Here are three things that are true:
1) I require an enormous amount of intellectual stimulation, which is why I often try to watch movies and listen to music while playing video games (sometimes also with a book open).
2) I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and it has movie-watching capabilities.
3) Watching movies on a Kindle while having it propped up on a little stand or something is kind of lame.
Here is my solution.
Tensor Lamp. $20 at Staples. This one is good, because it has the little knobs that let you tighten, and thus increase the tension, at the joints. You can probably get a cheaper one — or a cheaper something similar — at a thrift store, but I was already out.
I pulled the light socket out of it. First because I was a little worried about weight. Second, because I wanted access to its power cord. You do this by unscrewing the switch at the back with a pair of pliers, then yanking on the socket until you have enough slack to clip the wires out.
Then I found this thing. In retrospect, this whole stage-two of the plan I could have done a little differently, but I didn’t want to spend any more money than I already had, so I just used things I found in the house. Like this plastic cube with holes in it! That’s picture wire, incidentally, which (even though I gorilla glued the shit out of this sucker) I used for extra stability. Good luck that the thing fit pretty snugly into the lamp.
This part, you could easily do if you bought a Kindle carrying case (Jeanine got me the one that I have for $10 on eBay, but it was a Valentine’s gift so I didn’t want to wreck it). Instead, I cut up a hardcover book (First Lord’s Fury, by Jim Butcher). The bottom is three strips of hardcover material, topped by a fourth layer that ‘s about a half an inch wider. There’s a stop all the way to the right, and the top is a piece of elastic I found lying around and glued down.
This is my cat, being super fucking annoying. Like, as soon as I try to do anything at my desk, suddenly she’s all PAY ATTENTION TO ME, WHY AREN’T YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ME? But if I try to pet her, she bites me. What the fuck?
So, after that, I threaded the picture wire through my hardcover-book holder, through the little plastic cube, and then gorilla glued the whole thing in to the lamp socket, which I attached to the desk.
Kindle Armature, media mode.
And Kindle Armature, Twitter mode.
The next step is just to paint the whole thing black; the holder doesn’t cover the Kindle screen at all, but the blue and white is a little distracting. And after that: the tensor lamp has an interior cord that runs through the armature. I’m going to strip the end and wire the socket-end of an extension cord to it, so that I can plug my Kindle charger directly into the lamp’s power cord.
Ta daa!
So elegant! My goodness, it’s like something from a store!
Don’t make fun of me. It will look better when I paint it.
I’m just kidding. Even without the paint, it looks way better than anything I’ve ever made ever.
True. Up to and including that baby.
Oh, even if you summoned Steve Jobs from beyond the grave and got him to redesign your Kindle holder, my baby would still get a thousand times more Facebook likes. And my soul wouldn’t be forfeit for necromancy.
Facebook likes are not concomitant with quality design.
Also, if it’s good enough for Saul, it’s good enough for me.
I like having my iPad on my desk on a three dollar easel. I don’t need to pretend I’m Hugh Jackman in Swordfish. Also, I wouldn’t have the deskspace for something that elaborate.
Is the cat biting or nibbling? Cause apparently nibbling is supposed to be affectionate.
Well, then don’t build one of these things. But I LIKE pretending I’m Hugh Jackman in Swordfish.
The cat definitely bites. And scratches, and hisses. She is a horrible monster of a cat.
I’m looking for something like this in the UK for my mum – she’s disabled, spends long periods in bed and needs a flexible kindle holder for the bed. Because of her disabilities, it must clamp to the vertical bed frame but be easy to swing away. I’ve looked at floor standing one’s but the risk is it doesn’t swing away and the swan neck is too short. There is a swan neck/flexible version that does clamp but the clamps the wrong way and the neck is not long enough. This is a really good idea!
I looked at the swan-neck kind, too, but one of the things you have to be careful of is that the weight of the Kindle is going to start weighing the neck down — I was afraid that once the kind was in place, it would keep making the flexible neck sag.