Monday, January 07, 2008

New Product Announcement


I was browsing the web for a topic for today’s blog and ran across this utterly ingenious device. Thoughtful person that I am, I just had to share. I hope you find it as fascinating as I did….

Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge device, otherwise known as the BOOK.

It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere -- even sitting in an armchair by the fire -- yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disk.

Here's how it works: each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The "Browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Most come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session -- even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers.

Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is the entertainment wave of the future, and many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language stylus [PENCIL].

Well – what thinks you? Will it catch on?

In the meantime, here are some Books on Tape We Don't Want to Hear:

How To win Friends and Influence People as read by Dennis Rodman

Europe on $10 a Day as read by Steve Forbes

The Godfather as read by John Gotti

Moby Dick as read by Jonah

Crime and Punishment as read by OJ Simpson

A Tale of Two Cities as read by Ed Koch and Rudi Giuliani

Feynman's Lectures On Physics as read by Dan Quayle

The Joy of Cooking as read by Hannibal Lecter

Seriously, in this technological age, is anyone else old fashioned, like me, and simply loves the feel of a book in your hands? Or have you gone the e-book route and enjoy it every bit as much? I’d love to hear your comments since after reading Michelle’s wonderful review on Kindle a few weeks ago, I’ve been considering jumping on the tech wagon. What are your thoughts? Pros for e-readers? Cons?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, I totally prefer the feel of a book in my hand. There's nothing like walking into a bookstore and smelling that smell. Dust, old paper, kind of a mildewy smell. Anytime I smell that, I know I'm at my favorite place, be it bookstore or library. :)

Cindy Gerard said...

Hey Kaitlin
You're up late - or early :o)
Appreciate the comment.

I had something come up and I won't be near my computer for part of the day but I'll be checking in later and look forward to reading and commenting on everyone's posts.
So keep 'em coming :o)

Anonymous said...

I thought I was ready to try the e-reader route, but I just couldn't make myself spend $400 for something that looks like it 'almost' there. I did however find that my middle of the road cell phone makes a fine e-reader for novels and general prose. The big deal for me with the phone was the fact that I don't have to do anything different, I always have the phone on me and now it has some books as well. I get free books from http://www.booksinmyphone.com

Cindy Gerard said...

Hey Joel
I hear you on the $400 price tag. Ouch. This booksinmyphone is something I hadn't heard of. I just checked it out because my first reaction as a working author was - whoa - free books? How can that be? It appears that the only books offered are out of copywrite - so I'm breathing a little easier now.
I've heard of websites that offer books for free or minimal downloads and it's turned out that some of those sites have 'commandeered' books without author's permissions. I think another word for that is pirate :o) In any event, I'm glad to see that the site you use is on the level.

Unknown said...

Cindy, I love your "rogue's list" of books we don't want to hear! :)

And I do still love the feel of a book in my hands and the images of the covers that linger in my mind as I start reading.

I'm a major book junkie. . . which is probably cheaper than most other addictions and it's perfectly legal! Now if you just throw in some Haagen Daz. . .

Helen Brenna said...

LOL, Cindy! You echo my sentiments exactly. I'm a paper book person.

I think if I traveled a lot, I'd probably go the ebook route. Not as heavy and you don't have to wait to get to a book store for a new one. Sounds convenient.

Playground Monitor said...

We are blogging about the "keeper shelf" on our blog today and well... an e-book reader would eliminate that. You'd just have keeper files and that doesn't sound nearly as neat.

Cost of the reader aside, I'll take a paper book any day.

LOL on that books-on-tape list. How about "I'm OK, You're OK" by Britney Spears?

Marilyn

Michele Hauf said...

While I still admire the Kindle, I'm going to wait for it to go down to half price. :-)

I still love the good old fashioned Book. And what would a home be without a wall of lovely books to gaze upon admiringly? An entire wall of my office is bookshelves. There are days I can just sit there and look at the spines, smiling, admiring, remembering the adventures within. Ah...

Christie Ridgway said...

While I love paper books, I could go for an e-reader and am looking forward to the day when the "right" one is available. But I'm sure I'll still buy books and my keeper shelf isn't going anywhere!

