> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > Michael Costolo > Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 9:12 AM <snip> > And electronics, computers in particular, have changed > dramatically in just the last decade. A book can be picked > up and read by anyone, at any time. Try and find a working 5 > 1/4" disk drive. Or an old tape drive that used the > audio-style casettes (a-la the TRS-80). Or a punch card > reader. Or, for that matter, a laser-disk player.
Hey! I have a Laser Disk player. And until they release the original version of the first Star Wars trilogy on DVD (never) I'm going to keep it in working order as long as I can. :-) As for ebooks, I think they have their place. One of my favorite presents to receive is a nice hard-back book and my wife takes time to track them down for me when she can. I love to see them on my shelf and I greatly enjoy the feel of sitting down to read one. However, I also recently got a Palm T3 with a nice chunk of memory. After loading all the important software ( Tetris, Asteroids, etc ) I sought out a number of ebooks. I have often had meetings, conference calls, waits at a service shop, etc where I can pull up the tiny handheld and reread Hitchhiker's Guide, LoTR, Foundation, etc. I don't have to worry about taking one of my large books around, loosing it, damaging it, etc. It's ready for a quick break. I also have Thinking in Java and a number of other reference works on it which have their place as well. It (nor any other electronic media) will ever replace my love of a "real" book, but for the niche it does fill I'm thankful. To keep slightly on-topic, I do wish it was a Linux-based hand-held...but at least it's not micro-Windoze!! ;-) -Lawrence _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss