frugal technology solutions!

[coraa]

Ha! Brilliant idea I just got from a Jezebel comments thread: to read a Kindle in the bathtub, seal it inside a cheapo ziplock-style bag. You still aren't going to want to, you know, hold it underwater and see what happens, but it should protect it from accidental splashing/edge-dipping, and you can still work the buttons/scrollwheel and read through the plastic. (Apparently the cheaper the better, because cheaper bags tend to be more transparent.)

I assume this tip would also work for ereaders like the Sony, the Nook, etc., but probably not for any ereader that relies on touchscreens.

(Total truth time: I have taken a Kindle into the bath, rarely, when I was reading something on it that I could not put down. But I always worry. This will reduce some worry. Presumably this would also be good for situations like the beach, where one might be concerned about getting grit in the device, although to be honest I've never worried about that kind of thing very much and my device is still in the land of the living.)

...hooray for solving extraordinarily first-world problems?

Comments

[thistleingrey]

Makes sense--also keeps the device from getting a lot of steam, depending on how hot the bath water is....

[quietspaces.livejournal.com]

It worked for my Rocket eBook and my Palm PDA. I remember soaking too many paper books by dropping them in the bath.

[erinpie.livejournal.com]

Eee! Genius! I'm getting a giant plastic bag for my Sony tonight!!

Also, I don't know if you read the Ethicist in the NYT but I thought his most recent column was interesting given your post a week or so ago about wanting hardcopy/digital packages of books available:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04FOB-ethicist-t.html

(Not 100% sure I agree with it, but interesting nontheless.)