To be frank, my main purpose was to address the problem we had with ever-growing, increasingly-unstable, easy-to-trip-over piles of books scattered somewhat randomly around our house
All points you made apply to me as well. But I need to add:
- One thing that I can easily do with a Kindle is to avoid buying books by impulse that I never read. I try to discipline myself to always ask for a sample, only when I finish reading the sample (and if I like it), I buy the book.
Same here. I had been buying less books than what I would otherwise, because of lack of storage space.
There is so much material for (legal) download or for sale at Amazon, that I really only consider buying a book if I can easily get it in my Kindle. Not to mention having adjustable font sizes. Putting travel guides into the mobile (Kindle app) is also a major convenience.
All this people that imagine donating books their grand children... they for sure/never/ gave thought about the true cost of hoarding all that paper.
Physical books consume "house space", which is a _very_ expensive economic resource where I live. You also need to carry them every time you move (for one reason or another, I move rather frequently). When my wife wants to reach for one of her old books, she simply can't as they are all in boxes as we don't have the shelve space for them.
FWIW I've been trying to get rid of many paper books I own, and (trust me) often libraries won't take them. Simple paperbacks are often refused. Part of the reason is that I used to buy "used paperbacks" at Amazon for the sake of resource reuse. AFAIK Libraries do trash books all the time due to lack of space.
I am at a point that I am trying to get rid of most paper books I own, and I try to only buy (i.e. license) digital books. They take too much space and accumulate dust. I may also move (again) in the next few years and boxes full of books are a PITA. Storing paper at home also has a cost even if it is not immediately clear how to estimate it.
You should think that if your Kindle is lost or breaks right now, you'll need to shelve $130, pretty much like if you lost or broke your cellphone. The good news is that (unlike phones) the price of e-readers has been going down, so replacing a broken e-reader is only been getting cheaper.
In my experience the best format for reading (black & white) comics in the Kindle DX is PDF. If you convert to mobi (with images) there will be a margin around the images, with PDF you get a nice proper full-screen view.
Just another reason the $75 Kobo is the best e-reader on the market (I've owned a Nook, Kindle and Kobo).
Did you ever handle a Pearl e-ink screen? I have a Kindle DX -Graphite and a Kindle3 but I owned a Hanlin, and handled a bunch of e-ink devices in shops. The difference in screen quality from this Pearl to the older vizplex(?) is huge.
As a follow up to Wikipedia's deletion frenzy, from TFA:
Most of this Talmudic scholarship comes from founding contributor Arthur David Olson and editor Paul Eggert, both of whose Wikipedia pages, although referenced from the Zoneinfo page, strangely do not exist.
Serious question: what precisely do all you Android fanboys plan to plug INTO this USB port? I've never seen a serious use for it (and powering your vibrating fleshlight doesn't count).
To view / show the pictures in my digital camera without using a computer?
Seriously, there is a lot of the traditional desktop to be done away with a tablet. But Apple (AFAIK) still requires you to have iTunes on a desktop to manage your iPad/Phone. Why can't these things just upgrade OTA through WiFi like Android phones do?
I want a Kindle (but am unwilling to shell out for the small one, and unwilling to shell out so much for the big one)
I actually own both the Kindle DX Graphite and the Kindle3.
The Kindle3 is a better device in many ways compared to the DX-Graphite. The combination of higher resolution, speed (it is a lot faster), and portability have completely won me over. Nowadays I use my DX mostly only for PDFs and comics.
I used to own a Hanlin v3, which is also a 6" e-reader, and while the Hanlin wasn't comfortable to use at 6" the new Kindle3 certainly is.
> Except almost no devices last more than 6 hours in practical use. Sure, you could just sit there and stare at the thing for 8-10 hours, but that wouldn't be any fun.
> Perhaps they have specialized printers for handling things like ID cards, where falsifiability is an issue. Perhaps he meant retina scanners. Who knows! A "scanner" and a "printer" can mean a lot of different things.
