iPod.

I just picked up a new iPod Nano Chromatic (Black) 8 Gb. It is quite ridiculous on many levels. The ease with which I acclimated myself to its use, how quickly it filled up with music. The fact that there are games on this thing seems most absurd. I won’t deny that its fun and nice to have all that music available to me on the go, but it is kind of crazy to have an entire discography of radiohead alongside the complete beethoven symphony & string quartets. Ah well, back to readings I go.

E-Books?

There has been much discussion of this the past few years. The start of the summer saw the release of the much anticipated “Amazon Kindle“, a wireless e-reader that syncs up perfectly with Amazon’s massive library. (Over 90,000 titles available and growing, weighing 290g.)

I personally do not see such items moving beyond the realm of “high priced toy” for the wealthy, especially at a price of $359.00. I’ll leave some of the finer features and selling points to the experts.

Overpriced Gadget or the Next Generation of Books?

Yes, it certainly does look sleek and sexy, but would you use such a device to read? I know that I would not. While there are times that I do wish for such a device, (especially with those long treks in the winter from Zone 2), for the most I think I could survive.

For me it’s about the tactile experience of a book. The touch, and smell of a book is irreplaceable. Maybe if the price dropped, I might consider such a toy, but it would be viewed simply as that, a toy, something to tinker around with and impress my friends. I’ll take a book over an e reader any given day.

I’ll leave you my dear readers with a quote, enjoy.

Many people, other than the authors, contribute to the making of a book, from the first person who had the bright idea of alphabetic writing through the inventor of movable type to the lumberjacks who felled the trees that were pulped for its printing.  It is not customary to acknowledge the trees themselves, though their commitment is total.  ~Forsyth and Rada, Machine Learning