The geekiest highlight of my summer was being the first kid on my block to own an Amazon Kindle. Since then I’ve been answering the constant barrage of “What’s that?” questions with an analogy: “It’s like an iPod for books.”
What is the Amazon Kindle? It’s a portable reading device, a lightweight, book-shaped, book-sized computer built especially for reading. Unlike a computer monitor, the Kindle screen is made to be easy on the eyes even after long periods of staring, with no glare and a matte appearance meant to replicate paper. (It really is something to see.) The no-glare screen also contributes to the Kindle’s long battery life between chargings. When its wireless connection is turned off, the handy device needs charging only once a week.
The Kindle weighs in at 10.3 ounces, less than most paperbacks. Amazon says the reader is built to withstand a fair amount of abuse (I haven’t dropped mine yet so I can’t speak from experience), and it comes in a protective case that makes it look like you’re reading from a leather-bound book. (This is handy when you want the other people on the bus to think you’re reading the Bible rather than a romance novel.)
Most interestingly, the Kindle can download books directly from Amazon via the Web, so you can use a Kindle without even owning a computer (although you need an amazon.com account with updated billing info). You can read the screen easily, indoors or outdoors, just like a physical book.
The Kindle can store hundreds of books, and even more on memory cards. You can change font sizes, add highlights and notes, and look up definitions. It even has limited wireless Internet access, along with many other intriguing features. The Kindle is poised to revolutionize the way we read books, newspapers, and even blogs.
But what can the Kindle mean for singers? Here are a few of my own observations on how the Kindle has (and hasn’t) helped me as a classical singer.
Travel with your library
A singer’s life is a life of travel, and any experienced traveler knows how heavy multiple books in your luggage can be. Carrying around extra reference books pertaining to the music you’re working on—composer biographies, history books, and original source novels—adds back-breaking poundage. With the Kindle, you can carry all that and more in something that weighs just a few ounces and is the size of a paperback.
Be aware, however, that not all titles are available yet on the still-young Kindle—a Kindle Store search for “Mozart” yields 46 titles, for example, but more obscure volumes may not be available for some time.
Consolidate your bookshelf
Many singers live in tiny city apartments, with very limited storage space. It’s not easy to keep a large library in your studio, especially when literature has to contend with bulky opera scores and back issues of Classical Singer for shelf space. With the Kindle, you can keep entire bookcases of hardcovers and paperbacks in the space of a memory card and search through them with just a few keystrokes.
One drawback: You won’t be able to lend books without lending your whole Kindle—and believe me, after a few days you won’t be able to live without it.
Save money—eventually
Admit it. Most of us are starving artists, and need to pinch pennies where we can. The Kindle isn’t cheap and retails at $359. After the initial investment, however, you will start to save in other ways. Kindle books are cheaper than paperbacks and hardcovers, most going for $9.99 or less. Many classics are available in the $0.99 range. Furthermore, Kindle downloads books automatically. You can order them from your computer or from the Kindle itself and amazon.com charges your account automatically, so you don’t have to factor in shipping costs.
Memorize your lines
I was completely ready for my summer production of “Fledermaus,” except for memorizing my dialogue. (“Fledermaus” translations are like snowflakes: no two are alike.) I had the dialogue in a .doc file on my laptop. Instead of printing it out and carrying it around in my purse for a week, I used a little-known feature of the Kindle. For 10 cents a file, you can e-mail documents to your Kindle and read them just like any of your books. I sent myself my dialogue and had it with me everywhere I went.
Warning: I used the Kindle’s “highlight” feature on my lines, which was a little sloppy. It took a long time, and the highlights did not always stay exactly where I put them. When I changed font sizes, the highlights sometimes moved to an adjacent line. I recommend doing all your highlighting on your PC before you e-mail yourself the file. Once the highlighted text is in a Kindle file, you can jump easily from one highlighted section to the next without laboriously paging through the pages.
Wikipedia
I was riding a train to fill in at the last minute for a production of Bastien und Bastienne. In one short week I had found a score, memorized it, and bought recordings on iTunes—but I hadn’t done any research on the history of the opera. Fortunately, I had my Kindle. Kindle has wireless Internet access that works via a cell phone-like network rather than wi-fi, like most laptops. The Internet access is limited and works best on simple, text-based sites, but Wikipedia is among the recommended, easily accessed websites. I arrived at my first rehearsal that night fully up-to-date with the historical and biographical background of the work.
Google is also available on the Kindle, and I’ve had good luck with it, but don’t bother trying to navigate to any pages that use Flash.
Listen to music
Kindle is no iPod, but it can play music. Have a particular ensemble you need to drill? Just copy it onto your Kindle and plug in your headphones.
Final thoughts
The Amazon Kindle is a great tool for singers, especially singers who travel and like to read. Of course, the device has some known issues: price, book availability, pictures and diagrams can be hard to read, and it has no form of backlight—you need to use an old-fashioned book light to read in the dark. More books are being released in Kindle format every day, and ideally Amazon will solve the other issues in the next generation of the product—if you have the patience to wait out the advances in technology. In the meantime, Kindle has much to offer the world-traveling singer, such as portability, space conservation, and handy Internet access. Amazon Kindle retails for $359, is currently available only in the United States, and will make you the most popular person on the subway. For more information, visit www.amazon.com and watch the promotional videos.
