[Tfug] PDA non-usage

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, John,
--- John Gruenenfelder <johng at as.arizona.edu> wrote:

> Ah, well I've never carried anything in my back
> pockets.  I keep my wallet and
> PDA in my side pockets; it's just uncomfortable
> otherwise.  Perhaps I do not
> have an adaquately proportioned derrier?  :)

You are actually *smarter* doing that -- harder for
a pick-pocket to get at it, etc.  And, carrying
things in back pockets has been known to cause
nerve damage in some men (though I don't know if
you need a *big* butt or a *tiny* one for this
to be an issue!  :> )

I just grew up with the back pocket being "where
things went".  Even when I wore suits I couldn't
get used to carrying a wallet/billfold in an
inner jacket pocket, etc.  <shrug>  Old habits die
hard...

> >>I can't stand cellphones.  I have one, yes, but it
> >>spends nearly all of its time turned off in my
> bag.
> >
> >Ditto.  I don't like phones, period (i.e. even the
> >land line is never "answered").  I consider them
> >too intrusive (hey, just because *you* want to talk
> >to me NOW, doesn't mean *I* want to talk to *you*
> >now!  :>).  But, I do keep a "service-less" phone
> >in the glove box for 911, etc.
> 
> I have decided to call people such as us
> "quasi-luddites".  :)

Hmmm... I'm not sure I fit the description.  I am
not averse to technology.  I just don't like people
interrupting me when it is convenient for *them*
(unilaterally -- as a phone tends to be) without  
concern for what I might be doing.  Hence the reason
I find email so much more appealing -- each party
deals with it at their own convenience!

> >But, since I don't carry it with me, it doesn't see
> >much real use for "notes" and the like -- unless I
> >come up with something while walking, etc.  (e.g.,
> >I began noticing "depressions" in the soil in
> various
> >places around the neighborhood.  I suspect due to
> >underground leaks in the water main.  So, I have a
> >"note" that I use to track these -- since the only
> >time I notice them is when I am "at ground level")
> 
> At ground level?  Meaning you've just sunk up to
> your neck in one of these future sinkholes?

:-/  No, I meant that you can't really see them when
driving down the street (at *street* level  :> ).
OTOH, when walking, they are right there beside
you!

> That probably gets old really fast.

Not to mention the danger of trolls!!
 
> >Ah, OK.  I will chase them down.  I have a hard
> time
> >reading much of anything (besides a short web page)
> >"on a machine".  I am too heavily wed to the touch
> >and feel of a real book -- an obsession I have been
> >actively trying to "break" for several decades,
> now!
> >(I actually managed to NOT attend the annual book
> sale
> >at the library this year.... SO FAR... :> )
> 
> I've certainly no shortage of printed books.  But,

Last time I moved, I had 60 "xerox paper boxes" of
paperbacks.  That doesn't count the ones I have in
storage.  Nor any of my textbooks, technical books
or databooks.  :<  You can see how motivated I am
to get rid of all this PAPER!!!  :>

> despite the small screen, I find the PDA has
> quickly become my preferred method of reading
> *book* length texts.  That's an important point.
> I don't care to read the newspaper, web
> sites, or a number of others things on my PDA.  But
> nearly all *books* contain
> just text and almost no formatting.  So, my program
> can impose certain
> formatting or restrictions on how the text is
> displayed to make it easier to
> read without destroying the overall feel of the
> book.

Good observation!  Yes, textbooks, childrens' books,
etc would be more difficult as they would contain
illustrations, charts, etc.  But, pure *text* is
an ideal "free form" medium!

> And at this point I've read a whole stack of novels
> on it.  Many, but not all,
> come from Project Gutenberg (an excellent source of
> free plain text books).

Yes, but I noticed most of them were (by design)
old texts that I had read years ago (things that
have since lost copyright protection).  If I
could easily *scan* a paperback (or, download
*any* title), that might be viable for me.  I'd
probably like a larger screen than the Palm, though.

OTOH, I saw a Sony (?) device with a decent size
screen but it seemed poorly implemented.  :<

> I've read some HG Wells, Verne, all of the Sherlock
> Holmes mysteries (that took a while), and plenty of
> others.
> 
> Aside from the small size and weight (often less
> than an actual book), I can
> read via its own backlight and don't need to keep a
> lamp on.

Good point.

> >>If I wanted to listen to an audio book, I would
> just
> >>use my MP3 player instead
> >
> >Understood.  Though, do you have the same degree of
> >control over navigation therein?  (I'm not keen on
> >audio books, either.  I just don't learn as well
> >"audibly" as I do "visually")
> 
> Actually, I've never listened to an audio book.  I

Understood.  I haven't met many folks who use this
medium.  The ones that I *have* met, seem invariably
to "read" while driving (I would think that would
take all the enjoyment out of it! -- books are 
delightful "escapes")

> just said that *if* I were
> to do so, I would use my MP3 player instead.  A
> friend once gave me the Hitch
> Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series on audio book,
> but, having read it several
> times already, I was more inclined to just read it
> again rather than listen to it.

Yes.  I think that hearing something read would
often take something away from it.  I.e., I enjoy
trying to sort out how a particular name *should*
be pronounced; hearing it pronounced would take
all the mystery out of it.

> >I've since begun scanning all of my paper archives
> >and burning to CD as well as disk (which are then
> >backed up onto tape).  I figure there's no
> guarantee
> >that I won't *lose* something at some point... but,
> >I just can't afford all of this *paper* (for
> example,
> >just the paperwork documenting a circuit board may
> >fill a folder 1.5" thick!)
> 
> I had intended to start doing this after I moved. 
> But, the amount of
> paperwork and mail I received declined sharply and I
> couldn't muster the wherewithall to actually do it.

I have probably scanned 10,000+ pages, already.
With an ADF, it goes pretty quickly (about 6ppm).
But, that assumes they are nice 8x11 sheets.
If you have to dick with a bunch of oddball
sizes, throughput drops to like 0.2 ppm  :<

Today, I scanned my Braille transcription manuals.
Probably 700pp.  They take up far less space on
a disk than the do on a bookshelf!  :>

Next, I have 3 cu ft of MULTICS manuals to run
through the ADF  :-(  But, it will be good to get
those out of here!

--don


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