The Oprah touch

Oh no! Oprah has designs of being a geek - this could be bad news. It appears that the 'woman with everything' was given an Amazon Kindle reader as a present - nice. Now it's her 'most favorite thing'. This rather expensive reader ($360) has failed to take the world by storm and this may be Amazon's way of stimulating some interest. Best of British luck I say. I really cannot see the attraction of spending that amount of money just to read a book. I don't think that there is any feeling quite like opening a new book or flipping through the pages of an old favorite. Reading the same thing from a lighted screen isn't quite the same. Even though she says she can download anywhere and then read anywhere, that's not quite true. If you are not near an internet 'hot spot' or any other connection, you are out of luck. If you're on a hiking trip and the battery dies, you're screwed. According to Oprah, she looks at it as an environmentally friendly investment. 'I know it's expensive in these times, but it's not frivolous because it will pay for itself. The books are much cheaper, and you're saving paper.' Really? How many resources does it take to make a Kindle and is it bio-degradable? Many books today are printed on recycled paper anyway. So, an interesting toy but a rather big waste of time and money in my opinion. Mind you, if you want to take the plunge - there's $50 off when you use the big O's name.