Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Things I Have and Like, Part 321,297

So a few years ago, I bought an old (first or second generation, I think) Amazon Kindle for three bucks (IIRC) at a garage sale. And hey, it worked. Even came with a nice cover. I really liked it.

Then I misplaced it. I don't know if I left it sitting on a restaurant table or what. Just couldn't find it one day and oh, so sad I was.

So a few weeks ago I was screwing around on eBay and found a Kindle Paperwhite (2nd generation) for $30 plus shipping. I got it. Nicer than the original Kindle. It has lighting so I can read in the dim. It's got better resolution than the regular Kindle. Very, very nice. At some point, I may spring for the latest generation, though I don't really see much reason to until this one kicks the bucket.

The only thing I don't like about Amazon Kindle books is the "Digital Rights Management" that comes with most of them. On the other hand, that's not a big issue. I also have a Kindle Reader app for my computer screen, and could read on my phone if I wanted to (I don't).

Oh, and one other thing: That a lot of Kindle books from major publishers are damn near as expensive as print editions. But that's not a big issue either, because I just don't pay much for Kindle books. A lot of the books I want -- classics, old philosophy texts, etc. -- are free or at most a buck or two. As an Amazon Prime member, I get to select a free new release (from a curated collection) each month. I'm pretty sure (I haven't checked yet) that I can "check out" books in Kindle format from my local library. And I belong to several email lists that let me know daily about freebies and sales.

One thing I really like about Kindle books is that I can tell my Alexa speaker to read any title in my Kindle library. She doesn't do so nearly as well as, say, an Audible audiobook production, but I generally do that to go to sleep anyway. I'll crank up Bertrand Russell's Problems of Philosophy or Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy or whatever and I'm off to dreamland. Heck, maybe I'm learning nin my sleep!

As you can see, I didn't include any affiliate links -- I'm sure you can find the device you want at Amazon on your own if you're interested. I will, however, include a link to my Amazon Wish List because I've put a number of Kindle titles on it ;-)

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