On Friday last, I ordered a Kindle. Finally, after raging against the machine, so to speak, I capitulated, logged on to Amazon.co.uk and clicked on Kindle.
Sorry, says the screen, if you live outside the UK you have to buy your Kindle from Amazon.com. It will be shipped from USA. That seems daft to me, but what the heck. So I switch over to Amazon.com and set about ordering the thing.
The process took about an hour.
First, I had to choose Wi-fi or Wi-fi plus 3G. Having previously consulted my friend who had bought one recently, I was prepared for this question, but still I wasted some time reading about the difference. And then there was a larger version to consider.
My main problem was that I wanted to buy it for use in Ireland, but then give it to my wife when she goes on her planned long (6-12 months) trip to Australia. So, when it asked me to select a country, I could have entered Ireland or Australia. I tried both, flip-flopping between them, trying to work out which I should choose.
I selected Ireland and got a dinky pop-up that warned me about VAT. As I was placing the order I noticed that I was eligible for free shipping. It told me how to claim free shipping by clicking on Preferred Delivery Method. My fingers were poised to do just that, when the screen thanked me for my order. Hastily, I cancelled the order and tried again.
This time, Amazon realized that I was not based in the USA and therefore not entitled to free shipping. But somehow, I managed to order two of the things, one with and one without a case.
Cancel and start again.
The order has now been processed and I am to expect delivery in about 4-5 days.
Monday: We were out when UPS delivered the pesky thing. I ordered it Friday (18 Mar) at 10:59. It was dispatched the same day at 22:15 and delivered today (20 Mar) at 11:36. The UPS man left a note in our mailbox: “Left it in your grey bin”. The whole process, from order to delivery was so fast, it’s made me nervous. What have I let into the house? At 13:30 I rescued it from our dustbin. By 16:00 I had it charged and ready to go. It’s now 17:00 and I couldn’t find a single ebook on Amazon’s top 100 titles that I would want to buy.
I’ve switched it off for the moment.
Welcome to the wacky, wonderful world of electronics. It gets better… I think…
Ah, you didn’t go on an ebook buying spree the moment it arrived, huh? Me either. I’ve had mine a month and purchased three books. But I’m ashamed to admit I already prefer the weight and feel of it to a paper book. I really thought I was going to be a ‘when you pry my paperback from my cold dead hands’ sort.
Welcome. You have been assimilated.
I still haven’t found anything available on Kindle that actually I want to read.
I may buy one of Amanda Hockings books, to see what makes her so successful.