You rang?

I never use amazon after having been conned into signing up to amazon prime, which I didn't need. I prefer to shop using local shops, and was horrified when visiting the town centre to see how many shops were closed and closing.
That being said, at present I can drive, and have plenty of time. I listened to a lady of 92 who internet shops for nearly everything, for much the same reasons as RomyP gives, and it is a lifesaver for her.
I am just sorry that the chance to browse is disappearing, and how do you choose new makeup when all the cosmetic departments have gone?

Great M0nica!
I have an antiquarian book dealer friend who sells on Biblio (not sure if he still sells on Abe but did used to do so). I hope it works well for you. I’ve had no problems with it and have used it quite a lot.

Good to know about Biblio.

I do shop at amazon but I also shop at many independant other places.
Rymans the office supplies shop often sells those Really Useful Boxes -(it's a brand of box and they are very good)- Much cheaper than Amazon and Free delivery if you spend over £40 rymans sells all kinds of office related items

Notspaghetti Thanks for that lead. I went straight Biblio to it and decided to put it to the test. I entered a book I read as a child and enjoyed. A little known book by a little known author. I have idly looked for a copy a number of times over the years without success.

I went on Biblio and was offered 2 copies and I have bought 1.

Thank you so much

Monica you might like to try Biblio for second hand and antiquarian books.

pinkquartz thank you for that information. I did not know it.

I will try and avoid them in future. They are not the only fish in the sea.

abebooks is owned by Amazon

MOnica thanks for the tip about abc books. I will have a look.

I use Amazon fairly often. I'd join Prime, too, if I needed to. I think £79 a year is an ansolute bargain for deliveries and TV - especially compared to using a car.

Although I won't have a smart meter (for security reasons) I'm not concerned about firms collecting other data.

I have a Ring doorbell that I find very useful. OK, it collects data about comings and goings - but only at the front door. Sometimes we go out through the back garden. Unlike a smart meter, it's recordings don't indicate whether the property is occupied.

Amazon is wonderful for those of us that are housebound.

All the big online companies are collecting data on us.

Don't forget that the NHS has sold our data to American Pharma and lied to us sayin it was anonymous when it isn't?

We know where we stand with Amazon and for those that can afford to use Waterstones, then you have the choice.

Monica

Did you know abebooks is owned by Amazon?

Amazon Alexa is essentially a listening device but so is your smart phone.
I’m afraid it is the down of the wonderful technology we have available to us.

On a positive note Amazon has such a poor reputation as an employer yet few people are aware of their enrichment programs.
Our son has worked for them in an IT role in Prague for 3 years, hey have been excellent employers.
I have cut and pasted a paragraph from their website.

Career Choice

Career Choice is available to Amazon hourly associates who have been employed for one continuous year. With this program, the company pre-pays 95% of tuition and fees for associates to earn certificates and associate degrees in high-demand occupations such as aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies, medical laboratory science, dental hygiene, solar technician and nursing, to name a few.

We exclusively fund education only in areas that are in high demand according to sources like UK Labour Market Statistics, and we fund those areas regardless of whether those skills are relevant to a career at Amazon

Abe Books are really good, I’ve used their service several times for used books, but they are owned by Amazon.

Thank you Elegran

Scentia Kindle format is a version of MOBI format.
"A file with the .MOBI file extension is used for storing eBooks. It was originally a Mobipocket Reader format but has since been adopted by several different readers as well. Amazon purchased Mobipocket in 2005, and later discontinued the MOBI format in 2011.

A MOBI file is specifically designed for mobile—or eReader—devices. The format is very lightweight in size and supports bookmarks, notes, corrections, and JavaScript. Also contained in the file, along with the eBook, could be DRM, or copyright protection, to prevent copying and illegal viewing.

The current Kindle formats (AZW3, KF8, and KFX) are based on MOBI and is a proprietary format exclusively used on Kindle devices. And, in fact, you can still open files with the MOBI format directly on your Kindle—you just have to send them to your Kindle first"

I can borrow library books in Kindle format through the Public Library's "Overdrive" app. More about that at
www.wikihow.com/Access-UK-Library-Books-on-a-Kindle or ask at your own library.

