Saw my first iPad today
in [UK Mac]
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From: T i m on 14 Apr 2010 06:39 On Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:19:08 +0100, me32(a)privacy.net (R) wrote: >T i m <news(a)spaced.me.uk> wrote: > >> I guess the ease / comfort thing is also a function of your general >> strength and dexterity (she's got arthritis in her hands now and that >> affects both). > >Understood. > >> Add that to ease-of-use for a given use (the odd novel >> you pick up when you get a chance with possibly days in-between) and >> the advantages of an eReader (with a greater rage of titles on-tap >> etc) get less and certainly becomes less vfm. > >The principal problem with books is the space they take up. Space they *can* take up if you keep them. ;-) Just in the same way disposable plastic milk bottles can take up space in landfill ... I wonder if there is a better way? ;-) >Individually that's not significant, but once you acquire a >collection of many books (I used to have hundreds) it can be >a burden. Of course and my neighbour has one room dedicated as a library (mainly SiFi books, that seems to fit doesn't it?) ;-) > >The last time I moved house I had to carry several very >weighty boxes of books and I told myself "never again!". >I have since sold, given and thrown away nearly all of them. Yup, Mum and Dad are going though their 'we aren't going to be here much longer' clear out and Dad has several bookcases packed with what were probably very expensive hardbacks. He also still has the remains of a photographic studio with what was some very nice film kit. > >I now have the electronic reader. It has some 90 free novels >on it and it has not grown fat with them. I guess that's ok as long as you can get free / cheap the sort of thing you like to read? >Imagine carrying 90 >traditionally printed novels around with you. Not convenient! Not typical of course but as with the miniaturisation of digital music playing kit and storage you can do the same with your music / photo collection. I don't have a book, music or (interesting) photo collection and the sort of books I might want easy access to I'm not sure I'd want on an expensive and potentially fragile electronic reader (workshop manuals in the garage). I do like the *idea* of being able to get over the air anything you fancied though. I do agree with the bulk reduction thing though as I'm still converting archive / documents here into PDF's via my sheet fed scanner. ;-) Again, I think the iPad fits in with a certain lifestyle thing (and I mean that as said), like if you don't have a permanent base or space for a desktop, aren't particularly interested in stuff outside what it does (well or sometimes not at all) or spend quite a bit of time on public transport etc but then 'versatility' is very much part of my 'thing' and a notebook is so much more for me (and my 'lifestyle'). Cheers, T i m
From: D.M. Procida on 14 Apr 2010 06:40 R <me32(a)privacy.net> wrote: > I now have the electronic reader. It has some 90 free novels > on it and it has not grown fat with them. Imagine carrying 90 > traditionally printed novels around with you. Not convenient! I can pick up almost any book in my house and along with it, everything it means. Books I bought when I was studying, that were a gift from a friend, that belonged to my parents, that I got from someone who died. That's only a burden in the sense that having memories and experiences is a burden. A few months ago I gave one of my children to read the book of Jack London stories that my father bought for me when I was the same age. Just by itself that was an experience worth living for. It would be a terrible thing to deny oneself, or be denied. Daniele
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 14 Apr 2010 06:43 On Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:19:08 +0100, me32(a)privacy.net (R) wrote: >T i m <news(a)spaced.me.uk> wrote: > >> I guess the ease / comfort thing is also a function of your general >> strength and dexterity (she's got arthritis in her hands now and that >> affects both). > >Understood. > >> Add that to ease-of-use for a given use (the odd novel >> you pick up when you get a chance with possibly days in-between) and >> the advantages of an eReader (with a greater rage of titles on-tap >> etc) get less and certainly becomes less vfm. > >The principal problem with books is the space they take up. For travel purposes, this is my main reason for having an e-reader (it's my iPhone, but that's by the way). I read paperback fiction at 100+ pages per hour, and I used to do a lot of flights for work which take up 5-15 hours of the day each way, not to mention evenings in at the hotels. Since I very rarely want to read the stuff they sell in airports, that originally meant carrying several to many pounds of paper around with me. >Individually that's not significant, but once you acquire a >collection of many books (I used to have hundreds) it can be >a burden. Approaching 10k last time I estimated. 5k are on shelves, the rest are now out on permanent loan or donated to libraries for the tech refs and college books I'll never use again. >The last time I moved house I had to carry several very >weighty boxes of books and I told myself "never again!". I find it easier not to move house... >I have since sold, given and thrown away nearly all of them. Dispersement of good books is a good thing. I've been known to hold on to bad books so that some other poor soul wouldn't have them accidentally inflicted upon them! Cheers - Jaimie -- "I do not like the feel of the middle way; and I do not like the smell of the left hand way" -- J R R Tolkien
From: Woody on 14 Apr 2010 07:00 D.M. Procida <real-not-anti-spam-address(a)apple-juice.co.uk> wrote: > R <me32(a)privacy.net> wrote: > > > I now have the electronic reader. It has some 90 free novels > > on it and it has not grown fat with them. Imagine carrying 90 > > traditionally printed novels around with you. Not convenient! > > I can pick up almost any book in my house and along with it, everything > it means. Books I bought when I was studying, that were a gift from a > friend, that belonged to my parents, that I got from someone who died. > > That's only a burden in the sense that having memories and experiences > is a burden. Isn't this more related to the way you remember things? I pick up a book I read as a child or that I got when studying etc, and I don't get any meaning or memory from it (other than the meaning in the book and the memory of what was in the book). Or it could be down to the feeling you have towards books (I know other people that say that when you say about ereaders). I get that with music, and with photos, but books, really not much that I wouldn't get reading them on my ereader. -- Woody
From: D.M. Procida on 14 Apr 2010 07:14
Woody <usenet(a)alienrat.co.uk> wrote: > D.M. Procida <real-not-anti-spam-address(a)apple-juice.co.uk> wrote: > > > R <me32(a)privacy.net> wrote: > > > > > I now have the electronic reader. It has some 90 free novels > > > on it and it has not grown fat with them. Imagine carrying 90 > > > traditionally printed novels around with you. Not convenient! > > > > I can pick up almost any book in my house and along with it, everything > > it means. Books I bought when I was studying, that were a gift from a > > friend, that belonged to my parents, that I got from someone who died. > > > > That's only a burden in the sense that having memories and experiences > > is a burden. > > Isn't this more related to the way you remember things? I pick up a book > I read as a child or that I got when studying etc, and I don't get any > meaning or memory from it (other than the meaning in the book and the > memory of what was in the book). Or it could be down to the feeling you > have towards books (I know other people that say that when you say about > ereaders). I get that with music, and with photos, but books, really not > much that I wouldn't get reading them on my ereader. It's definitely the same kind of thing as with music and photographs. I like to have a tangible artefact to relate to. But I feel it most strongly with books. Daniele |