If only I HAD said something
not nice.
I only saw the irony of your post, being a student myself and being on a budget myself.
Also, Australia is not exactly backwaters of the world and just using google for 2 min I found 2 sites in Australia that sell that kindle model for 84AUD or 75$. So 6 $ more? Oh the tragedy.
However, you said you don't like that model, and that is fine.
"
The least expensive Kindle would have come to $148, when including the case;"
Nope. Kindle 4 is 98$ from authorized dealers. 148-98 is 50. You don't have to buy 50$ case
I own a kindle keyboard and I have a cheep fake leather 10$ case. Served me for 2.5 years just fine and I carried that kindle everywhere with me in my backpack, usually stuffed between giant tomes. Also, as I said non authorized sellers sell it for 84$. You not liking that model is fine, but don't put misinformation here.
You can buy new paperwhite 2013 from authorized dealers for $178. You can find it around 150 AUD from other sellers in Australia.
But you said you don't like to shop online, so my guess is you haven't really googled enough to get all the information and the cheapest prices.
Also, no offence to your mother or any other people who subscribe to that saying, but that one is basically a hippy, hand holding, flower smelling, let all pretend we're nice and think/say only happy thoughts. People don't work in that way. Not to mention that upholding that saying, would render any critique possible.