Stop poking it, it's not a touchscreen....Kindle Edition

I've never used an e-reader before. Actually, I've barely ever seen one. It's not that I'm against Kindles or anything like that, I just never really had a use for one. As a English major, I spent most of my time reading the literature books I was required to buy in the traditional paper format. Since I read so much for class, I rarely had the energy to read anything in my spare time (if I had spare time). Therefore, when I received the Kindle in class, I was really looking forward to seeing if they were as great as everyone had said. So begins the story of my Kindle experience.

I was really determined to figure this thing out by myself with no help from friends or the Internet. I think the only way to discover if a device is truly user friendly is to give it to a user (me) with no instructions and see how they manage. Honestly, sometimes things were easy to use, sometimes they were hard to use and sometimes things were hard because of my own stupidity. For instance, after turning the Kindle on (I loved the beautiful images during sleep mode), I proceeded to poke the screen continually. Let me explain. I own an iPhone, which is a touchscreen. If I want something, I poke it and it magically does what I want. Though I knew the Kindle was not a touchscreen, my mind was set on touchscreen mode. It saw a screen and wanted to poke it. I inadvertently did it so many times that my friend (sitting across the room staring at me) had to yell out, "You know it's not a touchscreen, right? " Yes, I knew. After that, my mind got the message, and I moved on.

The first thing I really enjoyed was the e-ink. I'm not a big fan of LCD lighting. It hurts my eyes, so the clarity of the page was much appreciated. The major thing I had a problem with was the arrows. There are three sets of arrows on the Kindle and some of them perform the same function while others can only be used for one specific thing. I kept thinking, "Which one do I use?" Sometimes I would press the wrong arrow, and I'd end up on some page I didn't want to end up on. It was frustrating, and I wish the creators would just streamline it, so there would be no confusion.

While I'm discussing things that should be streamlined, I should also mention that the 'menu', 'home' and 'back' keys were a bit annoying. I kept pressing the wrong one (forgetting that menu and back wouldn't take you home) and (again!) ending up on the wrong page. Another minor thing I had trouble with was learning how to delete something from the home page. Remember, I had no help, so it took me some time to realize I could arrow over each book to learn more about it. The delete option should be more accessible. Another thing I feel should be added is numbers on the keyboard. I know there are number options under 'symbol' (shamefully, it took me a while to figure that bit out), but I use numbers a lot when writing notes, and I think there is enough room on the keypad to include this option.

Those were really the only problems I had with the device, and they were minor. Actually reading on the Kindle was a great experience. I have to say that I'm more comfortable with it than I thought I would be. I loved the fact that I could scroll over a word and see the definition. That is such a useful tool. It saves the reader tons of time and allows them to understand the text better. I also thought adding notes was fairly easy. I liked seeing what others had underlined throughout the text, and the notes weren't too hard to review later on if needed. Adding texts to the library was another task that was surprisingly easy. Once I logged onto the Internet, it was incredibly easy to search a work and download it. The book was there within seconds. Really amazing.

So my experience with the Kindle is coming to a close, and I must say that it has me thinking of purchasing one in the future. I'm not entirely sure yet. I'd like to see some improvements made to it, but now it is definitely a possibility.