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Join NOW!On February 26, 1995, just about twenty years ago, Newsweek published an article by Clifford Stoll called “Why the Internet Won’t Be Nirvana.” In it, Stoll provides a litany of faults to be found in the nascent web. Although there’s a decidedly un-zen tone to the article, Stoll makes some surprisingly accurate predictions—right alongside some laughable ones. […]
...moreAre we right to be nostalgic for a time before the internet when we could just read? Katy Waldman, writing for Slate, wonders if we might be misremembering things. I also realize, typing this confession of pathological distractibility, that I may be pining for an Eden of immersive focus that never existed. Did I ever really […]
...moreSure you love old-fashioned books, but sometimes they’re too bulky to carry on the bus, or you don’t want to devote valuable bookshelf real estate to something you’re not sure you’ll like. For those times, there are e-readers—or, when your e-reader’s production ends as the Nook’s just did, there are e-reader apps for your phone […]
...moreTraditionalists agree: There’s just something about good old-fashioned paper-and-glue books that e-readers can’t recreate. According to this Scientific American article, that “something” may be the way our brain processes written words as physical objects in “a kind of physical landscape.” Although e-readers like the Kindle and tablets like the iPad re-create pagination—sometimes complete with page numbers, […]
...moreYou’re a reasonable reader. You like the aesthetics of an old-fashioned paper-and-glue book, but you’re not averse to turning the virtual pages of an e-reader either. If that description sounds like you, here’s a DIY project you might like: making an old book into a Kindle case. (Physical-book purists, do NOT click the link. You […]
...moreThis should be interesting: a judge in San Antonio, Texas, is opening a library without books. Or rather, there will be books, but only digital ones, which patrons can read on e-readers in the library or at home. Since “[t]he community around the proposed location currently has no public library and is home to a […]
...more“One e-reader requires the extraction of 33 pounds of minerals. That includes trace amounts of exotic metals like columbite-tantalite, often mined in war-torn regions of Africa. But it’s mostly sand and gravel to build landfills; they hold all the waste from manufacturing wafer boards for the integrated circuits. “An e-reader also requires 79 gallons of […]
...moreThe big news this week was the iPad announcement, including the tech-world’s dismissal of it. (Fraser Speirs addresses that nicely.) But there’s a lot more happening in the world of e-books. For example, NASA just opened an e-book section and its first offering is a history of the X-15 hypersonic test aircraft. And the Library […]
...moreGreat piece by Anthony Gottlieb over at The Economist on one potentially big upside for e-readers over books–the ability to correct errors in real time, without the expense of pushing out a new set of copies. From a purely fiscal perspective, that’s a huge deal. Did an error slip past the editors? Not a problem–just […]
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