Specialized printers are normally connected to specialized hardware. Said 'specialized hardware' then acts as a printer / image servers. Desktops (whichever OS) are just clients. At least that is how the cartographers, I had as colleagues while working with research, managed their (specialized) printers.
One way or another this sucks. Any public service migrating from Windows to an Open Source solution and then back to Windows is a big missed opportunity by the FOSS community.
- Fotos: Smugmug account + local NAS. - _General_ personal files: organized by directory with Faubackup backups to local NAS (no offsite backup) - Music & Video (i.e. entertainment, not personal): local NAS. - Smaller more important files (code, latex docs, text): git + github account - Contacts, addresses, agenda: Google cloud - General notes: Remember The Milk "pro" account
If anything, e-books outselling paper backs at the world's biggest book seller shows that they are now mainstream.
I buy perhaps too many e-books from Amazon. But even then, the "send sample" feature has allowed me to stop buying books by impulse. Now I always ask for samples. Always. When I finish the sample, I buy the book.
For me the biggest drawback at Amazon is the lack of non English books.
What you say is true, and still many people (including me) are only buying e-books.
There is more to e-books & paper books, than the licensing difference. The impression I get at slashdot is that most people bashing e-books have never used an e-book, or are not old enough to understand the 'costs' associated with a large library.
I can only speak for myself but:
For starters, the lack of physical space in my house for even more books had -for a number of years- made me buy less books than what I would otherwise. Formulating in a different way: the price of space in my house is a lot higher than any extra cost I might incur due to DRM.
Since I had to move so many times, most books I bought in college were either donated or are at boxes in a different hemisphere than the one I live at.
people that don't move much perhaps don't appreciate this in its full truth but moving boxes full of books is a PITA. I moved a lot in the last 10 years...
I can avoid carrying 10 books when I take vacations
I can buy any books during my vacations
adjustable font sizes
dictionary look-ups
easy way to back-up annotations and highlighted text from books.
Gear up your reading comprehension and re-read my post.
Where did I say that accident frequency should not be taken into account? Nowhere.
I did say, that a "better definition should take into account each incident's graveness". (Please do note that to take an incident's seriousness / graveness into account you have to be accounting for the incident somehow.) Which is exactly what the law in most countries do.
Driver A backs his car into another car while parking 6 times a year. 6 incidents per year.
Driver B runs over pedestrians (say in the side-walk) twice a year. 2 incidents per year.
Which driver will have its driving license taken away? Did you get now the point of saying "taking the incident's graveness" into account?
So if you say women are bad drivers, its not only a stereotype but statistically accurate. Just the same, a male driver is far more likely to kill or seriously injure you.
Your "statistical truth" relies on your (poor IMO) definition of "bad driver".
You seem to have defined bad driver as a function of the amount of traffic incidents. I think a better definition should take into account each incident's graveness. Which as you reckon yourself would give you a very different picture.
Seems to me like you, even being aware of the data that contradicts you, is reasoning your way around it in order to keep your stereotypes intact.
I also work from home, and commute to meet colleagues once a month.
I think tech has come a long way towards solving communication issues. The biggest hurdle I have to communicate is that -at the office- it is easy to go chat with someone and speak without disturbing colleagues, but somehow trying to make the same through speakers _always_ disturbs everyone. Every time I need to chat with a colleague in a big office room, the person needs to first walk to a conference room.
OTOH, I can communicate perfectly with colleagues who work remotely or in a private office room. Because in those cases, we can just fire up audio/video chat at will.
Did you ever stop to think about the amount of space it would take just to park the cars if the majority of people (say in The NL or in Paris) were not using public transportation?
Slashdot Mirror
There's this new invention called the bookcase.
There's this requirement for bookcases, it is called space.
All points you made apply to me as well. But I need to add:
- One thing that I can easily do with a Kindle is to avoid buying books by impulse that I never read. I try to discipline myself to always ask for a sample, only when I finish reading the sample (and if I like it), I buy the book.
