Powered by Max Banner Ads 

Boost Your Reading Productivity with a Kindle!

by Abu Productive on April 4, 2011

by Abu Productive17 Comments

Posted on Monday, April 4, 2011 in Topics, We Recommend

There are very few devices that I ‘cling’ to and highly recommend them, and the Amazon Kindle has just joined this ‘privileged’ group of gadgets. I honestly cannot get my hands off it!

What is the Kindle?

Amazon Kindle is nothing short of a revolutionary e-reading device that’s using a cool technology called “e-ink technology”, which makes the screen look like a page from a book! No, I’m serious, you got to see it to believe it. The screen is actually incredible, friends and colleagues think that there’s a sticker on top. It’s so easy to read on it and doesn’t hurt your eyes.

The downside of course is that it’s not a screen, meaning when you turn off the lights, you can’t see anything!

What’s it for?

Purely and simply for reading. Nothing more and nothing less. Yes, they do have browser and you can play MP3 with it, but the prime functionality is reading. You can read books that you buy via Kindle Store, or Magazines that you subscribe wire-lessly to (I saved so much on shipping books and magazines since I got the kindle) and more. Best part is that you can also upload PDFs to it, and convert word documents and other text files into ‘kindle’ files so you can read them as well.

Simply: It’s for all your reading needs.

How useful is it?

Super useful! I carry it everywhere. It’s so light and portable and you can read it under direct sunlight with no problems. You can highlight best quotes/sections and save them in a special “My Clippings” area or share them on facebook/twitter. You can search your book, bookmark pages in it, take notes, and as a plus, always know where you last stopped reading so you can pick up exactly where you left of!

Can anyone buy it/use it?

If you’re living in the US/UK/Canada or any other “Amazon Kindle” compatible jurisdictions then yes. If you’re outside these areas unfortunately it’s not so easy to get a Kindle working for you. Having said that, try their Kindle software and see if it works for you.

How much?

Just $139! Yup, I know, it’s cheap compared with other tablets/e-readers.. and well worth every penny.

Are you making commission out of this?

Yup! Click here to purchase the Kindle via the ProductiveMuslim affiliate link.. But that’s not only why I’m promoting this device, honestly, my reading “productivity” quadrupled since I got the Kindle and it’s one of those MUST-HAVE devices if you love reading (and even if you don’t!).

Happy Kindling!

Did you enjoy this article?
Subscribe to our newsletter and
join other productive muslims

Tagged as: Productivity, Reading, Technology

Pin It

Previous post:

Next post:

Related Posts:
  1. Techniques to Develop a Habit of Reading
  2. Can Patience Boost Productivity?
  3. Boost your Productivity with Istighfar (Part 2)
  4. Boost your Productivity with Istighfar (Part 3)
  5. Six PRAISE Steps to Boost Productivity
  • Zahid Ali

    Salam alaikum! I have been thinking about getting a Kindle too and dump all my study books into it. My question is: Does it have problems with rendering Arabic fonts? Also, some PDFs I have are scans of books so they are just images embedded into the PDF. From your experience, do you think those would work fine? Convince me and I will buy it through your referral link! :P Jazakallahu khair!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Abu-Productive/1371363522 Abu Productive

      @Zahid – I’ve tested PDFs (including Arabic PDFs and Image PDFs) when I first got my kindle and as you said, it’s simple an “image” that you scroll through in Kindle. If the image of the PDF is large enough, reading in the Kindle is fine. If it’s tiny to read, you might have to zoom and it’s not very convenient.

      And yes, Kindle does not support Arabic fonts, which means that you cannot convert an Arabic PDF or Arabic word document into a “Kindle” file. However you can take the Arabic PDF as is and read it in the Kindle. Hope this helps!

    • Nhsalem11

      I have the kindle and it’s perfectly fine with Arabic texts. I’ve emailed a few PDF  files to it and the Arabic was fine. :) It’s a great tool to have!

  • Bojan Djordjevic

    I am still debating about getting iPad 2. There is kindle app on it, plus so much more…

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Abu-Productive/1371363522 Abu Productive

      I’ll be honest, I was thinking of iPad as well, but the Kindle has much more advantages including:

      1. It’s cheaper
      2. It doesn’t hurt your eye when reading
      3. It has a one month battery
      4. It’s distraction free! You don’t waste time jumping between applications, you simply pick up the kindle to read.

      • Bojan Djordjevic

        You may be right… But I am still getting an iPad2, will tell you how it does…

        • Abdullah Jib

          Make sure you log how much time you spend reading and how much time you spend doing other things.

          • http://alphaefficiency.com Bojan Djordjevic

            I have iPad 2 for quite a while now and these are the results. I spend on avarage 50% of the time reading in total. Rest of the time is distributed throughout social media, email and Skype. iPad is my primary device for pretty much everything, except the actual really meaningful work. 

            Out of those 50% that I spend reading:

            50% is spent on reading RSS feeds.
            25% is spent on reading articles that I’ve previously saved in Instapaper.
            15% is spent on reading iBooks book.
            10% is spent on newsreaders like Flipboard and Zite.

            On average it’s 2-2.5 hours spent on reading in total. I believe it did a great job at what I wanted it too.

            I know you are right and that Kindle is for reading, but I wanted all around single device. Once you try it, share your thoughts and let me know :)

            Best regards from Belgrade Serbia

  • um.mumin

    asalaamalaikum, id really like to know if it works in saudi or not? i heard that it doesnt, but then again it does..so im not sure. i mean theres wifi here so im not sure why it wouldnt, but reading your post it seems that anywhere outside of North America or the UK there might be a problem. do you have confirmation on this or where i can fnd out? jazakAllah kheir.

    • Anonymous

      The official answer is “no”. This is because you need to have a US mailing address or UK mailing address to be allowed on the US/UK kindle store or even to order your Kindle. But that’s where the unofficial “yes” comes from. If you have a US Mailing address or UK Mailing address and that’s the address that’s in your amazon account, then it should work with no problems.

      p.s. also, prefer if you sign up to the US kindle store, it has much more variety of books!

      Hope this helps!

      • um.Mumin

        yes! it does help. jazakAllah kheir for the clarification. much appreciated!

      • um.mumin

        asalaamalaikum, sorry to bother again, but which is better to work overseas- the kindle with 3G and wifi or just wifi? and do you know if the ‘special offers’ that comes with the cheaper version are inappropriate ads or not for kids? jazakAllah kheir!

        • Anonymous

          Wifi is enough. No idea about the cheaper version.

  • Fathima

    What are some of the other gadgets that you cling to and recommend?

  • Yomn_sharaf-el-din

    Assalamu alikom. I’ll bring this up again. If u compare it to Sony Reader, which would u recommend (keeping in mind that I do NOT live in UK or Us; I’m in Egypt)?? Thank u

    • Anonymous

      Never tried Sony Reader.. the key is to ensure that you have access to a wide variety of books which you can easily buy/read on your device, otherwise the reader becomes pointless.

  • sammmy

    Since I Invested in a Kindle 7 months ago, I’ve read 150 books in total. You Don’t really need to buy books, there are lots of free books online. I can honestly say. It has changed my direction in life. That’s how powerful reading is. Out of those 150 books, 10 must have been leisure books, the rest all on personal development, finance, marketing, social media, web design, business, entrepreneurship, nutrition, economics, psychology,sales, meditation, inspiration auto-biographies and management. Yup, I can honestly say, my kindle returns great dividends. Thank you Abu Productive for aiding my decision to purchase one. May Allah reward your for hard work and disciple.