It is an Amazon Kindle, intended for displaying books in Kindle format, which you have bought on Amazon and are kept in your Amazon online account.

It is possible to download books in the Kindle format from elswhere to read. I shall go and check the details of what, where, and how and return to post again when I have done that.

I hate using Amazon for my kindle but I was told that the books you download from other sites will not be readable on an amazon kindle, is this correct?

GreenGran Abe Books www.abebooks.com specialise in 2nd hand books.

It may have been here or elsewhere that I read of someone who was convinced Alexa was ‘ listening in’, because they had been talking about something they were thinking of buying, and shortly after that ads for that thing started to pop up.

I buy books from Amazon, but only second-hand ones. I recently ordered a Richard Scarry book for my granddaughter which was about £20 new. Second-hand, from one of their independent sellers it was £5, including postage. It arrived this morning, and it looks brand new.
I like to buy from bookshops, when I can, because I don’t want to lose them from the high-street, but doing a 12 mile round trip to do so, and spending four times as much, doesn’t make sense.

I meant to add that I never use Amazon and never have.

I don't think it is just Amazon by any means.

Any technology these days has access to your life even your living room and bedroom, be it hearing or seeing.

Baby monitors, TV's, whats app, Apple...to name but a few.

I was alerted to Amazon last Christmas and from now on will be very cautious what I buy. I bought an alcoholic drink for a friend's Christmas present which was the first time I had done so on line. The reason for this was I hadn't seen the product elsewhere and it was reasonably priced from a good supplier. Obviously for alcohol you need picture ID which I perfectly understand. When delivered I took my passport to the door half thinking he'll not bother looking as I definitely look over 25yrs. However, not only did he look but he started to log details from the passport onto his pad. That's when I called a halt and said my date of birth while taking passport from him. He wasn't particulary happy. Nor was I for that matter and will not buy alcohol through them again.

I checked Amazon straight after as I was going to make a complaint but found that access to do so had been made much more difficult as they now have the ring and on line person stuff which was not what I wanted.

It is definitely "Buyer beware" these days.

I'm virtually housebound, I can only get out of house on days I'm well enough to go out and if there's someone to push my wheelchair for me and those can only be short shopping trips, I don't have the energy to browse, comparing prices when I am out. I use Amazon Prime, I wouldn't dream of buying an Alexa or anything along those lines, we won't even have a smart meter installed but we have nothing to hide, we just appreciate privacy inside our home. Having said that Sky know quite a lot about the kind of programmes we enjoy, they possibly can even deduce at what time I go to bed, our greengrocer/specialist grocer knows when we're being good and eating wholesome foods or if we're straying by ordering lovely biscuits not easily obtainable elsewhere, everyone collects data about their customers. I'll continue to use Amazon, I've had some great bargains from them, I've ordered something today that will arrive with my daughter tomorrow and some items I've ordered have even arrived the same day, something I find absolutely wonderful. For some of us it's a godsend, I also use mine for Amazon to donate to a charity with each purchase I make. The television programmes are pretty good too, all in all I think paying £79 a year to have everything I order delivered without extra delivery payment (I only buy Prime delivery products), and a wide choice of television viewing pretty good value for money. I've been using it for years and never been disappointed plus I can do my shopping without someone else seeing exactly what I'm buying, there's very little privacy for attendant type wheelchair users when out shopping.

It’s very easy to hide or change your IP address. All you need is a VPN (virtual private network).

A VPN will switch your IP address by virtually placing you in a different location. When you use a VPN, your internet traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel so that no one, not even your ISP, can see what you’re doing online.

I am a self confessed Amazon nut, Alexa is my best friend, I am family hub for delivery of on line orders.
Example , study guides for GCSE /A level bookshop 7-10 days Amazon next day ,one of my favourite things is we have a classic motorhome do 26/30 day trip around UK love fresh coffee use the bags when travelling carry 30at a time order get delivered to there pick up point /lockers , going into next and picking up coffee always a bit of fun