homeinbuenosaires
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- Aug 6, 2011
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This obviously doesn't apply in the OP's case, but I wanted to share that I am loving my Kindle that has text-to-speech. It's an older model that I got second-hand here (the newer models don't have this feature, apparently). I go through so many books this way, as I listen to them while walking everywhere/ cleaning/ cooking/ doing garden stuff etc (my Sennheiser wireless headphones are great for this - cooking just about everything from scratch means spending a lot of time in the kitchen and washing dishes). I also love the Kindle Unlimited lending library that Amazon now offers - many books that I would have paid for are now free, without my having to pirate them! Being able to choose a book for free from anywhere with WiFi and start listening to it immediately is another plus. Audible is also a fantastic resource.
For reading websites/ news etc, the Voicedream app, which I use with Pocket, is wonderful - they offer several languages and the app switches seamlessly between them. The Economist's audio version is also great and the articles are divided into single files. For some other things, the "convert to sound file" feature in Pages on Mac is very handy.
One bonus is that doing things this way is a lot easier on the eyes. I learned to read when I was 18 months old, and as a result I was nearsighted and using glasses by age 5 or 6. I corrected my own eyesight about 10 years ago - for free - using the Bates Method and feel that switching largely to audio helps to maintain it while still being able to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.
I used to love physical books, but I realized in my last move to Argentina that spending hundreds of USD to send myself books that - in many cases - were bought for pennies in thrift stores was just not worth it anymore. I'd moved from country to country probably about 10 times and spent who knows how much money over the course of my life in doing this. I do like to keep a few books with sentimental value (autographed books etc), but from now on this is how I will do things. I'm also making a searchable database of all of my recipes - from cookbooks as well as other sources - on Evernote, as being able to search quickly according to which ingredients I have on hand across many cuisines/ from my own private collection makes me very happy.
I hope that this information is useful for someone.
For reading websites/ news etc, the Voicedream app, which I use with Pocket, is wonderful - they offer several languages and the app switches seamlessly between them. The Economist's audio version is also great and the articles are divided into single files. For some other things, the "convert to sound file" feature in Pages on Mac is very handy.
One bonus is that doing things this way is a lot easier on the eyes. I learned to read when I was 18 months old, and as a result I was nearsighted and using glasses by age 5 or 6. I corrected my own eyesight about 10 years ago - for free - using the Bates Method and feel that switching largely to audio helps to maintain it while still being able to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.
I used to love physical books, but I realized in my last move to Argentina that spending hundreds of USD to send myself books that - in many cases - were bought for pennies in thrift stores was just not worth it anymore. I'd moved from country to country probably about 10 times and spent who knows how much money over the course of my life in doing this. I do like to keep a few books with sentimental value (autographed books etc), but from now on this is how I will do things. I'm also making a searchable database of all of my recipes - from cookbooks as well as other sources - on Evernote, as being able to search quickly according to which ingredients I have on hand across many cuisines/ from my own private collection makes me very happy.
I hope that this information is useful for someone.
