The original post: /r/piracy by /u/melflower on 2024-12-09 05:17:22.
Growing up, my mom was an avid reader. She didn’t dive into technical manuals or the classics, but she read purely for the joy of it. Over the years, though, that passion faded. She spent more time doom-scrolling through endless news stories and sending me articles. She’d often complain about feeling stuck and bored, resorting to watching 70s TV reruns to pass the time.
Last month, she came to visit me, and during one of our conversations about the state of the world, we started talking about dystopian media. She introduced me to Soylent Green (which I pirated, of course), and I brought up The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984. Surprisingly, she’d never read them.
I remembered I had an old e-reader gathering dust and offered to download those books for her. She was thrilled and started reading them right away. A few days later, she sheepishly asked if I could download more books for her. When I said yes, she handed me a whole list! Suddenly, she was carrying that e-reader everywhere—in her purse, at dinner, and even pulling it out instead of her phone.
It turns out the accessibility of the e-reader was a game-changer for her. She loved being able to adjust the brightness and text size, just like she did on her phone, and carrying multiple books at once. Sure, I could’ve bought her ebooks or waited for them at the library, but being able to download exactly what she wanted, instantly and for free, made all the difference. She would never let me spend $10 per book on her, but this approach felt easy and guilt-free for both of us.
Before she left, I also loaded a full TV series onto her phone so she’d have something to watch other than the same 70s reruns. She was excited, although she still decided to read on the plane instead of watching it. I’m even trying to figure out how to share my media server with her so she can stream movies and shows directly.
Last week, she went back home and texted me to say she’d finished her first book in years. She was so excited to start her next one. Thanks to piracy, my mom rediscovered her love of reading—and now, she has more options for entertainment than ever. It’s honestly so simple, but one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.
Just wanted to share and thank you fine folks here, I’ve been lurking and it’s helped me learn so much.