Reading On a Kindle Is a Pleasure

After two years of reading reviews, watching products come out and compete, listening to people gripe about DRM and ebook pricing, I jumped directly into the fray and opted for the Kindle from Amazon. I am completely and utterly smitten with the thing.  It feels like a magic book.  No – more like a printing press.  It’s got ink inside and the computer arranges the ink on the screen and it feels a little bit like you’re printing each page as you look at it.  It’s wonderful.  I don’t think I’ve ever read so much in a two-day stretch before.  I’ve subscribed to the New York Times and Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine.  I’ve purchased a single Amazon ebook for $9.99 and I’ve downloaded some free books from Project Gutenberg.  It all works beautifully and makes for the single best addition to my library since I acquired a two-hundred-year-old copy of Don Quixote.

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Gutenberg Bible Coming Online From Cambridge University

The Gutenberg Bible from approximately 1455 was the first book printed in Europe with moveable metal type.  The BBC reports that Cambridge University is preparing to make a scan of this book available online.  Scholars from around the world will soon have access to one of the first printed books in history.  The university will also release the first printed edition of Homer’s works.

While this is good news, one does have to wonder what’s taken so long.