The pile of obsolete computers, dating back to the 1980s, that currently clutter my living room prove the point.
But -- now and then -- I get it just right. My Kindle purchases qualify as best buys.
When I moved to Mexico four years ago, I considered buying a Kindle. Books in Spanish in Mexico are not common. Books in English are as rare as silver in street vendors' necklaces.
Kindles were still quite expensive in 2009. And there were issues in uploading electronic books on the internet.
In 2010 Amazon made one of those masterful marketing decisions that will be taught in business schools for years. The company decided to sell its electronic book reader for just above cost -- following the model of RCA Victor decades earlier.
After all, Amazon was primarily interested in selling books. That was its profit source. And Amazon made downloading books a snap with the new Kindle.
I bought one. And, as you know from my earlier posts, I fell in love with the convenience of having my library with me at all times and being able to buy new books no matter where I was.
When the letters on my first Kindle keyboard began to wear off, I bought a Touch Kindle. It was even better than the original, and lasted until I lost it in Dubai and had to buy a replacement.
As of this week, I am on Kindle number four. Nothing went wrong the version I ha. I was simply seduced by the upgrades in the new version.
My new device -- the Paperwhite -- arrived last week. And I am pleased to report it is even better than its three predecessors.
There are a lot of improvements on this model, but my favorite is the internal light. No longer do I have to rely on a clip-on or cover light (with their uneven light throws) to read at night.
Some of you remember that I did not buy a Fire or an iPad because the screen is backlit. In the Mexican sun, backlit screens are extremely hard to read.
But this screen is different. It lights from the side while retaining the technology that creates an image that is as easy to read as a book.
In two weeks, I will be on my way back to Mexico with one of the purchases in my life that has made sense.
As for the pile of computers, they are history.
