Kindles and iPads and iPods, Oh My!

I have an unhealthy obsession with electronics. I'd have all the latest innovations if I hadn't eventually realized that I have a problem and needed to stop myself. I still buy the latest phone from my wireless carrier every year and finally, I think technology has accomplished what I was hoping it would do -- make my desktop and netbook computers nearly obsolete.


The Case Against eReaders


I looked at Kindles when they first came out. I thought 'how cool is that, that I can slip this thing into my purse and read a book anywhere and pay a fraction of what the book costs new?' Yeah, not cool. I can slip a paperback into my purse just as easily. I mean, I've always carried a larger purse, and there's probably already a magazine in there. I can fit a book. Hell, I can fit my netbook in there. Secondly, I can wait until a book comes out in paperback. Remember when you'd have to wait a couple of years for a book to come out in paperback, and 'instant gratification' hadn't been coined yet? Most times you can find them a year after their release in hard back, and if you want it sooner than that, just wait until people start selling their hardbacks on Amazon. I don't want a Kindle because it's one more thing I have to worry about charging or replacing batteries for..... I'm not sure how it gets its power, I've never cared to have one. Another thing is: I can download a Kindle or any other ebook reader to my phone, desktop or laptop FOR FREE!!!  I was in Borders the other day when an elderly man was looking at the Sony eReader -- he'd already said he didn't need one; he was simply curious. As the young 20-something salesperson was extolling the virtues of the device and moving in for the hard sell and kill, I piped in that the gentleman could download a reader to his home computer or even smart phone for free and buy his books that way. Then I got hammered by two salespeople that said that the computer and phone could hurt my eyes after so many hours of reading. That stopped me cold, and not because they were stating a medical fact, but because I couldn't remember the last time I read a REAL book for hours (I get in about 15 minutes a day). When I reiterated this fact to the group, the elderly gentleman moved on. Apparently, he didn't have hours to read real books either.


No iPod or iPad for Me, Thanks.


I don't own an iPod or any other MP3 player. My daughter begged for an MP3 two years ago for Christmas. My intuition told me not to get it for her. My intuition said it will be at the bottom of a drawer or left carelessly in a discarded purse. The latter location is where I found it last week. She stopped using it about a month after she got it. Why? Because you can create FREE playlists online. She used www.playlist.com for her last party and we ran bigger speakers off the netbook to generate the night's party music. You can create several playlists for different occasions, just like an iPod; I have eight of them myself.  I'm also using www.pandora.com lot lately because it generates music based on my likes and dislikes. Again, they are both, FREE FREE FREE!!  Anywhere I can get a phone signal, I can have my music; I don't need a separate device. Now you might say, 'but what if you're stranded somewhere?' Well, in the times I have been stranded somewhere, I've never wished I had a transistor radio, I've wanted a phone.


As far as the iPad goes, my phone is an Android-powered phone. I'm covered. I'd probably break the thing in half anyway, and it's yet another thing I have to worry about leaving somewhere and charging. My netbook works well for everything else -- and I was smart and got an awesome little Toshiba that gives me 9 hours of battery power AND it has a full-size keys.


The other night I was testing the voice recognition software on my Android phone. I was fully prepared for it to be laden with mistakes and I'd have to wait another year or two before I could finally ditch computers altogether. Yesterday I wrote my first full length article using just my phone. How cool is that?