Compared to modern, all-singing, all-dancing tablets it’s clunky, slow and bereft of ‘features’. But it does one thing, and does it well. I’m not tempted to surf the web rather than read; I’m not distracted by pop-up adverts. The text on the ‘paperwhite’ screen - which is matt rather than glossy - is easy to read in direct sunlight, and, unlike with a book, I can choose the font, the font size and the brightness of the screen.
The Kindle suits my travelling life. It's small and light. I can read in the van at night, without turning a light on. I can hold the Kindle in one hand, and tap on the screen to turn the page. I have about 80 books on the Kindle at present; they represent the books I read and re-read while I’m writing a book about belief. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Christopher Hitchens are well-represented. Most books I’ve had to pay for, though some works, now out of copyright (by Bertrand Russell, Mark Twain, Frazer’s The Golden Bough, etc) I have downloaded for free. Also free for the asking are the Bible, Koran and Hadith. I wanted to cut down the number of books I had in the van - it was turning into a mobile library - and the Kindle certainly helps with that.
The Kindle’s simplicity becomes a virtue when I have to recharge it. If I plug it in for half an hour, I can carry on reading for at least a fortnight. That’s a real bonus when I have other, more important things to recharge, such as the laptop and camera batteries.
There are many things I can’t do with an ebook. I can’t sell it, or lend it to a friend or give it to a charity shop. I miss the tactile experience of turning real pages. But, for me, the sheer convenience of the Kindle is what matters; it represents £100 well spent…
The tiered tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Burgh St Peter, Norfolk...
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