Amazon has a new way to reel you into Audible now that smart speakers are a big deal: give you a freebie just by asking. As of this week, anyone who's new to Audible can ask an Echo speaker to read a full audiobook at no cost. You don't have to be picky about your choice of book, either, so you can ask for the hot new novel if that's your preference. Naturally, Amazon is hoping you'll be so enamored that you sign up on the spot -- if you aren't, though, you can at least say that it didn't take much effort to get that free book in the first place.

My wife used to love reading but since her stroke has aphasia, no speech, limited vision and limited dexterity in her left hand only. She can select TV channels on a remote but she cannot read a short news story let alone a novel, so she listens to the radio and watches a lot of TV. I thought of getting her a Kindle e-reader but they don't seem to do text to speech any more. A shop assistant suggested a tablet with a text-to-speech app. It needs a really simple interface or my wife will not be able to use it without assistance.