So I splurged and got a Kindle Oasis 3 :)

[TopHatFox]

Hehehe, let's see if this here material possession will change my whoooole life.

I am pretty excited for it. I absolutely hate returning multiple overdue books to the library, and now I'll be able to listen to and read French and Portuguese at the same time! And read whatever I want at the touch of a button anywhere. It was kind of a $bummer$ that only the 3 had a warm light, but I suppose that'll be worth it for not staying up even later than I usually do. Hm.

Do you use an e-reader, e-books, or audio books? Have you ever used them for foreign language acquisition? How to get free library books & auidiobooks on Kindle? (I've heard Overdrive is the main app).

[jacob]

I've never returned an overdue book in my life.

I have never bought a book on kindle in my life. (Resale value = 0!)

However, after much hemming and hawing, I did buy a kindle sometime around 2010. Initially, I used it for free books. (Project Gutenberg) Later, I managed to hook it up to the library (doesn't always work) and read things for my commute. This sometimes required downloading via USB. These days I mainly use it as backup for travel when I run out of the books I brought along.

Overall, it was ~$100 well spent given the decade of use I've gotten out of it. That's a high compliment coming from me wrt a piece of technology.

FWIW, the eternal free 3G network plan that came along with it (good for slow internet) is pretty much useless now. The browser hasn't been updated and thus suffers from software rot.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/kindle-lust.html

[Campitor]

I have a kindle white that still works. I read so much that I had way more books than shelf space hence the kindle. I did do the resale book thing but the money earned didn’t equal the effort spent.

I typically purchase technology related books so I can read or reference them anywhere. Everything else is borrowed from the library. I have been guilty of late returns but that‘s for books that require a lot of cogitation or note taking.

[TopHatFox]

@Jacob, that's amazing, I don't know how you've never ever returned an overdue book after probably literally 1000s of books.

I wasn't sure whether to get the eternal free data on the Oasis. It would increase the price by $50 and I believe it can only be used to download books, so I figured I can just download a bunch of books or audiobooks on Wi-fi or a phone hotspot instead.

[jacob]

@Jacob, that's amazing, I don't know how you've never ever returned an overdue book after probably literally 1000s of books.

I score 98% in conscientiousness on the Big5. A late return would be inconceivable.

[Ego]

I use the open source Calibre to manage my digital books and convert them to different formats. They have a "Get Books" feature that searches every online seller to find the lowest price.

Our local city library has stopped charging late fees. They just lock your account if you have an overdue item. This is really good for me as I am a slow reader. If I reach the due date and the book is not on reserve, they automatically renew it.

[jennypenny]

I score 98% in conscientiousness on the Big5.

That's also why you're an OG in the FIRE community ... The Psychology of Portfolio Withdrawal Rates

sorry for the OT ...

[Jason]

Don't forget to bring it with you if you ever go to Michigan.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/04/us/michi ... index.html

[TopHatFox]

I liked the part where the library director said "there are things [the lady that kept two of our books] isn't telling you."

Like, what, did she forget to put the book jackets back on?

[EdithKeeler]

I have, I’m embarrassed to say, 6 Kindles. I have my original Kindle keyboard. I think it was the second version that came out. I keep it for sentimental reasons.... I have one I bought for my mom, which she used for a while, but recently gave back to me. I have one I bought DBF, but he hates reading on non-paper so he gave it back. I have a Kindle Fire, I think the first one that came out, which I lost , replaced with a new Fire, then found the old one. Then I bought a 10 inch Fire because it was on sale, and, you know—10 inches.

Here’s a tip: find someone who likes to read the same kinds of books as you, then periodically trade Kindles so you can read each other’s books. (Do this only on the cheap Kindles, though!). That’s what I do with my 2 spare non-Fires—I swap back and forth with a couple of pals.

[Jason]

Like, what, did she forget to put the book jackets back on?

My guess - shorting them on the copy machine.

[SavingWithBabies]

Updated on the Michigan case -- charges dropped (well, after alternate plea or some such -- bit mind boggling):

https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Case- ... 49782.html

I keep wanting to buy a Kindle but with an iPad, it felt like an unnecessary additional purchase (duplication of functionality, iPad better for color diagrams, don't want to carry both). I do think reading would be more comfortable (eyestrain-wise) on the Kindle but I haven't been able to justify it. I even saw one for $30 at the thrift store but decided to hold out for a Paperwhite. Am I right about iPad + Kindle or has anyone experienced both and stuck with both?

