[Tfug] PDA non-usage

Tue Feb 5 18:04:41 MST 2008

On Tue, Feb 05, 2008 at 04:08:20PM -0800, Bexley Hall wrote:
>In my case, it's not the size/weight that's an issue
>(though things as big as a Newton would have to sing,
>dance, spit nickels AND wash my car to coerce me to
>carry them  :-/ ).  Rather, it's the fact that they
>dictate *how* I have to carry them.
>
>E.g., I don't want to have something in a front shirt
>pocket.  And, I don't carry a briefcase or man-purse.
>Things that I don't use often -- but want to have with
>me -- belong in a *back* pocket (like a WALLET, knife,
>etc.).  And, PDA's just don't survive the sudden "mass
>event" when I sit down!  :>

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?  :)

>>I am something of an unusal case...
>
>three eyes?  two heads??  :>
>
>>though perhaps not so unusual on this list.  :)
>
>yikes!  *Lots* of three-eyed, two-headed beasts??

I've been on this list since nearly the beginning and, judging from the
meetings we had in the late 90s, I can... well, maybe it's better left unsaid.
:)

>>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".  :)

>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?  That probably gets old really fast.

>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, 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.

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).
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.

>>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 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.

>>I had an summer internship with the NSA just after
>>finishing my second year at the UA.  I was exposed to
>>Palm PDAs for the first time (a Palm III).  I liked
>it
>>a lot and also thought it would make a great ebook
>>reader so I purchased a Palm Vx that same summer.
>
>I had a III that was disappointing (contrast ratio).
>The Vx is somewhat better.  If I could have an m515
>that was just monochrome, that would probably be
>the best... there, I think the CCFL makes a big
>difference
>over the electroluminescent one in the III/Vx.

Yes, the contrast on the III and Vx was not particularly good.  As much as I
dislike Sony, my previous PDA, a Clie SL-20 (I think that was it.  It was a
donation) was a OS 3.5 unit, and its monochrome screen had amazing contrast.
And the battery lasted hours and hours even with the backlight on.  Really a
nice PDA.  My current Clie TH-55 has a high-res color screen, but it too has
good contrast and great battery life.  Which is good because if you *do* turn
off the backlight it's like looking into the darkness of space...

>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.

-- 
--John Gruenenfelder    Research Assistant, UMass Amherst student
                        Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
Try Weasel Reader for PalmOS  --  http://weaselreader.org
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