ReWork and Kindles

I not only have a new book to read, ReWork by Jason Fried and the impressively titled David Heinemeier Hansson (Vermilion, 2010), but a new way of reading, a Kindle.

First let me tell you why I’m cock-a-hoop about my Kindle:

• I get no interruptions from pop-ups or alerts of any kinds (Nicholas Carr would be delighted);
• there are no concurrent windows containing temptations like angry birds, leaping sheep and paper tossing (don’t ask!);
• it provides long, long battery life (no need to take a charger with you);
• it has a natural, paper-like display that never tires your eyes (at least no more than a printed book would);
• it allows you to read even in bright sunlight (try that on your iPad);
• it’s light and compact (it won’t fit in a trouser pocket, but then neither can a book);
• you can highlight passages and copy them to your computer, along with any notes you can take;
• you can have any book you want in a few minutes;
• you can take any number of books with you wherever you go (in the first few days I’ve used mine on trains and planes, in restaurants and in bed).

And no, Amazon aren’t paying me to say any of this.

I couldn’t have chosen a better book for my first Kindle experience than ReWork. It’s designed to be picked up and put down in short bursts, with something like 100 chapters, each no longer than a couple of pages (if only e-learning was like this). It’s stuffed with pragmatic wisdom for anybody thinking of starting their own small business.

I’ve just been checking through my clippings file and I’ve highlighted more than 70 extracts from the book. I’d like to share them all with you but I don’t think the publisher would be too pleased. As a taster, here’s the first three:

“You don’t have to work miserable 60/80/100-hour weeks to make it work. 10–40 hours a week is plenty. You don’t have to deplete your life savings or take on a boatload of risk.”

“Failure is not a prerequisite for success.”

“Unless you’re a fortune-teller, long-term business planning is a fantasy. There are just too many factors that are out of your hands.”

All I know is that I wish I’d had this book before I’d spent the last 27 years working in small businesses rather than in hindsight. The authors know what they’re talking about because they run 37signals, the company responsible for the project management software Basecamp (which we use at the eLearning Network).