#BEDM - 7th: Gadgets

Gadgets.  Defined loosely as a device or tool, ingenious or novel.

My kitchen is full of gadgets: I have a variety of tin openers, jar openers, bottle openers, a cheese button, a spoon specifically for kiwi fruit, and all manner of baking gadgets.  Some I use all the time, others rarely.  I am sure these have had an impact on my life (tin openers especially, once on a Guide camp a leader had to make an emergency trip to the nearest supermarket as we couldn't find a tin opener to open the tinned tomatoes to make dinner) but I kind of forget how inventive these gadgets are, and take them for granted.

One gadget I am still fully appreciative of is my beloved Kindle.  When they first came out I was very negative about them, seeing them as a frivolous waste of money.  Why spend £150 or so (or whatever they first cost when they came out) on a device that holds some books, and needs charging, and you can't just chuck it in your bag as it might break when you could just borrow a book from the library for free?  Or borrow a book from a friend?  Or buy a book from a charity shop for £1.50?  Or even buy a paperback full price?  What do you do when you've read a book on your Kindle, you can't pass it on to anyone else or donate it to charity, do you just keep it?  Or delete it? What a shame!

I've always loved books, physical books.  Despite not being able to read in cars as it has always made me feel sick I have always from a young age had a book with me on car journeys, whether it be a five minute drive to the supermarket or hours spent driving to France on a family holiday.  Just holding a book in my lap has always comforted me, knowing it's there just as soon as we stop at a service station and I can have a few minutes of being still!  I read quickly, so I get through books quickly - libraries, charity shops and friends are great sources of books as I can read them and pass them on.  There are some books I keep, but not many.

A few friends bought Kindles, friends who commuted long distances for work and praised how good it was to be able to read a big fat book and yet still be able to hold their Kindle with one hand on a packed commuter train.  Other friends said they liked other people not knowing what they were reading (this was mainly when 50 Shades of Grey was gaining popularity!).  I've always tended to have two or more books on the go, a fatter one to read at home and a smaller one to read when I'm out and about, but I was beginning to be converted.

In 2011 I worked at a summer school at my university, and as this was in addition to my PhD money, I kind of felt that it was 'fun' money and I should spend it on something other than food or bills.  At the same time, a friend and I were planning a trip to India to visit another friend volunteering out there.  We would have a nine-hour flight each way, long waits at airports and a couple of internal flights, plus several lengthy train journeys.  That all adds up to a lot of reading time.  My friend and I have very different tastes in books, so I knew I wouldn't want to borrow any of the books she would take with her, meaning I would have to take with me all the books I would need.  Rather than pack my rucksack full solely of books, I decided to spend part of my earnings on a Kindle.

I also bought a case for it, a zipped case to protect my Kindle in my rucksack, as well as an owl cover for it.  Well, why not?

I am now a fully-fledged Kindle fan.  They're brilliant.  There are so many free books available, mainly classics, that within just an hour or so of searching I had downloaded hundreds of hours of reading material on to Malcolm (no idea why I named my Kindle, and no idea why I named it Malcolm).  I then searched for more recent publications, pushing the boat out and spending perhaps 49p or even 99p on a book (Caitlin Moran's book How to be a Woman is the only book I've ever paid full price for, and that was worth every single penny).

Having a Kindle in India was fantastic.  I had a few paperbacks with me to read if we were out and about and I left those behind in hotels as we moved around.  I read so many books during the fortnight we were away, more books than I could have carried.  And if I didn't particularly enjoy a book it didn't matter, as I had a mini-library from which to choose the next!

Now I use my Kindle whenever I'm travelling anywhere, but stick to paperbacks if I'm at home - I have so many to read, I am striving to work my way through them and clear some space in the flat.  However, if I'm sometimes feeling lazy, and just want to curl up in bed or on the sofa and rest my Kindle in my lap rather than go to the effort of holding a book open, well, I'm pleased to say I can.