[steveo73]

I've had a couple of Kindles. I know have a Kobo. I reckon e-readers are the bomb. I never pay for books and I read 50-60 books per year.

[2Birds1Stone]

I want one for travel. I hear the paperwhite is the way to go.

Till now it's been paper books for me. With my library auto-renewing for me, I've yet to overdue.

[TopHatFox]

Paperwhite seemed cool too, but the Oasis has a bigger screen, so I can put more tiny text on the screen. More importantly, the Oasis 3 is the only Kindle right now that has warm light for night-time reading.

I chose to get the fancy Kindle instead of the iPad because it's likely better to stare at the paper-like material for hours than a screen. That and the battery life of a Kindle is eons beyond the iPad, not to mention the iPad would distract you with a million notifications.

[daylen]

I have had the old kindle keyboard model for a while. Although I hardly use it, I like it much better than newer touchscreen models because of the side buttons for page switching.

[7Wannabe5]

I read e-books and electronic documents on my phone. I use white-type on black background to reduce eye fatigue. One thing I really like about e-books is the availability of search function. I also like the ease of access to free materials. Like Jacob, I do not like the complete loss of resale value, and also, obviously, the effect they have had on my former career as rare book dealer. OTOH, I think/intuit that this will be a short lived phase of publishing, like unto the era when novels were published as serials in periodicals, because the "message" is not yet taking full advantage of the "medium."

[EdithKeeler]

OTOH, I think/intuit that this will be a short lived phase of publishing, like unto the era when novels were published as serials in periodicals, because the "message" is not yet taking full advantage of the "medium."

So what do you see coming next? After this phase?

I think about this a lot, and I have a fiction project I’m toying with, a post-apocalyptic where I mess with this idea some. And certainly more creative minds and better writers than me have toyed with this idea, too. One of the issues, of course, with ebooks is what happens when you lose the “e.” You can make do with solar or whatever for a while, but eventually your device wears out. Of course print books burn or get wet and rot... but you can make copies one way or another and get by for a while. And never mind the whole issue that many of the books only exist on servers out there, many only at Amazon’s whim.

But writing is ultimately so... ephemeral. Clay tablets last better/longer than ebooks and paper books. We’re probably living in sort of a golden age of writing/publishing because of amazon, yet how many of those books will be available 1000 years from now? (Granted, many of them are terrible so who cares.... but still).

But it’s interesting to me that if we continue down the digital path, our trove of knowledge is still only about as secure as the library at Alexandria.

[7Wannabe5]

But it’s interesting to me that if we continue down the digital path, our trove of knowledge is still only about as secure as the library at Alexandria.

Very true. A number of years ago, I was becoming so weary of having to explain that I was not an antiquarian dealer, I almost printed up some business cards declaring myself to be an Information Reclamation Specialist. However, as I began to construct my reply to you, I was thinking of a book written by a former Librarian of Congress on the topic of the insecurity and "gated" structure of e-publication, and I immediately attempted search of internet and then my own mess of electronic reading lists. So, first observation would be how 'search' functions have almost thoroughly integrated ye olde card catalog into the books themselves. There is no turning back. We can only progress and integrate forward.

So what do you see coming next? After this phase?

Well, a few adjectives that come to mind immediately would be "streaming" and "multi-player/thread/dimension" and "interactive." Obviously, some weak primitive examples such as the "Create Your Own Adventure" books popular with third graders already exist, but what I am half-imagining would have to be much better than that. Of course, given the prevalence of romance/relationship themes in literature, I am also a bit stuck on considering how my analogy that if you can read three books at the same time, you can carry forward three relationships at the same time might apply. Simple single thread narrative requires resolution. Complex single thread narrative defies resolution. Continue this progression, but extended in the multiple dimensions provided by medium. Something like that...

In modern parlance, if/when you end your interactions with an other by limiting electronic responses, this is known as "ghosting." In systems theory/design, a cloud is the symbol you assign to a thread/connection that goes off into realm where your knowledge is limited, etc. etc. etc. I guess what I am weakly imagining is something like a systems-design level novel with something like nodes rather than chapters and puffy cloud-like boundaries rather than beginning and end.

[Ego]

So what do you see coming next? After this phase?

We are already seeing hints with highly targeted advertising tailored specifically to the individual.

AI is already writing music and news stories. Google and Amazon have enough data about you now and enough computational power to generate a never-ending novel specifically for you that keeps you interested, engaged and paying the subscription.

It is only a matter of time.