So, in the 15th century a library can be 30 manuscripts painfully put together during the course of a lifetime, or it can be two shelves of paperbacks in your home.
The result was a four-month period in which I could write almost nothing at all. What I did instead was drink beer, smoke Pall Malls, read John D.MacDonald paperbacks, and watch afternoon soap operas.
And thanks to the Kindle, I've managed to read like hundreds of more books than I would have done otherwise if I had to carry physical paperbacks around.