[Connecting Bits] Rekindled Reading and the Kindle

Ammon Shea�s reading of the Oxford English Dictionary, all 21,730 pages, sounds like one of the ultimate experiences of consuming the visible word in its most intimate and enduring form factor: the printed book. In an NPR story, One Man, One Year, One Mission: Read The OED, Ammon says, �I love the tactile sensation of turning one page to the next and feeling my fingers across them. I love having the weight of the book in my lap; I like the way that books smell�that's a huge part of it.� Another advanced form factor that appeared earlier this year, and one meant to keep the intimate reading experience intact, was Amazon�s e-book reader Kindle. It was quickly judged, but for those who lived with it and have given the device a chance, they have fed its sign as the future of books and reading them. How would Ammon�s palpable reading experience of the OED compare with his digital reading of it?


Image by twoeyes, Flickr. Click on image to see larger version.

On a related note, the Kindle�s packaging design is attractive. A friend of mine thought it didn�t leave much to the imagination and needed color and color images. I was quick to disagree. Packaging design doesn�t always need to be imbued with the convention of color and color images. Type is the color and image in the Kindle�s case. Its minimalism feeds the imagination �in my book.