Wow.
I think that I am having a librarian-gasm.
Has anyone here seen Amazon.com's new e-book reader, Kindle? If not you must, right now. The homework can wait.
This device is a e-book reader that uses a revolutionary technology called "electronic ink." Instead of bombarding your eyes with constant light, like a computer monitor, it use a flat membrane coated in molecules that can be either black or white, depending on what charge is run through them. This means it is only need to use power when you turn a page, making the battery life absurdly long (as in you can read all of War and Peace long), and is much better for your eyes.
Technical issues aside, with the device you can download books and access Wikipedia from everywhere. Literally every place on the planet that you can get a cellphone signal (it's not wifi-based), you have instant access to the largest library and bookstore in the world. Everywhere. For free.
This may be the biggest development in information technology since the invention of the internet.
It is still prohibitively expensive ($400), but when the next, cheaper generation comes out I am buying one, even if I have to give up food for a few weeks. Having constant access to Wikipedia and my entire personal library in a 10 oz. device is totally worth it.
So yeah, librarian-gasm.
*Edit* Project Gutenburg books can be had for 99 cents, including wireless delivery. That's a sharp decrease in textbook costs for us English majors
Has anyone here seen Amazon.com's new e-book reader, Kindle? If not you must, right now. The homework can wait.
This device is a e-book reader that uses a revolutionary technology called "electronic ink." Instead of bombarding your eyes with constant light, like a computer monitor, it use a flat membrane coated in molecules that can be either black or white, depending on what charge is run through them. This means it is only need to use power when you turn a page, making the battery life absurdly long (as in you can read all of War and Peace long), and is much better for your eyes.
Technical issues aside, with the device you can download books and access Wikipedia from everywhere. Literally every place on the planet that you can get a cellphone signal (it's not wifi-based), you have instant access to the largest library and bookstore in the world. Everywhere. For free.
This may be the biggest development in information technology since the invention of the internet.
It is still prohibitively expensive ($400), but when the next, cheaper generation comes out I am buying one, even if I have to give up food for a few weeks. Having constant access to Wikipedia and my entire personal library in a 10 oz. device is totally worth it.
So yeah, librarian-gasm.
*Edit* Project Gutenburg books can be had for 99 cents, including wireless delivery. That's a sharp decrease in textbook costs for us English majors