Sunday, June 6, 2010

I really can't imagine wanting a dedicated e-reader to replace, say, books. Books are already kind of the perfect medium. But journal articles are another matter; I hate reading them on a computer screen but feel guilty for printing them out (or, rarely, photocopying them). I could really get behind a gadget that simply had JSTOR and Project Muse on it. It could be called "My Precious."

It would need to have Zotero, though.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Textbooks, too!

Natalia said...

No, I really have no interest whatever in textbooks.

Sharon K. Goetz said...

...A blocked browser, then, that talks only to three sites? It'd need an e-mail client as well, even if it hid the app from you, or you'd lose some of the JSTOR and Muse functionality. At that point it'd make better sense to get a normal laptop or swivel tablet (e.g. one, two), aside from the e-ink.

I have found exactly one use for the Kindle we've had lying around for several months: reading without cover art. But in this book's case, I could also have used my smartphone, which is easier to shove into a pocket as I exit transit. (D. is building a Kindle app, hence the purchase.) I remain baffled by anyone who *likes* reading on an iPad, for a bunch of reasons too long for this already overlong comment.

Natalia said...

You're overthinking this, Sharon. I just want to be able to read articles on BART without having printouts flapping around and losing paperclips and whatnot. I actually think bound journals, at least the small format ones, are ideal for public transit. It's just that I only subscribe to a few in print.

Sharon K. Goetz said...

When do I not overthink things with multiple parameters?