Same here. I had been buying less books than what I would otherwise, because of lack of storage space.
There is so much material for (legal) download or for sale at Amazon, that I really only consider buying a book if I can easily get it in my Kindle. Not to mention having adjustable font sizes. Putting travel guides into the mobile (Kindle app) is also a major convenience.
All this people that imagine donating books their grand children... they for sure /never/ gave thought about the true cost of hoarding all that paper.
Physical books consume "house space", which is a _very_ expensive economic resource where I live. You also need to carry them every time you move (for one reason or another, I move rather frequently). When my wife wants to reach for one of her old books, she simply can't as they are all in boxes as we don't have the shelve space for them.
FWIW I've been trying to get rid of many paper books I own, and (trust me) often libraries won't take them. Simple paperbacks are often refused. Part of the reason is that I used to buy "used paperbacks" at Amazon for the sake of resource reuse. AFAIK Libraries do trash books all the time due to lack of space.
I am at a point that I am trying to get rid of most paper books I own, and I try to only buy (i.e. license) digital books. They take too much space and accumulate dust. I may also move (again) in the next few years and boxes full of books are a PITA. Storing paper at home also has a cost even if it is not immediately clear how to estimate it.
You should think that if your Kindle is lost or breaks right now, you'll need to shelve $130, pretty much like if you lost or broke your cellphone. The good news is that (unlike phones) the price of e-readers has been going down, so replacing a broken e-reader is only been getting cheaper.
In my experience the best format for reading (black & white) comics in the Kindle DX is PDF. If you convert to mobi (with images) there will be a margin around the images, with PDF you get a nice proper full-screen view.
Just another reason the $75 Kobo is the best e-reader on the market (I've owned a Nook, Kindle and Kobo).
Did you ever handle a Pearl e-ink screen? I have a Kindle DX -Graphite and a Kindle3 but I owned a Hanlin, and handled a bunch of e-ink devices in shops. The difference in screen quality from this Pearl to the older vizplex(?) is huge.
Every single alternative app market for android is pathetic. I don't see much hope of another one turning up that isn't pathetic.
Amazon's Android app store is /not/ pathetic.
And which "honest hardworking people" would those be? Illegally copying movies, music or software is not your right.
That would be the guys quoting 4 paragraphs (out of ~45) of newspaper text in a bulletin
As a follow up to Wikipedia's deletion frenzy, from TFA:
Most of this Talmudic scholarship comes from founding contributor Arthur David Olson and editor Paul Eggert, both of whose Wikipedia pages, although referenced from the Zoneinfo page, strangely do not exist.
I guess they were not notable enough....
connection ports (USB is a must)
Serious question: what precisely do all you Android fanboys plan to plug INTO this USB port? I've never seen a serious use for it (and powering your vibrating fleshlight doesn't count).
To view / show the pictures in my digital camera without using a computer?
Seriously, there is a lot of the traditional desktop to be done away with a tablet. But Apple (AFAIK) still requires you to have iTunes on a desktop to manage your iPad/Phone. Why can't these things just upgrade OTA through WiFi like Android phones do?
On your Kindle comment:
I want a Kindle (but am unwilling to shell out for the small one, and unwilling to shell out so much for the big one)
I actually own both the Kindle DX Graphite and the Kindle3.
The Kindle3 is a better device in many ways compared to the DX-Graphite. The combination of higher resolution, speed (it is a lot faster), and portability have completely won me over. Nowadays I use my DX mostly only for PDFs and comics.
I used to own a Hanlin v3, which is also a 6" e-reader, and while the Hanlin wasn't comfortable to use at 6" the new Kindle3 certainly is.
I'm afraid you are right. The difference is quite noticable. And it is too bad.
Is there a better site now?
