I still like what I said before about the Kindle, but the one thing it hasn't done is spurred my recreational reading. Yeah, I can rip through books quicker, but having trouble finding the time to actually commit to reading. Suspect this is work related, since I'm basically learning (or relearning) tech just about each day.
I tried out the magazine and newspaper subscriptions, but I found that even those weren't enough incentive to turn the sucker on each morning. I also found that periodicals who are publishing their content in Kindle format are playing this weak game of not including everything and instead reserving that for customers who have paid for subs to their website (or ordered the dead tree version). Same money, less content? No, but thanks anyway.
I'm also discovering that anything beyond new releases is going to be kind of hard to find kindlefied. An elusive book that has remained on my Stuff To Read list for way too long is When Harlie was One... but it's been out of print for nearly decades. The only way I'm likely to see it is if I can track it down at the library or maybe stumble across it in the Half Price Bookstore. Chances of getting via kindle (legally) are pretty low.
In other news, I've discovered that if you put the text to speech feature on it's fastest setting and use the female voice, it does a passable job of reading flowing prose to you at a rate that doesn't require too much attention. Was able to drive with it going on.
Bottom line: it's by no means perfect, but it's got enough bonuses to justify purchase. And those are mainly, 1) text to speech, 2) ability to convert your own material to kindle format, and 3) the fact that I won't have another 5 boxes of books to pack up.
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