| Subject: Re: Keeping up with the family |
Author:
Boyd Percy
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Date Posted: 20:37:35 10/02/13 Wed
In reply to:
Wes
's message, "Keeping up with the family" on 09:58:07 10/02/13 Wed
>Another column lifted from the paper:
>-------------------------------------
>
>It’s been twenty-five years or so since I had my first
>real computer, and boy, the changes just keep on
>coming.
>
>Of course, I write a lot and was doing it before that
>first computer -- and I’ve done a heck of a lot since.
>More than that, as I get older I find myself doing a
>lot of reading on computer screens, too. Don’t get me
>wrong -- I still like to sit down with a book in my
>hands and read the traditional way, but sometimes
>books are heavy and awkward to deal with. More and
>more, I do a lot of my dead-tree book reading while
>sitting at a table, just because it’s more convenient,
>but given a choice I prefer a computer screen, at
>least some of the time.
>
>I’ve also reluctantly learned to like e-book readers.
>For a while I had a very small PDA, about the size of
>a pack of cigarettes, but only about a third as thick.
>I could shove it in my shirt pocket and read just
>about anywhere despite the really tiny screen.
>Unfortunately, the battery went bad, and they don’t
>make them any more, or else I would still be using it.
>
>About five years ago, I bought a Sony e-book reader,
>which was actually pretty good for the time. It would
>read a lot of different files, and for a while I used
>it a lot. However, it got to the point where it had to
>be left on the charger for an hour for each hour I
>used it, and an hour was about the maximum life of a
>charge, so slowly I quit using it.
>
>A year or so ago I had a special deal on a Kindle
>e-book reader, by Amazon, and figured it might be
>useful. While the Kindle had some features that are
>better than the Sony, I don’t like the hand ergonomics
>of it as well, and some of the things you have to do
>to organize things and set them up are not intuitive.
>Fortunately, they have a fairly well-written manual
>included on the device, so when I need to do something
>on it I can always look it up.
>
>While the Kindle has a pretty good battery, it does
>not hold the charge well if not used -- and sometimes
>I go weeks without using it. It’s a worse pain in the
>neck in that I have to plug in a cord to my main
>computer to charge it, and the fitting on the end of
>the one cord I have doesn’t fit anything else. On top
>of that, unlike either the old PDA or the Sony, it
>can’t be read in the dark.
>
>When I had to go to the hospital a couple of weeks
>ago, I had no idea I was going to be admitted and have
>to stay for four days, so I’d made no preparations. I
>had not used the Kindle for a while, so the battery
>was dead, so the first thing I had Amanda do was to
>charge it up and send it in. Fortunately, there were a
>couple books on the thing I wanted to read, and it
>kept me from going nuts. I mean, it was the Kindle,
>daytime TV or harassing the nurses, so thank goodness
>I had the Kindle. Daytime TV is no fun, after all!
>
>The other thing I missed in the hospital was my
>computer. When I had my week-long hospital stay four
>years ago I had a laptop, and although cumbersome, it
>kept me going. But, I don’t have it any more --the
>screen went dead -- and it just didn’t seem worth the
>trouble of replacing it.
>
> Now, it seems everyone else in the family has a
>tablet computer, and I’ve been the hold-out. It seems
>like the best answer to ergonomics, flexibility and
>usability. The heck of it is, which one to buy? I’m
>certainly the last one in the family to have any
>knowledge of the things, so I did what any sane person
>in my family would do -- I asked my son-in-law for a
>recommendation, and then ordered it.
>
>So, we shall see what we shall see. I’m facing several
>more days in the hospital in a couple of weeks, and
>I’m not looking forward to it. Maybe the tablet will
>make it bearable.
Good luck with your new tablet, whichever brand you chose. Back in 2011, I decided to buy a second computer since our grandson had moved back to our town and I figured he might stay with us some of the time. My desktop is located in the bedroom he occupies when he is here. I chose a laptop though I was very tempted by an iPad. Since I am very clumsy, I figured it would be just my luck that I would drop the tablet and have to replace it. No regrets over the laptop.
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