"The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" (Robert Heinlein)

by Bill Matthews
(Irving, Tx)


"TANSTAAFL" - I'm now on my 4th Kindle. #1 & 2 were eink devices and #3 & 4 are a Generation 1 Fire and a 8.9 Fire Neither are HD) and I love and use both. A few months ago I sent the #1 Kindle to be recycled, it had languished in the care of my pre-teen grandson, who now has a gen 1 Fire and a school furnished iPad. The #2 (Kindle Keyboard) is with one of my sons so he can have access to my books along with the ones he has on his iPad. However, my Fires stay right next to my chair, except when we leave the house, then the 8.9 (w/4G) goes with me. My 7" was given a new life last month when I installed N2A0s and upgraded it to become a Android 4.2.1 based tablet.

Most of the family use iPads - but two are teachers and one is a student. My wife still uses a iPad V1 with a case that makes it look like a Etch-A-Sketch, she did start with a Kindle eink v2, which still works. It is almost time to upgrade her device, but we don't like to rush. My car is 19 years old and her's is 6.

Now, back to my story title. Heinlein was not the first to use the "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" in his book. If you want to read more, Mr. Google can help you out. Granted we have spent some money on these devices over the past several years, but they have been worth the expense. Only 1 of the 5 has actually failed and there is no way of knowing where in my grandson's room it may have ended up. I did have one usb cord that lost part of the plastic and Amazon gave me credit to get another one (both are still functional). Did I get a good deal? You bet. Most of my apps were free when I got them and the vast majority of my books were free. I have a moderate collection of movies (bought at Estate Sales) that have been converted and downloaded to a wifi drive for use when traveling. I am a "happy camper".

A few weeks ago I had somewhat of a different experience. I was asked about reading the Bible on a Kindle or iPad by a friend who has a son with a terminal illness. His vision is poor and he is unable to read his Bible because of the print size. He lives in a small West Texas town with very poor cell service and limited wi-fi (none at home). The situation ruled out both the iPad and Kindle Fire options because of costs and connectivity. I then looked at some of the "low cost" tablets and settled on a little known brand and got a 9 inch. The specs were not great, 8 GB (4GB & 4GB SD card), 1GB memory, 800 x 600 resolution, Android 4.0.4. Was I crazy? Perhaps, but I knew that once I had set it up for him, the odds of him wanting to change and/or add anything was small. I did have to get him an email account. The device did not support GooglePlay but came with getjar and 1Market and some other apps. I discovered that neither of these would cooperate and let me download the You Version Bible app, but would give transmission errors. I finally signed him up for an Amazon account and got the app installed. I then deleted the payment info from the account. Next, I wanted to add some church music I had found on the internet but the USB support for the tablet was very poor and I could not make the connection. However, the device did support connecting a USB stick via a provided cable and, with the assistance of the pre-installed file app, the music was copied. After doing a short write-up on "how to use", doing some clean up, I gave it to his mother and she sent it on. He was thrilled.

What I learned from doing this was a greater appreciation of what Amazon and the Kindle family really provides. Said another way - You Get What You Pay For.

The Kindle family is a bargain.

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You Get What You Pay For
by: Rachel Bruner

Wow, Bill, what an amazing story you've shared! I loved reading all the fun tablets you and your family have and the experiences you've had with them.

However, the story of all you did to get a little tablet with the Bible and other basics for your friend's son, is very touching! What a work of love, a true example of being like Christ. Thank you for sharing this with us.

I do have to agree that you get what you pay for, though. It's interesting to see all that you learned with your labor of love. The Kindle Fire may not be perfect (who/what is?) but it's close enough for me!

On a side note, I chose Robert A. Heinlein as my author of study during an high school English assignment. It was a big project and I read a LOT of his books. Some I liked better than others, but what an amazing Sci-Fi writer he was!

I haven't read any of his books in a long time, but I think I should. :)

Thanks again, Bill, for sharing!!

-Rachel

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Love Sci Fi
by: Anonymous

Rachel,

My senior High School English paper was on the "History of Science Fiction". Sadly, my copy was lost during one of my parent's moves, but I sure had fun writing the paper. For the most part I used my personal collection of books for the research.

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