I'm what you call a "late adopter" when it came to e-readers. I thought they were silly and there was no need for them; I mean, c'mon, what is better than having an actual book in your hand? And then you add in the fact that I work in a library. Why would I want to buy books when I can borrow them for free? E-readers were pricey, the selection from Overdrive (the digital public library) wasn't great, and you couldn't download books onto the Kindle. But then, long story short, Amazon lowered their Kindle price, allowed Overdrive books to be downloaded to the Kindle earlier this year, and I re-discovered NetGalley, a website that allows me, as a librarian, to request digital galleys of upcoming books. After intense debating, I finally decided that I do want an e-reader, and my husband happily obliged!
I played with it a bit yesterday, and it is extremely easy to download books from Overdrive - I think it's even easier than downloading books onto your computer or any other e-reader (except for maybe the iPad). I was very impressed! If you have a Kindle and your library has Overdrive, you should check it out. Well, I should say that if you have any e-reader, you should check it out - it's easy for the Kindle, but it's not that much harder for the other devices. The selection has also gotten much better recently, and even though you might have to wait a bit for popular books, it's no different from getting them from your library.
For those of you who might still be reluctant, I also realized yesterday that just because I have a Kindle now doesn't mean it has to replace printed books. I'll still check out library books and buy books that I love. The Kindle just makes it easier to borrow books that I might not otherwise check out, or get titles that have a huge waiting list or aren't available in print in the library. It's also extremely convenient, and if you're like me and like to read ahead in books (bad habit! I know!), the Kindle prevents that. I'm extremely happy with the present!
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