Help me, I can’t help myself

Temptation is overcoming me. In fact, my whole problem really is I am not sure if it’s an opportunity or a temptation.  Those who know me, know that at least for my age I am a gadget geek. I love computers, mp3, digital cameras, etc. If it has blinking lights and something I can click on, I like it. Electronic books, however, never quite appealed to me. Unlike most people, however, I am not addicted to the smell, sound or feel of a book, but I do love reading a book. I like its portability. I like the possibility of being able to flip it open at random. I like being able to underline. I like being able to dog ear pages (yes, I know that’s a sacrilege to some folks) and also to be able to be open to two pages at once, glancing back at forth.

When Kindle was announced, I was skeptic. The more I began to “read”(what else would I do, being the reader I am?) on the subject, the interested I became. When we go on vacation we usually haul two boxes of books for our reading. In one small Kindle I could have 2000 books with me. When I have a hankering to read a book in English, I often have to wait 6 months or so, unless I have it shipped to me, paying an arm and leg and still having to wait a month. The very thought of wanting a book, ordering it online and having it in hand within minutes is very appealing to me. (I know that in Brazil I wouldn’t have access to the Whispernet, but I could download them my computer and then transfer them to the Kindle). I already have dozens of “free” books on my computer (classics that are in the public domain). I read them on my computer, but hauling around my laptop is not always so much fun. Everyone says the Kindle really feels like a book in your hand, and you can carry it so conveniently everywhere you go.

However, I resisted the price of $299. That’s a lot of money. You can buy a netbook for that much money. This week, however, the price of a refurbished Kindle 1 dropped to $149 and of a Kindle2 dropped to $219. That’s a pretty big price drop. From my research, I believe I really want a Kindle 2, mainly because the resolution is so much higher and some other features as well. So I put one in my shopping cart on Amazon. (I’ll be in the US in about a month, so I will have my purchase waiting for me when I get there.) My rule of thumb is always to wait 24 hours before closing a deal on Amazon, so that I avoid impulse buying.

So that’s my temptation. Do I spend that much money? Which, will lead, of course, to spending more money, for certainly I will buy more books! My dilemma really is if I am being a pawn in the hand of the merchandisers who have convinced me I need something I don’t really need, or if this will be a useful tool in my life. So “whattal” I do? While I am undecided, I will do nothing (and hopefully they won’t sell out of them – or maybe they will and that will settle the issue). What do you think?