Tech From an E-booker’s Viewpoint

As I have said before, I don’t like formatting books, but I do it.  I really miss Black Mask.  I could go there and download an already formatted e-book for my reader.  I am glad that I bought their DVD before the site disappeared.  I have tried to format e-books from Gutenberg and some other places, but I haven’t been quite satisfied with any of my results.  I get odd characters and space gaps.  I am too lazy to take the time to clean up the files, so I look for alternatives.  A bargain bin alternative is Bookshop Classics.  I have seen it sold separately for $4.99 and bundled with Bibles & Religion 400 Complete Works for $9.99 in the value software section of the big box stores.  The Bookshop CD contains over 1,000 literary classics.  These books can be viewed on you PC and you can print the book out. The best part is that you can save books in plain text.  The only drawback is that there is no book art.   Another choice is Reader Rom’s Ultimate Library.  Amazon lists this collection for considerably less at $15.75.    The Collections boasts having over 10,000 books.  Again you can export all e-books as a text file.  Another feature is that you can have the books read to you.  I tried it, but the voices are too mechanical.  I didn’t like it, but perhaps there are people who will.  What I did find in the collection are 127 books by Doc Savage.  I didn’t follow the Black Mask saga closely, but I thought the crux of it was caused by these very books.    Anyway, you can go to Reader Rom for more information and lists of books.

Now that my husband’s Nokia N770 is in for repair, I have now begun to second guess my decision to buy it from Woot.  My cost per tablet was 132.48. A really good price, but that comes with no warranty options.  So does that make the offer still good?  Usually I am not a fan of extended service plans and at the time I purchased the tablets I was unaware of the device’s possible screen failures.   So really this is not an issue for this purchase, but I will keep it mind for the future.  I was at Tiger Direct this morning and they are selling the tablet for $139.99 plus shipping for a total of $148.48.  That’s a bit higher than what I paid, however Tiger Direct offers insurance.  Their extended service plans start at $21.99, but only start after the manufacturer’s warranty ends.  So I would’ve still had to go to Nokia.  They also offer a 2 year Accidental Damage coverage that starts from day one.  It’s expensive at $42.99, which is roughly one third of the tablet’s price, only slightly higher than the $37.99 two year replacement option.  But when I really think about it, will the N770 be around in two years?  For that matter will it be around by the end of this year?  So what would I be buying other than a chance to get two-thirds of my money back? Most devices I buy, I only expect to use for about a year, and maybe less if I get bored with it.  If it lasts until then I am satisfied if only for the excuse it gives me to buy something else.  This whole thing has made me cling tighter to my dedicated e-book devices.  My original Rocket e-book is still going strong after seven years.  I have taken with me during Army field exercises to include a month in the Mojave Desert (in a zip lock baggie) and the cold and snow of Alaska.  Imagine if I had an extended warranty on that, not that it was offered, but it would have been a total a waste of money. I may not be able to buy best sellers for it anymore, and when it finally does pass on to a better place, it will take my purchased books with it.  But I have enjoyed it through the years and it has never let me down.  I am not saying that dedicated devices are made better.  What I am saying is that I only depend on it for one thing—reading.  If any of my e-book readers die, I will not lose game playing, video, music, email, and web browsing.  The Nokia tablet was a multi-function device and it’s sad to see my husband going through Internet Tablet withdrawal.   So the moral of my story is that second guessing does no good.  When we get a new tech toy, we should enjoy it, use it for all its worth, and not worry about whether it was a good deal or not.