book and at least two manuscripts—one I’d finished reading the previous night, and one I had just started.
Around 10:30 am the phone rang. My husband Tom had just seen an ad on Amazon.com for a new and wireless reading device called the Kindle. It had the ability to let me read books electronically and was, in fact an e-book. He thought it would ease the burden of the backpack and asked if I wanted him to order it. My aching back overruled my Luddite tendencies and I said “Yes.”
It was love at first read. I was shocked by how easily I embraced the Kindle experience. Me, a life-long book lover. A p-book lover! That weekend at a hotel in Washington, I downloaded the sample for Ken Follett’s World Without End. At the end of the sample, I clicked “buy now.” Never was the importance of strong chapter ends more clear! I had the whole book within seconds.
Reading World Without End on the morning commute I looked over to my seat-mate. Her copy of Follett’s book had to be three inches thick! After a moment of being amazed to realize that all those words and so much more were stored in my slim device, I returned to the luxury of reading about the plague on a warm, well-lit train.
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