Ken Hensley DOT Com

I went nerdy last weekend.

But first a little background.  When Tonya and I moved into our new house, we received a postcard from DirectBuy about receiving a free Kindle Fire and $100 gift card if we sat through a 90 minute open house.  I thought … I can tolerate most anything to get a new gadget.  The real question was: Could I convince Tonya to do the same?  The open house required both of us to attend together.

She went.  Two weeks later we received our free Kindle Fire.

Fast-forward to last weekend.  I had been reading online about guys who were preaching from their Kindles or iPads.  Typically, I have a small sheet of notes tucked into my Bible that I use for back-up … for those times when my mind goes blank or I chase a rabbit.  In order to fit the sheet into my Bible, I have to reduce the print to 62% of the original size.

So, I gave the Kindle a shot and it worked out really well.  Here’s what I did:

I took my original one-page outline and reformatted it to fit the Kindle screen (4.25″ x 7″ with .25″ margins).  Then I converted the Word document to a PDF and uploaded it to my Kindle.  On the Kindle I used a program called ezPDF Reader.  You can lock the screen orientation and flip pages with a simple tap or swipe.

A few thoughts/observations:

1. The font size was noticeably larger, making it easier to read.
2. Since the PDF was on a color tablet, I was able to make use of different colors for different sections of the outline.  This helped direct my eyes to questions, points, etc.  With the old method, my outline was black and white (i.e., I was too cheap to make color copies).
3. The illuminated screen made reading the outline easier.  At times, though, there would be a quick glare depending on where I was standing in relation to the lights.
4. My one page of original notes turned into four pages when resized for the Kindle.  This required me to swipe between pages.  The swiping didn’t cause any issues.  At first, I was worried that I might accidentally swipe when I didn’t want to.
5. Using ezPDF Reader allowed me to make annotations in between services.  I decided after Saturday night to move one line up a few places in the outline.  Using the drawing tool, I drew a line with an arrow.

I have the smaller Kindle Fire and it’s wrapped in a leather case.  Unless you knew what to look for, it almost looks like a Bible.  It’s also heavy enough to feel secure when holding it with one hand.

So, that’s my first experience.  I’ll post more as the experiment continues.

•