On Mon, 2013-12-30 at 10:39 +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > So I got myself a Kindle. And whether it is the novelty or the > device-specific aspects (doesn't need ambient light, sufficiently > booklike that one can read sprawled in bed, etc) - I have consumed 3 > books in 3 days, more than in the preceding 3 months. > > So - have you folks noticed your reading habits change with the means > of reading? Is this a special case of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis [1]? >
About 15 years ago when the first small digital hand held devices began appearing the early adopters were young (I was already approaching middle age). It used to amuse me that those devices seemed designed for the young, who could mostly pick up a device and read or see whatever was displayed without glasses. That generation has now grown older and there is clearly an increase in size of screen and font designed to cater to the young ones of yesteryear who are older codgers now. The Kindle, iPads and 7 or 8 inch devices are too big to fit in one's pocket and too small to serve as a laptop. For many people I know, they are a fashion statement requiring separate carriage - that is as a "third device" separate from phone and laptop. Among the more silly sights I see nowadays is a person taking a photo or video using an iPad - with a huge rectangle hiding his head. Sillier than that is the sight of a photoframe size Samsung wotsit being held to one's ear. These are compromises being made to gain the advantage of a biggish screen and a debatable degree of portability minus the advantages of a proper keypad for dedicated writers. It won't go in your pocket or handbag. It's not for your desk. It's a diary sized thing that replaces the diary of the pre-1980s era, and offers book functionality. Like roundworms and tapeworms, it exists simply because it can exist. One can do without it. I find the Kindle/iPad format singularly useless for me. They are neither here nor there, and the books I want are unavailable. They cannot be accommodated in my pocket, which necessarily must carry keys, wallet, glasses and pen. Incidentally I have used my last two smart phones to read about 10,000 pages in books. I am comfortable with the small screen and a good smart phone does everything I need apart from allowing me to type comfortably, for which I need only one larger device, with no need to squeeze in a third "in between, neither this nor that" format. shiv
