Technology That Improves My Life : Kindle Fire

I used to collect books. I started as a kid. From the time I learned to read well I have been ravenous for stories. I had shelves of books along the way. The first time I remember starting to put together intentional collection was when I stumbled across Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance novels. That led me to explore the Forgotten Realms with Drizzt and his companions. I eventually stumbled on to Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and my fictional worlds expanded exponentially from there. 

By 2007 my book collection could fill half a tractor trailer. Moving and reorganizing was a painful process. When I traveled I always packed a few books for any trip. Though part of the fun of visiting a new place was discovering their bookstores. For this reason, and a few others, I avoided eReaders like the Nook and Kindle. 

Besides all of that, I took a great amount of pride in my book collection. I had lots of first editions from my favorite authors. I had more than a few autographed copies... and then I didn't. Books started going missing. My full run of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files became whole except for those three or four missing pieces. The run of Terry Pratchett's Sword of Truth series each bought as they released except for the first book sat on my shelf with holes like a hillbilly's smile. 

The thought of rebuilding all of that was discouraging. The thought of rebuilding it digitally was no more appealing. For quite a few years after my collection was pillaged (a gradual process that I barely noticed until it was too late, and have no desire to detail here or anywhere else) I toyed with the idea that maybe reading was a hobby that I should move away from in favor of something else. 

That was too stupid for consideration. Taila, Mom, and I had all read through Harry Potter in tandem. I went directly into Rick Riordan's work wishing that Percy Jackson and his friends had been around when I was a kid and wondering to myself why I hadn't conceived of writing something based in mythology myself. I read the Twilight series figuring that my nearly teenage daughter would be interested in them. Well, that was the excuse I used. I enjoyed those books...even if there were some themes I didn't like. I can accept sparkly vampires. I have a lot more trouble with the girl nuking her entire education and social life because she is obsessed with a boy. 

I knew there was little chance of me actually giving up reading. My parents gifted me a Kindle Fire the Christmas after they released. I remember playing tons of games on the thing. I didn't do much reading on it. In fact, I tossed it in my bag on a business trip thinking that it and my DS would keep me in games through the week, but I had better be sure to pack a couple of books. 

Then I moved again. I hated packing up all of my books. I finally surrendered and got rid of my busted up collection. When I did, I noticed that several of the books were badly aged and a few had been nibbled on by mice. When I cashed out at the local used book store I was certain that I was going to get more into digital reading. 

I did. I replaced several of my favorite series by purchasing them on Kindle. Eventually that collection got large enough that it didn't make sense to buy my fiction books in any other format. A few years back the investment proved doubly worthwhile when I found myself able to listen to audiobooks while I worked. I could add audio narration to my existing purchases for pennies on the dollar. That library expanded as well. Now I was plowing through fiction at the rate of a couple of books a day and enjoying every read or narrated page. 

It might be surprising then that I have recently tried to replace my (third) Kindle Fire. I don't like having multiple devices. My dream set up would be a cellular connected tablet that would replace my phone. It would need to connect to a smart watch and bluetooth earbuds for portability and privacy. It would also need to have a keyboard/ mouse combo cover similar to what I have for my Surface so I can write and work on it. That is the dream. 

The cellular companies don't want tablets or computers to replace phones just yet. You can make it work, but it is messy. I played around with options to get there. My judgement was that in a few years there will be a better option. I don't mind waiting. 

I did wonder though if I could merge my Fire with my Surface(s) and have less devices. My Surface Pro 7 has a 12 inch screen. Honestly, I fall asleep reading. The Surface smacking into my face as I nod off is unpleasant. Also, I don't love dropping the $900+ Surface Pro 7 on the floor for the night or worse still have it floating around the bed while I toss and turn through a typical night. 

My answer was simple. Get a smaller Surface. I hopped on eBay and bought myself a used Surface Go 3 for a couple of hundred dollars. It is a ten inch tablet which seems a popular size since you can get a Kindle, iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or Surface all around those dimensions. It is a bit big for bedtime reading in my opinion. I just prefer seven or eight inches. Giggity if you must. 

I can access my Kindle library via any web browser without worrying about an app. On the Surface Pro 7 I just install the Amazon App store and download the Kindle App. There is a small frustration that I cannot buy books on the Windows version of that app, but since I can easily switch over to Amazon on my browser and buy there it isn't that big a deal. 

The Surface Go 3 isn't compatible with the Amazon App Store because of the processor. Not to fear. Kindle offers a cloud reader which can be accessed via a web browser as well. It makes the Surface Go usable as an eReader. To me though it just didn't feel as nice as the Kindle Fire in spite of saving me packing two devices. 

I just really enjoy the Kindle Fire experience. I finished the first book of the Walt Longmire mysteries tonight and went ahead and bought book two even though I am switching back over to Terry Pratchett to continue my progress on my Discworld series read. I don't use the Kindle for anything else. Most of the time the Wifi connection to it is turned off. My next Kindle probably will not be a Fire. I will downgrade to a true version of Amazon's tablets.