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Intelligence
Sometimes More is Less … and More

Intelligence

Sometimes More is Less … and More

Feb 10, 2008By Voltaire Santos Miran

I love my Kindle!
After a 45-day wait (they can’t seem to make them fast enough), it finally arrived five days ago. A trapezoidal piece of plastic roughly the width and height of a pencil. It’s got a screen that mimics actual paper and ink, but with the added ability to boost the font size to suit my eyes. Less than 11 ounces, a long battery life, over 100,000 titles, free book samples (you can download the first chapter of any book you want without charge), and all downloads priced at $9.99 or cheaper. 

In less than 10 minutes, I’d set up my newest toy and purchased and downloaded Jim Butcher’s first Dresden Files novel, Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food,” five first chapters from Christopher Moore’s growing oeuvre of disturbingly hysterical work, and snippets of John Irving’s and Michael Chabon’s latest books. 

I was in heaven. Kindling while I prepped dinner. In the cab while heading to Chicago’s annual auto show. Friday night, curled up on the couch with a warm fire going. In five-minute segments when it wasn’t my turn to make the next martini. For someone like me who loves to read several books concurrently, travels frequently, and doesn’t get many chunks of unspoken-for time, this little gadget was the perfect companion—a way to finally whittle away at a long list of books I’ve been waiting to enjoy. And yet …

… I hate my Kindle!
Actually, hate’s a really strong word. Permit me to explain the irony of the timing.

My kindle came five days before our bookcases arrived. Four beautiful oak cases providing 50 feet of shelving to house the books we’d shoved into a closet when we moved into our home four years ago. Finally, the unpacking. I stumbled across my copy of Hemingway’s “The Garden of Eden.” I opened it up and saw my signature (my handwriting’s gotten better since) and the date I purchased the book—1990, 18 years ago now! I scanned the first paragraph and realized that at the time I read this book, I couldn’t even pronounce the name of the small French town in which Catherine and David were spending their honeymoon. Six years ago, I’d been there. I thought of three people instantly who would enjoy this book, and I slipped it into my briefcase for the first on that list. 

We spent the afternoon sorting and shelving … our poetry collection, our travel books, installments from the Library of America, fiction, history, art, atlases, dictionaries, and Harry Potter. I found books sent from friends with notes saying “this made me think of you.” I remembered books that I’d loaned out and had yet to (and probably never would) get back. 

And I realized the compromise inherent in the technology. The chances of my wandering back through my digital library are slim, and the opportunity to pass any given book on, nil. And in these ways, the convenience and portability and efficiency of my new plastic friend prove the adage “sometimes, more is less.” But still …

… I love my Kindle. Did I mention the long battery life and free samples? 


  • Voltaire Santos Miran EVP, Web Strategy I've developed and implemented communication strategies in education for more than 20 years now. I think my team at mStoner is the smartest, funniest, and coolest group of colleagues ever, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. Except Barcelona. Or Paris. Or Istanbul. To quote Isak Dinesen, "the cure for everything is salt ... tears, sweat, and the sea."