For Linux specifically there is http://lwn.net/
I wouldn't know of a general "news for nerds" site without the slashdot / tabloid aspect.
> Except almost no devices last more than 6 hours in practical use. Sure, you could just sit there and stare at the thing for 8-10 hours, but that wouldn't be any fun.
My Kindle3 lasts about a month.
> Perhaps they have specialized printers for handling things like ID cards, where falsifiability is an issue. Perhaps he meant retina scanners. Who knows! A "scanner" and a "printer" can mean a lot of different things.
Specialized printers are normally connected to specialized hardware. Said 'specialized hardware' then acts as a printer / image servers. Desktops (whichever OS) are just clients. At least that is how the cartographers, I had as colleagues while working with research, managed their (specialized) printers.
One way or another this sucks. Any public service migrating from Windows to an Open Source solution and then back to Windows is a big missed opportunity by the FOSS community.
The trick is that it was to a large extend the support of companies like Amazon and Rhapsody that gave Apple such a customer base.
> Apple is offering others the ability to take advantage of their platform.
Apple is demanding others to offer services through their store in other to work in their platform.
- Fotos: Smugmug account + local NAS.
- _General_ personal files: organized by directory with Faubackup backups to local NAS (no offsite backup)
- Music & Video (i.e. entertainment, not personal): local NAS.
- Smaller more important files (code, latex docs, text): git + github account
- Contacts, addresses, agenda: Google cloud
- General notes: Remember The Milk "pro" account
While they make awesome hardware Nokia has got to get their act together wrt getting R & D to deliver: they spend almost 3 times as its peers
If anything, e-books outselling paper backs at the world's biggest book seller shows that they are now mainstream.
I buy perhaps too many e-books from Amazon. But even then, the "send sample" feature has allowed me to stop buying books by impulse. Now I always ask for samples. Always. When I finish the sample, I buy the book.
For me the biggest drawback at Amazon is the lack of non English books.
You are licensing the eBook. Not buying it.
What you say is true, and still many people (including me) are only buying e-books.
There is more to e-books & paper books, than the licensing difference. The impression I get at slashdot is that most people bashing e-books have never used an e-book, or are not old enough to understand the 'costs' associated with a large library.
I can only speak for myself but:
Gear up your reading comprehension and re-read my post.
Where did I say that accident frequency should not be taken into account? Nowhere.
I did say, that a "better definition should take into account each incident's graveness". (Please do note that to take an incident's seriousness / graveness into account you have to be accounting for the incident somehow.) Which is exactly what the law in most countries do.
Driver A backs his car into another car while parking 6 times a year. 6 incidents per year.
Driver B runs over pedestrians (say in the side-walk) twice a year. 2 incidents per year.
Which driver will have its driving license taken away? Did you get now the point of saying "taking the incident's graveness" into account?
So if you say women are bad drivers, its not only a stereotype but statistically accurate. Just the same, a male driver is far more likely to kill or seriously injure you.
Your "statistical truth" relies on your (poor IMO) definition of "bad driver".
You seem to have defined bad driver as a function of the amount of traffic incidents. I think a better definition should take into account each incident's graveness. Which as you reckon yourself would give you a very different picture.
Seems to me like you, even being aware of the data that contradicts you, is reasoning your way around it in order to keep your stereotypes intact.
I also work from home, and commute to meet colleagues once a month.
I think tech has come a long way towards solving communication issues. The biggest hurdle I have to communicate is that -at the office- it is easy to go chat with someone and speak without disturbing colleagues, but somehow trying to make the same through speakers _always_ disturbs everyone. Every time I need to chat with a colleague in a big office room, the person needs to first walk to a conference room.
OTOH, I can communicate perfectly with colleagues who work remotely or in a private office room. Because in those cases, we can just fire up audio/video chat at will.
I lived in the NL and right now live in Paris.
Did you ever stop to think about the amount of space it would take just to park the cars if the majority of people (say in The NL or in Paris) were not using public transportation?