I attracted a Kindle for Christmas. It’s the wildly popular device from Amazon for reading books, magazines, newspapers, select blogs, and more without actually carrying anything more than the thin, light device itself.
I’m such a bookaholic that I wasn’t sure I wanted one. But I’m also a gadget nut and curious enough to try it. So I told Santa and he delivered.
The Kindle is light, intuitive, easy to use, and fast. Mine is the 6″ display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation, which I prefer for all the travel I do, but there is a US only version with a bigger screen (9.7″), called the Kindle DX.
After charging the battery, I turned it on and started using it within minutes. I synced it to my existing Amazon account and wondered what book I should buy first.
Since I had been reading Bruce Lee’s philosophy of living, called Striking Thoughts, I thought it might be cool to have it on my Kindle. I could look at it every day, chew on some Kung Fu (actually Jeet Kune Do) wisdom, and not have to lug the actual book around.
That’s when I discovered not all books are on Kindle. Striking Thoughts wasn’t listed. But a few other books by or about Lee were. I ended up choosing Bruce Lee’s Strength Training Secrets, a booklet by Justin Frost. I’ve always been interested in martial arts (Aikido, Chi Kung) and strength training (Steve Reeves/Hercules), so this would be a good first Kindle download for me.
It cost less than a dollar. I selected it and within a minute it was on my device. While the look and feel of the text on the Kindle was more like a poor quality newspaper, or even an old mimeograph, and the pictures are more like x-rays, the instant gratification couldn’t be beat. The only thing better might be a direct download into my brain.
Side note: Bruce Lee sometimes trained with a Bullworker, an isometric exercise device I bought when I was sixteen years old — about forty years ago — and still sold today. I still have my original Bullworker, but doubt I’ve ever used it as much as Bruce Lee used his.
I wondered what book I would buy next. I have about $1,000 worth of books sitting in my shopping cart at Amazon. I picked a few of those titles and searched to see if they were available on Kindle. Most weren’t. That was a tad frustrating. But no matter, I was having fun shopping.
I searched again and found the complete works of James Allen (As A Man Thinketh, From Poverty to Power, etc) were ready for download. Called Mind Is the Master, I now have it on my Kindle.
The next book was Keith Cameron Smith’s The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class. This one has some great insights. As I was reading, I came across a line that was so good I re-read it three times:
“Middle-class people talk about things that came from a millionaire’s idea.”
Thanks to a feature on Kindle, I was able to hi-light that line and save it in my “My Clippings” folder. Way cool. I just wish there was a way to email the things in my clippings folder on Kindle to my Twitter, or blog, or email account. To share it with you here, I had to open the Kindle, open the clippings folder, and then re-type the line for you here. Not a tedious process but in this day I would think we could make it even easier.
Side note: Don’t underestimate the power of Smith’s quote. I told it to Pat O’Bryan and master photographer Rodney Bursiel one evening and their heads reeled as they considered what it meant and I explored the implications out loud. In short, if you want to attract more money, create the products and services that make the middle class talk — and buy.
The next book was Facts Can’t Speak For Themselves: Reveal The Stories That Give Facts Their Meaning by Eric Oliver. This is a book on persuasion for trial attorneys. It’s about how the mind creates stories out of facts, but often without the ending story actually being faithful to reality. To be sure you communicate what you intend, you have to be aware of how people frame information. If you’ve read my books, such as Hypnotic Writing and/or Buying Trances, you know how important it is to get your message across accurately. Oliver’s book is hefty and expensive (even for Kindle) but, so far, well worth the time it takes to absorb it.
Obviously, I’m enjoying my Kindle. It even seems to assist my focus. Instead of reading a dozen books all at once, jumping from book to book on my desk or night stand, Kindle gently leads me to pick one book and keep reading it until I’m done.
I also like that I have a special Kindle e-mail address that I can send e-books to, which then get downloaded direct to my Kindle. Amazon mentions a “small fee” for this service, but I can’t find what that charge actually is.
To test it, I emailed the PDF version of my latest book, Attract Money Now, to my Kindle. It showed up just fine. I then went to Amazon, went into my account, looked up my Kindle charges, and saw the transfer cost was sixty cents. I’d prefer free. I later discovered I can put ebooks on my Kindle for free by plugging the USB port from my PC to my Kindle, and then just dragging the ebooks over. Easy.
On Christmas day, I showed the Kindle to a friend. She quickly figured it out, liked it, and even accidentally bought a book on it. She clicked on a book cover and before she knew it she had clicked on the buy-it-now button. She didn’t know the purchase or delivery would be so instantaneous. Fortunately it was a book on Reiki (The Original Reiki Handbook by Mikao Usui) which I wanted to read anyway.
I like my Kindle. It has some features I haven’t tried yet, such as reading books to you, but for what I’ve done with it so far, it’s cool. I’d like to see it have color, improve its screen, and make it less sterile. I still love printed books and still prefer paper, color, and all the other elements that make a book real.
