My reading has tailed off dramatically thanks to what has recently turned out to be the effective loss of one of my eyes. Some books I bought recently have print that is so small, it strains my good eye trying to read them.
I thought all was lost until someone suggested I bought a Kindle. A Kindle? What is a Kindle?
It turns out that a Kindle is an e-reader, an electronic device around the size of a paperback book but which only weighs a quarter of one. Operated by the Amazon online shop, you can download books, magazines and newspapers at significant savings over the cost of the hard copies. There are also thousands of free, public domain, or very low priced books available.
So, on Monday I ordered one up via my computer thanks to an early birthday present from my wife. It arrived next day but, because I was taken ill, I only got round to getting my hands on it yesterday afternoon. And what a revelation! It was simplicity itself and, within an hour, I had worked through the brief operating instructions, registered my Kindle with Amazon and downloaded six books, one of these was free, one was £1 and another £4. The three others averaged just £7 each.
Now what possible use can a Kindle be to a one-eyed man who can’t read small print you might ask? The answer is very simple. Unlike a real book, you can not only adjust the print size to suit your own eyesight but change the orientation of the e-reader so that you can hold it either as a conventional book or turn it sideways to see more print on each line.
You’d have thought that reading something on an electronic device would seem alien to someone accustomed to reading books. But, after a few minutes, it seems so natural you wonder why hard copy books haven’t gone out of fashion, so simple is the gadget to use.
I’ve made a start by dipping into each of the books I’ve downloaded until I’ve finally settled on the one I want to read from start to finish. And for the first time in many months, I stayed up late last night reading in bed.
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been Kindled!
.
I thought all was lost until someone suggested I bought a Kindle. A Kindle? What is a Kindle?
It turns out that a Kindle is an e-reader, an electronic device around the size of a paperback book but which only weighs a quarter of one. Operated by the Amazon online shop, you can download books, magazines and newspapers at significant savings over the cost of the hard copies. There are also thousands of free, public domain, or very low priced books available.
So, on Monday I ordered one up via my computer thanks to an early birthday present from my wife. It arrived next day but, because I was taken ill, I only got round to getting my hands on it yesterday afternoon. And what a revelation! It was simplicity itself and, within an hour, I had worked through the brief operating instructions, registered my Kindle with Amazon and downloaded six books, one of these was free, one was £1 and another £4. The three others averaged just £7 each.
Now what possible use can a Kindle be to a one-eyed man who can’t read small print you might ask? The answer is very simple. Unlike a real book, you can not only adjust the print size to suit your own eyesight but change the orientation of the e-reader so that you can hold it either as a conventional book or turn it sideways to see more print on each line.
You’d have thought that reading something on an electronic device would seem alien to someone accustomed to reading books. But, after a few minutes, it seems so natural you wonder why hard copy books haven’t gone out of fashion, so simple is the gadget to use.
I’ve made a start by dipping into each of the books I’ve downloaded until I’ve finally settled on the one I want to read from start to finish. And for the first time in many months, I stayed up late last night reading in bed.
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been Kindled!
.
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