Keeper files wouldn't be nearly as good, I think, because I go to my keeper shelf and look at the books to see what I feel like reading when I need a fix. Maybe cover images will work the same way for me? Somehow don't think so.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Not only do I love the feel of a book in my hands, I love being surrounded by books. Almost every room in this house has at least one book shelf, and it's not because that's the way I make my living. It's the way my life has been made. I came from a literate family, but not really a reading family. I was the only one who read for pleasure A LOT. When I was a kid I had a desk that was a bookcase on one side. I read the books, arranged them and rearranged them.

The only way I could have afforded "the college of my choice" was scholarship and work study. My work study job in the library for 4 years was pure heaven for me. I LOVED losing myself in the stack at Mount Holyoke. Every paper or project began with time spent in the stacks browsing the physical books. Not that I didn't use the card catalog (I miss those drawers, but that's another story) but finding my topic among the books is an essential part of my exploration. For the sake of this devoted reader and life-long student: Long live paper books!

Debra Dixon said...

The Kindle is the first e-reader that I've been tempted to buy. Like Michele, I'll wait a bit for the pricing to improve but I love their wireless availability.

And I wish it was sexier. LOL!

mslizalou said...

I love to read books. There is just something about holding a book in you hands while you read down the pages and then turn to the next page. I haven't really tried any of the ereaders yet. Right now they are so expensive that I won't get one. Hopefully, they will go down in price soon. I do get ebooks and read them on my computer some, but still isn't the same as turning pages in a book

Carol Burge said...

Like most everyone here commented, I love the feel of a book in my hands but...I'm seriously thinking of buying an ebook reader. Which one, I have not clue. I'm at that point now, trying to decide which one to buy (if any).

I don't want to spend a lot of money for one, but it looks like I just might have to, if I decide to go that route. They're sooo expensive!

One thing I know for sure, though, it won't be the Kindle. The price tag is just waaayy too much for my pocketbook.

I'll never love an ebook as much as a real, honest to goodness traditional book, but, because I have a TON of ebooks on my computer, and I hate reading them on it (I've never got past more than a few pages), I just might have to go with the times and break down and buy an ebook reader.

Unknown said...

I've never tried an e reader because it seems ungainly. But do you think that's just our generation? Will the future readers be more comfortable caring fiction around in a rectangle of plastic?

Keri Ford said...

Helen makes a great point, that little thing would be handy for travel, but if I had one, that'd be the ONLY time I'd read off it.

After staring at the computer screen/TV all day, I don't want to read for fun on that same glowing white background with deep black writing. My eyes need a break from the bright lights.

Cindy Gerard said...

Hey guys and I'm enjoying all of your comments.
I think Lois may have hit the nail on the head about the generation thing. What do you think Ernest Hemingway would have thought of the PC? Did anyone here start writing on a typewriter? I did. And look how far we've come. Once I printed every page I wrote as I wrote. Now I rarely print a ms even when it's complete. I e-mail my finished novel to my editor.
With the cost of paper and the ecology issues, I do forsee a day when paper books will be priceless treasures kept under glass. How sad that there will be a generation who will never develop a love or appreciation for the lovely scent and feel and weight of a book in hand. Of course, there is already a generation out there not familiar with outhouses, rotary phones and 50 cent a gallon gas ....

Cindy Gerard said...

By the way - Happy New Year everyone. I've been pretty embroiled with family and comings and goings and have missed wishing everyone all things shiny and bright for the coming year.

Anonymous said...

As others have already stated, I much prefer a hard copy of a book over an elecronic one. While I have read a few e-books, it's not the same experience. As for whether or not it's a generation thing, all I can say is that my nieces and nephews (ages 6 - 20)
all prefer hard copies of books.
They will spend endless hours playing games and im'ing, but there's nothing like finding a quiet spot to sit back, relax and enjoy a good read.

Fedora said...

Another old-fashioned reader here--I love hard-copy books, and haven't gone the ebook reader route yet; I've read a few books by PDF (on the computer) but don't quite like that nearly as much. The space thing is definitely a point in favor of the ebooks, but I'm not ready to make the switch yet!

Cindy Gerard said...

Thank you all for weighing in. So glad I'm not the only traditionalist - or the only romantic, Picking up some real sensual vibes here - the touch and scent and the feel of a book in our hands. Yep. Definitely sensual..