"THE TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGEIN' "

AMAZON'S KINDLE E-READER and APPLE'S I PHONE

A recent visit to our original hometown Sydney, to celebrate my dear wife's 70th Birthday, gave rise to this post.


We had the privilege of staying in my Brother-in-Law's Unit overlooking Centennial Park and of enjoying his very generous hospitality over a number of days. He is not daunted by technology ( I am, late in life, trying to hone my powers of understatement).
As a consequence we had the chance to check out and use the latest "stuff". He is an Apple Afficionado so the I Phone was there - but he has demonstrated its wonders on previous occasions. He also has the I Pad ( a gift from a class of grateful students!) and the Amazon 3G Kindle.As it happens, I have had some previous introduction to E Readers at Maz and Nathan's place at Christmas , when Nathan's Mum showed us her Sony Reader. Now I had an opportunity to try I Pad and Kindle at my leisure. The I Pad shines for its design, capacities and functionality - it is remarkably intuitive to use . But, the fact that it is also very pricey ( as is the I Phone) means that for me it is beyond even hope - so away with Apple dreams. But the Kindle , at $189 , is well within planning possibility.It is a remarkable unit-well-designed, handy in size, huge in capacity(thousands of books), search capability and note taking capability plus a memory for which page you have reached in each book. With downloads quite cheap and a huge range of new and classic titles available - many at token prices, it is an ideal tool , especially for research. It will be invaluable when I am researching FOUNDATION and doing webposts on the Blogs. I have made a start by downloading Kindle for PC on my trusty Notebook - so I can begin building my E Library here - it can then be easily and freely transferred to up to 5 devices including the Kindle proper or a suitable phone (hmmmmm........ Rob's "Wildfire" ? .....No, she wouldn't let me near it!!) In time, I can build up a solid  Religious and History Classics Library at very little cost and have it at hand when I am preparing posts. Fabulous for travel reading and research if I ever get the chance again - surely the weekly "investment Certificates" will ultimately come good!


Just as I Pods and their imitators have destroyed the CD industry and Music Shops are collapsing into memory -  incredible as it might seem -  that institution of the last four centuries at least, the Bookshop, let alone the books they sell, seems to be becoming an "endangered species"( Ugh! I hate that phrase and all the phoney "last remaining whatevers" that usually attend it). I know, I know, like me, many will say : "Nothing will replace the feel of a book" or "no-one wants to curl up with an E Reader"etc. Don't bet on it ! Remember that these changes are being driven by the responses of a generation or three far more adept than people of my own vintage and already making their weight felt in the collapse of newspaper readership. Hang on tight - we are on a very bumpy ride on runaway technology. The best we can do, is to make use of it for our own purposes and pray that neither we nor ours, or our interests get in its way! It does not take prisoners!


Anyway, my interest has really been Kindled !!