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I wonder if writer's cramp, not to mention the price of ink, and its less-than convenient use, also figured into Austen's abbreviated writing. The book "The Doctor's Wife" describes a hack writer named Sigismund Smith. When we are introduced to Smith, Mary Braddon described his somewhat disheveled appearance, especially the ink stains on his hands and shirt.
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I may have already mentioned this, but it bears repeating. The main reason that I like paper books is that they need no batteries. Friday, July 1, 2011, I planned to take myself to lunch and then to the beauty shop to get my hair done. I had a book I needed to read for this site, so I packed my Kindle, and off I went. Before I took my first bite of lunch, I opened my Kindle to begin reading. Instead of the familiar screen with a picture related to classic lit, I saw a message: "Battery is empty" and a reminder to charge it. Since I didn't bring my cable, and probably couldn't find an outlet anyway, I spent my time perusing my iPhone. There are still many advantages to e-reading, but it would have been nice if I had a paper book with me to fill the gap.
That being said, we cancelled our subscriptions to the paper versions of "Wall Street Journal" and "The Economist" in favor of the versions we can read on our iPad. I love the idea of not having to dispose of newspapers and magazines, even if we recycle religiously. I consider our move to electronic versions is our contribution to the concept of "pre-cycling."
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I really like the Economist app for iPhone--very well organized and easy to navigate. I do miss the large pictures, which are always worthy of study, but I suppose on iPad they show up much nicer.
I was reading about a new eReader--maybe a new Nook? I can't remember--that has a battery that lasts for 30 days. That would work for me!
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To be fair to the Kindle, I usually keep WhisperNet turned off, and get very good battery life. I turned it on to send a book to myself and forgot to turn it back off. It will by definition run down one's battery.
I haven't had a chance to look at "The Economist" on the iPad yet but am already blown away by the Wall Street Journal for iPad. They had pictures of Charles Osgood's Manhattan apartment that were just stunning (libraries everywhere!) and a lot of the stories have an accompanying video and slide show. The layout is easy to navigate, and now I can put all my "clippings" on the iPad instead of folders all over my office.
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In reference to my last post, I am now reading not only the "Wall Street Journal", "The Economist" and "USA Today" on the IPad, with pleasing results, except when my husband hides the IPad from me, or happens to be reading it himself. This could become an issue at weekend breakfasts, should the local paper also become IPad friendly.
Yesterday, however, I began to think about paper books and my reasons for sometimes preferring them. For one, I love to browse in used book stores. I can't imagine living without the experience, the conviviality, the smell, the colors, excitement of not knowing what you will find there. Downloading a book to my kindle is fun, but can't match the browsing experience in a used book store.
There is also the problem of bookmarks. On both my Kindle and my Treo 680, sometimes I want to backtrack through the text. Sometimes, however, it is hard to get the confounded thing to return to where I was originally reading. Now I usually look for an unusual text string that I can run a search to find, since making note of the "Location" number has proved less satisfactory. With a paper book I just use Post-it notes as multiple bookmarks, or just remember what page I was reading.
Another problem with e-readers is that one cannot stash one in the car for impromptu reading at a restaurant. For months now, I have carried a book of stories by Dorothy Sayers to entertain me when I stop for lunch at Taco Bell. My Kindle battery would have fried by now in the Texas heat, but my book is still there, with a ribbon bookmark, to entertain me next time I want a burrito.
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Now, leaning back towards the e-reader, I must mention that I loaded the "Cooks Illustrated" app on my IPhone, with pleasing results. I don't read many magazines any more, but I do enjoy "Cooks Illustrated." I don't cook much, but I love the scholarly, scientific approach used by the editors and writers at these magazines, not to mention their enlightened use of gadgets (which are my real love.) The app is simple to use, and it not only includes recipes, it also includes videos on how to follow the recipes. If one is not a subscriber, the recipes are limited, but there is a nice selection, and the app if free. I also have the "Cooks Illustrated How to Cook Library" on my Kindle. It is well put together and illustrated, but doesn't have the color and video features that make the Apple app exciting.
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