Adventures of the MiniKobo
Let me start with a sort or explanation and disclaimer.
This is the MiniKobo:
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| Halloween is coming up - Horror book time! |
The MiniKobo is, as you can probably figure from the photo, a palm-sized (Note: I actually have rather small hands), portable, and custom eReader.
Yes, I know, I capitulated and gave in to the temptation. But, you know, I'm rather ok with that.
I had been tossing up the idea in varying a degrees for a few months and finally came to the conclusion that, yes, I was going to make that very modern leap into the world of eBooks. Not, that is to say, that I'm giving up on physical books - the bookworm that I am couldn't do it it my life depended on it (I'm possibly a few dollars away from being clinically addicted to buying books).
But what I did in the end was come to the decision, put my foot down and impulse buy the MiniKobo. I did do a bit of research beforehand, but all I'd looked at so far was the iPads, Kindles and Kindle Fire tablets (the latter I rather hated). But the moment I walked into JB HiFi and saw the MiniKobo it was like it was meant to be! It was reduced, there was one cover left (purple - um, yes!), and the it was just so cute! Plus, it fits my little hands like...a glove? I struggle to find an appropriate metaphor, but you catch my drift. Anyway, the snap decision and impulse buy has so far been a pretty great decision.
Except, you know, for the crazy amount of books that I have uploaded onto the MiniK in the past few days...138. Fortunately, most of them are digital versions of the ridiculous amount of books I've already got sitting in my to-be-read pile at home. The others...not so much, but they are a loving mix of free and paid books. I found a good website that gives unlimited free book downloads for a month for $15, and has a relatively good selection of books in PDF and EPUB formats. Here's a link if you're interested:
But trust me, as I'm finding out, there is no shortage of way to download either paid or free books if you want them.
And like I said above eBooks aren't going to stop my love for paper books, and it's not going to hurt me. I fully intend to keep buying books, and hope that I can always get corresponding digital copies to upload to the MiniK. The base point being that the MiniK is a supplement or a Merlin's Briefcase (See: The Sword in the Stone) for real books - you can carry them all around at once in a handy palm-sized package.
I travel so much these days both for work and pleasure that it was almost illogical and simply not logistical for me not to get one. Especially when my baggage limits are starting to become such a problem before I start to cram all my books in. Coming back from London at the beginning of the year my bags were almost 10kg heavier than the limit, and books were responsible for about 7 or 8 of them. So you see, a Merlin's Briefcase is pretty handy for someone like me.
Buying myself the MiniK doesn't make me a traitor to the cause, it just makes me adaptable - it also maybe highlights my obsession with books and buying them to begin with.
But that's OK by me - I'm enamoured of the MiniK. It's like a safety net, unlimited books and a new friend all in one. I think I'm going to be taking it pretty much everywhere with me - like a PDA.
I recommend it - not as a replacement, but as an addition. If you're like me, you probably won't regret it.
Note: my library in the Tea Room at home is still going to be full of books I've read. I'll buy all the books I download for free that I don't already have sitting in my to-be-read bookcase.
It rarely hurts to try new things every once in a while.
Sam xox
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