Where's my flying car? Oh wait, never mind.
We’ve got a repairman here today, and since he doesn’t need me to stare at the back of his head while he works, I’ve been cruising the internet. I haven’t done a lot of that lately, since it’s a huge time-suck and there’s that whole writing thing. I can blow an entire Saturday afternoon playing six degrees of the internet, but the repairman (and the fact that I have to go back to work when he’s done) should keep me honest.
I ended up looking at this article, originally from Scientific American, about reading on paper versus reading on a screen. It’s always nice to have my personal opinions validated by, you know, actual data. I love my e-reader, especially when I’m travelling, because I can pack as many books as I want and whatever kind of books I want. Traveling with my boss for two days? So what? She doesn’t need to know that I’m reading smut while she’s driving. The password-lock is a wonderful feature, not that anyone’s likely to take a stroll through my files without my permission.
So I do a lot of fiction reading on the e-reader. On the other hand, I’ve decided that I don’t like it at all for any serious nonfiction reading. Exempted from this is recreational nonfiction: books like Quiet or Moneymakers, both of which I read for fun. Doing research with an e-book just doesn’t work for me, though, and my biggest complaint is the lack of quick navigation and marking. I can’t just slap a page flag down, or circle a passage with a pen. I also can’t compare two non-sequential pages quickly. With a paper book, I can flip back and forth quickly, and it’s just not as simple with an e-book. All of these concerns are things mentioned in the article.
One thing I hadn’t considered is whether I was retaining the information from e-book nonfiction. According to the article, I may not be, though I agree that it will be interesting to see how that plays out in future generations, as attitudes change. And I do have to give e-books the advantage in one place: the search feature. I’ve used that even in fiction, where I can’t remember who a character is or why he’s important. Just search on his name! Very nice.
From there, I ended up at this article, which got me all excited even as I wonder at the long-term viability of the product. I much prefer a physical keyboard to a virtual one when writing anything longer than a text message, mainly because of the lack of tactile feedback. On the other hand, I also like having more screen space available when I don’t need the keyboard. Now I might be able to have my cake and eat it too, with a touchscreen that “grows” keyboard keys when needed. Also very nice.
The reason I wonder about the long-term viability is because I honestly wonder how much longer a physical phone is going to be considered cutting edge. The technology to recognize eye movements exists, and the technology to interpret brainwaves into commands is coming along. Hell, I can already buy this. So how much longer before my “phone” is really just an electronic temporary tattoo that reads my mind? Very very nice.
The future is here, and I always want to bounce up and down like a kid at Christmas whenever I remember that. And my flying car? Coming right along.