Sunday, July 5, 2009

Better Reading in Bed

I like reading in bed. It's comfortable. The only problem is that if I lay on my side (as I prefer to) it is impossible to hold a book open so that both pages are readable. You must either rotate your book, or (my solution) rotate your body from shoulder to shoulder in a stationary shrimp. Neither solution is completely satisfactory, and one aspect of the Kindle that intrigues me is odd and even pages appear in the same place, making it easier to read in bed.

It was with great interest, therefore, that I read about Randall Munroe's attempts to use his Kindle in bed. The XKCD author found it was difficult to prop the Kindle up while keeping a finger on the next button. Undaunted, he took a steel coat hanger and twisted it to create a Kindle stand for reading in bed.

This is a great Kindle accessory, and knowing how to make it I am more likely to purchase a Kindle. Some people commented that Munroe should mass produce his invention. It is truly a niche product, and I wonder how large the "kindle owners who want a better way to read in bed but are too lazy to bend their own coat hanger" niche is.

The only other Kindle accessories on sale seem to be cases and memory cards. Are there other accessories being overlooked? I think a Kindle case with a small light built in for reading in the dark might be marketable.

1 comment:

Pete Abbate said...

My problem with reading in bed is it's far too easy to fall asleep. Any suggestions on a device to counter that?

Compared with the totality of knowledge which is continually utilized in the evolution of a dynamic civilization, the difference between the knowledge that the wisest and that which the most ignorant individual can deliberately employ is comparatively insignificant. ~Fredrich Hayek in The Constitution of Liberty