For example, I received two copies of beautiful printed books, one signed by sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury and the other signed by comedian Jerry Lewis. Both came as gifts. Both are hardcovers. Both are collectibles. Kindle will never replace those.
But when it comes to traveling and convenience, the Kindle is great. I’ll be curious to see what the other devices are like, such as Barnes & Noble’s new e-reader, called Nook, which has color and over a million titles to choose from. And geniuses such as Ray Kurzweil are creating ways to read books in full color on any device, with programs such as his new Blio. Of course, I’ll also be waiting to see how Amazon upgrades Kindle over time.
For now, I’ll keep my Kindle. It’s where I can easily find such relevant Bruce Lee gems as this –
“To change with change is the changeless state.”
Right on, Bruce.
Ao Akua,
PS — You can’t yet read my new book Attract Money Now on Kindle (unless you already have the PDF and email it to your Kindle or transfer it over with a direct USB link, as mentioned above), but you can still get the PDF and read it for free by clicking the below banner:
17 Comments
Happy New Year, Joe! Glad you are liking your new toy. I, too, am a book-a-holic but haven’t made the leap to kindle yet. I do listen to books on tape all the time, including most of yours, though! And what a great quote from Keith Cameron Smith. I will keep it in mind from now on.
Tamerie Shriver
Wonderful to read a true book-lover’s experience with the Kindle. For me, for now, it’s mostly a technological marvel to follow and a marketing miracle long in waiting. But granted, mine is still on the way so that may yet change. 🙂
I never thought the Kindle or devices like it would gain acceptance so fast. The fact that on Christmas day Amazon’s ebook sales actually eclipsed physical book sales is telling. As is the first-of-a-kind buying experience: true one-click method that enables genuine impulse buys (as evidenced by the story here).
Come Christmas 2010, I’m sure there will already be even more advanced ebook readers and tons more titles to choose from. And quite likely some interesting numbers about a technology that Amazon.com CEO Jef Bezos says will change the world. As the numbers freak that he is, I have no doubt that it will.. ecologically, financially, and more.
Let’s just hope airlines will keep allowing electronics on board.. esp. since the Kindle has no off switch, leading to interesting discussions with flight attendants. 🙂
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Btw, I tweeted Smith’s quote, Joe! I really looove it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kindle is a wonderful device! Love the dictionary, etc. This is a wonderful product for a person with newsprint allergy. I can no longer read real books without going into an alergy attack. You can also get Kindle on your PC. If you are reading on the PC and then go to the Kindle, it will open to the place where you left off. Wonderful feature. Now if I can get you to tell your publisher to put your books on Kindle I would be so happy.
Eunice
The charge for emailing a document is 15 cents per MB, rounded up. I use it all the time for Word docs, which tend to convert OK except sometimes the paragraphs don’t indent.
I don’t actually like reading native PDFs on my Kindle 2 because the screen isn’t big enough, but they usually convert OK unless they are magazine layout or something similar. If the PDFs is big enough it’s worthwhile to use the free email conversion that will send the file back to you and then use the USB cable to move the file over.
Congrats on your new Kindle. They don’t offer them in the Middle East yet. I fear that the Kindle will cause the end of books as we know them. Just as the digital revolution is causing a decline in CD and DVD sales, I fear the same will happen to books. I never thought something like this would happen. I love the idea of having a massive (physical) library and walking through it, holding the books, thumbing through them and deciding which one to read. Oh well, that’s progress I suppose. I suspect that when my kids grow up they’ll think of “libraries” as things on laptops and Kindles. Have a great new year doc.
Hi Joe, congratulations with your Kindle! I think I wanna create one of those too!
Greetings,
Claus D Jensen
Hi Joe, congratulations with your Kindle! I think I wanna create one of those too!
Greetings,
Claus D Jensen
Joe,
Thanks for the great review. I was under the impression that you could only add kindle ready ebooks to the kindle so I was delighted when I read that you could transfer via a USB from your own pc. I have hundreds of great e-books on my laptop including your own Attract Money Now and after reading your review it has made me want to look at the Kindle again.
Thanks,
Amanda
Hello Joe,
Always love your writing (and own several of your books too.)
Joe, like you I also owned the Bullworker. Which at that time was called the Tensolator. It was a two tube system, with green handles.
Since that day there have been changes in the design of the Bullworker type products.
Are you familiar with the Bully Xtreme 3?
Here’s the details … this guy Frank Sherrill wasn’t happy with the quality of the Bullworker X5 and decided to redesign the Bullworker X5 a couple of years back.
Instead of making it out of inexpensive plastic … He had it made out of steel.
Here’s the scary part the straps on the Bullworker X5 always move around when you’re exercising . This makes it very difficult to do some exercises . Then on top of that the straps can “fray.”
