Reading the Phone

You won’t be surprised when I tell you that the mobile phone is likely to be one of the most popular items given as Christmas gifts this year.

I switched to a smartphone in July. And it was nothing to do with falling for the hype. It was simple economy. The company I’m with offered me two contract phones, one for me, one for Her Indoors, and saved me £70 a year on the deal I already had, which was for my phone only. Plus, it saved me an estimated £80 a year topping up my missus’ PAYG. Two phones, two contracts, £150 a year in my pocket. Can’t go wrong.

And I haven’t. I’m very happy with the deal. And I still haven’t fallen for all the bullplop of smartphones. I don’t need apps to tell me the shortest route to the local convenience store, or where to find a packet of Weetabix when I get there.

But it has seen one major change in my behaviour. I now read e-books on it. My poor old Kindle is all but redundant. I have both Kindle and Kobo apps on the phone and I use both to read. More than that, I find it easier on the eye than the Kindle, but that may be because MY Kindle is an original Paperwhite. No backlight and a grey-ish screen which can be difficult to read, even with enlarged text, in poor lighting.

Not so the Sony Xperia. The screen is as bright as I need it to be, I can still enlarge the text if I’m struggling, and the covers are in colour. If there is a downside, it’s that the phone battery doesn’t last as long as the Paperwhite’s, but what the hell, whenever we go away, I always have the charger with me, and on that point, the phone charges a lot faster than the Kindle.

So if you’re giving or receiving a smartphone or tablet this Christmas, don’t forget to get your reading matter.

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A Murder for Christmas is published by Crooked Cat and available for the Kindle from Amazon and in all other formats from Smashwords.

Bumped Off in Benidorm is published by David Robinson and available for the Kindle from Amazon and in all other formats from Smashwords.