In the previous post, I mentioned public libraries. Public libraries are definitely in the "good enough" category as I've defined it. Where else can you get access to all of those resources for free? Not to mention the help of the librarians. I don't know about every town of course but in our town it's worth it to memorize the number of the reference desk at the library. Any time you have a tough question, try calling a librarian - they know where and how to find some of the most obscure answers out there. They're the unsung heroes of the information age!
Monday, November 29, 2004
"Good Enough" for reading
While I was browsing the bookstore the other day, in my annual check for books I should put on my Christmas gift list, it occurred to me: the reason e-books haven't caught on as well as people hoped, and the reason book sales seem to continue to do pretty well, is that books are, and have been "good enough". They have great resolution - better than an current LCD screen that I know of - and they're at least as portable as a PDA even though they're not always pocket-sized. The only way that e-books really have them beat is in weight and volume - you can certainly carry 200 e-books on your person, but 200 books? The price of books versus e-books is a matter of debate: you can get books for free at the public library, just as you can download public domain e-books for free. If you want to own one, books range from reasonable to outrageous ; I haven't checked e-book prices in a while but I'd guess they're cheaper - but as I just said, the advantage is nullified if you use your friendly public library.
Downgrading to "not quite good enough"?
This is an update to this earlier post about trying to downgrade to an organizer instead of a PDA.
I bought the organizer, and ordered the "free" (I had to pay shipping and handling of course) software that comes with it to back up organizer entries. The organizer works, and the software works, but it's just shy of being "good enough": there's no east way to convert my PDA address information into the backup format for the organizer.
I've played around with the file created when I backed up some test entries I made, and you can see where some of the fields go in the comma-delimited file, but there are a couple of columns that are put in the file whose purpose and meaning aren't clear.
The next step is one I'm debating, whether to spend $30 to see if their "desktop" software will work better for this purpose. I might do it, just to see, since 12.99 for the organizer and $30 for software is still way less than the PDA cost.
The other issue is the LCD on the thing, which is not the finest, but again for this purpose will work OK.
I'll let you know more if and when I find out.
I bought the organizer, and ordered the "free" (I had to pay shipping and handling of course) software that comes with it to back up organizer entries. The organizer works, and the software works, but it's just shy of being "good enough": there's no east way to convert my PDA address information into the backup format for the organizer.
I've played around with the file created when I backed up some test entries I made, and you can see where some of the fields go in the comma-delimited file, but there are a couple of columns that are put in the file whose purpose and meaning aren't clear.
The next step is one I'm debating, whether to spend $30 to see if their "desktop" software will work better for this purpose. I might do it, just to see, since 12.99 for the organizer and $30 for software is still way less than the PDA cost.
The other issue is the LCD on the thing, which is not the finest, but again for this purpose will work OK.
I'll let you know more if and when I find out.
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