On Shame, Librarians

My Kindle shame reached critical point Monday evening on a bench in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. It seems most aggravated by trains and subways.

I bought my Kindle a few months ago, before starting graduate school, thinking that it would be a handy way to read magazines. Several friends expressed their concerns, announcing that I would look like an asshole reading it on the L train in the mornings. But I bought it anyway.

The Kindle 2, which I own, is an electronic reading device developed by Amazon. It allows users to download, via a service called Whispernet, which frankly sounds lame, electronic versions of books, magazines, newspapers and the like. From a design standpoint it’s an amazing device – sleek, light, and easily navigated. But many “book” people don’t like them.

“And you can’t even burn them, as they’d produce toxic smoke,” lamented one group member on the “I Hate the Damn Kindle” Facebook page. Other consumers agree, citing complaints about battery power and something or other about the Orwellian nature of remotely deleted books.

Anyway, this past weekend I was returning from visiting my family in Virginia and waiting for my connecting train in the crowded waiting area. Two older women sat beside me, in thick cable knit sweaters and glasses, books open. When I brought out my Kindle and started reading, the whispering began. From the corner of my eye I could see them pointing, gesturing. So I stopped and showed them.

Turns out that they were librarians returning to Philadelphia from a library conference. They held it, balanced it in their hands. “What books do you read on it?” one asked. I didn’t want to say “Lauren Conrad’s LA Candy” so I lied and told her I was reading To the Lighthouse. She nodded approvingly. My shame decreased, just a bit.

~ by carlosville on October 2, 2009.