Oh Mother Superior, high-priestess of print, your humble servant comes to you seeking your wisdom (and forgiveness). I have been thinking about betraying the cause of print and asking my beloved to buy me a Kindle.

Then I remembered that you had had one of these devices forced into your hands and decided to seek your wisdom. Are they any good? Do you still use it? Was it a five-minute wonder? Is the text quality as good as it appears to be in pictures? I’m thinking about getting the wi-fi-only version. Thanks for your guidance.
‘C’ via email

Prostrate yourself before me ‘C’, while I consider your request. I shall preserve your anonymity due to the conflict in your soul that is evident from your missive.

Now, pay attention while I impart of my wisdom. I only use my Kindle sporadically, but it’s definitely a useful thing. If, say, I had a long commute by train every day or was an academic with a need to cart a number of weighty tomes around, then I might use it more often. I have taken it with me on long-haul trips so I could I be sure of having plenty of reading material on hand no matter what, without busting any baggage limits.

The screen is very very good indeed. Remember though that, just like a book, it doesn’t have illumination, but this means it’s also easy on the eye, and the battery life is phenomenal. I have the big white one, but the new versions are a bit smaller and neater, and you could always get yourself one of those funky DODOcases as featured in last week’s PrintWeek gift guide – in any event, you’ll definitely need some sort of case. Also, bear in mind that you might suffer from a bit of user interface confusion – every time I see someone who has an iPhone try a Kindle, they invariably start jabbing at the screen to no effect.

Personally, I will always prefer a proper book, but I don’t think we in print should shy away from using Kindles and other e-readers and tablet devices. Judging by the pre-Christmas advertising campaigns, Amazon and Apple are intent on getting their technologies into the hands of many more users, so there is no point in being too Canute-like about it – knowledge is power and all that. Now be gone, serf, with my blessing.

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