With repeated use, they’ll rip apart and hurt the user. Kinda like pulling on a rubber band that breaks and snaps back at ya.
So here’s what he does, he designs the Bully Xtreme 3 with steel cables (instead of cloth straps.)
And best of all he had the manufacturer seal the cables at “25 tons of pressure!” Making them virtually indestructible.
And finally, he had the cables wrapped with a thick and durable plastic to protect the users hands.
Bottom line… you have a product that he warranties for a “lifetime” and it provides more resistance for the bigger muscle groups such as your back, legs etc..
This was always a problem area with the Bullworker X5. It gave you a great upper body workout however, when it came to your legs it just plain stunk.
I know that you have nostalgic memories of that old Bullworker — so do I.
However, you should give the Bully Xtreme a try. I have no financial interest or affiliate link this is just making you aware of what many people including myself think is the superior product.
Bullworker Guy
PS I hope you will not see this post as spam but, will give me the opportunity to let your readers know about a product that is superior to the old Bullworker that you and I remember.
Great information. Thank you. The original Bullworker I have from 40 years ago was all metal, no straps, and is still indestructible. Years ago I interviewed the copywriter who wrote the ads that caused me to buy the device way back when. He said they lost money at first because the Bullworker was made of top materials and they didn’t/couldn’t charge enough to make a profit. I’m assuming the next generation of Bullworker at that time had cloth straps. I’ve never seen it. Anyway, I’m delighted to see the isometric exercise device still around, and in a new and improved form. Thanks again.
Blessings
joe
Wow! I’m so green with envy. I wanted to have a Kindle, too, but it seems Santa forgot to give me anything. Perhaps because I wasn’t in our house when he was delivering the gifts? (We’re still here in NY vacationing). (sigh!)
Anyways, glad to know you like Kindle coz I’ve always wanted one eversince I heard about it. I have most of your giveaways on PDF files and thought it would be awesome to be able to easily ‘brag’ and share them with friends and family anywhere I go.
(“Oh, Santa, I know it was hard for you to find me coz we kept hopping from one city to another, but from now till Jan 13th, we will be in one address where you can ask one of your reindeers to deliver my gift. Just shoot me an email. Thanks.”) LOL
Hope your Kindle is working out. I am testing out Barnes and Noble’s ebook software on my computer, and it was fun to get some free Ebooks. I had bought my first Ebook from Barnes, and it was your book “The Solution”. I am going through it on my computer, until I can decide whether to get a Kindle or a Nook. It is quite a comparison… and yet, there are rumors that seem to be almost confirmed that Apple is about to come out with a tablet/ebook reader….
Until then, I will just read your blog on your Kindle Experience, and read the latest book of yours online. It is adding to a growing collection of Joe Vitale books and courses. My intention is to someday have a copy of ALL your books you have written, even the earlier ones.
Have fun, merry xmas, happy birthday, and happy New Year!!!
Eric
You may want to look into things like blog subscriptions on the Kindle, newspaper daily subs and the like.
Paul Myers was talking to me about this as the new eBook publishing platform for electronic publishers two years ago but I just have not had time to get around to it. Now that Kindles take PDFs I am way more excited.
However don’t discount that new Sony device. When ever I see anyone using one of these (Kindle or Sony) in public I do ask them how they feel about it and most who now have Sonys say they like it better than the Kindle.
Thanks for your take on this Joe!
Eventually these devices will be in everyone’s stash of gadgets just like computers, cell phones and Ipods. My daughter had lightly “suggested” that she wanted the Nook. But until it becomes a full force “nagging” I knew I was safe for a few more months, which is time enough to read and compare the array of choices.
Wouldn’t it be grand to have a device that wasn’t linked to any particular store (B&N or Amazon) not that I’m against either one, it just seems confining. So Joe, do you know if at some point the books you have on your extensive wish list at Amazon will ever be available for purchase and download?
I love the whole concept of these devices, however agree with you wholeheartedly about the books in print. It’s the same with the newspaper to me, sure you can read it online now….but it’s not so fun doing the crosswords on a computer and I really don’t like getting in bed with my laptop. Same with the book, snuggling up with a good book will never be replaced…in my book that is!
Cindi
Hi Joe, I have been a huge fan of your books for many years. I have Attract Money Now as a PDF on my Kindle. I’m also a bookaholic and with the Kindle I can download books instantly and they take up less space and more portable. I like how it can sync where I left off reading on my iPhone Kindle software. I listen to alot of audio books while I commute, so the audio book reading feature is an added bonus. Some book I highly recommend are: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, 59 Seconds: Think a Little Change a Lot by Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor and Quirkology is science-based self-help book with ways to improve your life in less than a minute. Lastly, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation by Dr Daniel Siegel. Also reading Complaint Free Relationships by Will Bowen.
BTW I got the DVD/CD of the movie Beyond Belief with you in it.