If you are already sold on ebooks, most of what follows will probably be old news to you. If so, you can just head on over the Devices and Kindle Store and have a looksee at what is on offer today. There are great promotions frequently. If you are a newcomer to digital reading, continue reading . . . 

I was sort of “forced” into being an early adopter of electronic reading devices. I have low vision and many years ago discovered that I was falling asleep five minutes after sitting down to read a (paper) book. At first I thought I was just being lazy, but over time it dawned on my that reading was becoming a serious strain due to my aging eyes. No, reading glasses do not help, unfortunately.  That prompted me to look into and eventually acquire one of the early Kindle models in 2010. Compared to today’s devices, they were primitive and gawdawful expensive in those days–I think more than $300–but it changed my life and was worth every penny!   Not only for the ability to make the font size comfortably large, but also the ability to use text-to-speech to listen to my books.  Now, many years later, I still listen to a book nearly every day for 45 minutes my morning bicycle rides. What a bonus to be able to get in an extra 45 minutes of “reading” that otherwise would not have happened!

I am pleased that today, there are so many more titles available on Kindle than when I first I first got into digital reading. In fact, only I only occasionally come upon a book I really want that is only available in paper.

These days, there are several models to choose from with all manner of slick functions, and the price has dropped to double-digits in many cases.  Depending on the model, your Kindle can hold more than 5,000 average-sized books, and you can select from more than 6 million books in the Kindle Store. Your Kindle Fire is essentially a modified android tablet, so you can do a lot more with it than just reading or listening to books.

Books on Kindle are generally quite a bit cheaper than the paper versions, but are actually even cheaper than that because you don’t pay for shipping …  because there is nothing to ship!  Buy a book, and is it is downloaded to your Kindle device over the internet instantly!

I realize that many are still emotionally attached to paper books, but despite some obvious advantages, I see digital providing many more advantages, and largely replacing paper over the next couple of decades. It is an understatement to point out that the printed bundle of papers that we are so accustomed to is not the most effective way of storing knowledge to be passed on to future generations. It certainly is wasteful and vulnerable to loss. Not to mention that the poor trees don’t care for it one little bit!

Can you tell that I am a “true believer”? Aside from my enthusiasm, there  is another issue which doesn’t get enough discussion. Every year thousands of school children are treated at emergency rooms for injuries due to carrying too-heavy backpacks loaded with too many books.  Plus, aside from injuries that are actually treated, there are many more problems with associated with back, shoulder and neck pain, headache and poor posture! Personally, I never want to see another  photo like the one above of school kids carrying too-heavy backpacks like little beasts of burden.

Kindle and other reading devices obviously can go a long way to solving this problem, and it can’t come too soon! 

So, if you are ready, click on the link for the device category you are interested in and have a looksee.  Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything I can do to help.

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