Bookstores [Was: Re: Going OT [Was: Re: Replacing PBXes with Open Source]]

[Tilly, Lawrence]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: gnhlug-discuss-admin at mail.gnhlug.org 
> [mailto:gnhlug-discuss-admin at mail.gnhlug.org] On Behalf Of 
> Michael Costolo
> Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 9:12 AM
     <snip>
> And electronics, computers in particular, have changed 
> dramatically in just the last decade.  A book can be picked 
> up and read by anyone, at any time.  Try and find a working 5 
> 1/4" disk drive.  Or an old tape drive that used the 
> audio-style casettes (a-la the TRS-80).  Or a punch card 
> reader.  Or, for that matter, a laser-disk player.

Hey!  I have a Laser Disk player. And until they release the original
version of the first Star Wars trilogy on DVD (never) I'm going to keep
it in working order as long as I can.  :-)

As for ebooks, I think they have their place. One of my favorite
presents to receive is a nice hard-back book and my wife takes time to
track them down for me when she can. I love to see them on my shelf and
I greatly enjoy the feel of sitting down to read one.  However, I also
recently got a Palm T3 with a nice chunk of memory. After loading all
the important software ( Tetris, Asteroids, etc ) I sought out a number
of ebooks. I have often had meetings, conference calls, waits at a
service shop, etc where I can pull up the tiny handheld and reread
Hitchhiker's Guide, LoTR, Foundation, etc.  I don't have to worry about
taking one of my large books around, loosing it, damaging it, etc. It's
ready for a quick break. I also have Thinking in Java and a number of
other reference works on it which have their place as well.  It (nor any
other electronic media) will ever replace my love of a "real" book, but
for the niche it does fill I'm thankful.

To keep slightly on-topic, I do wish it was a Linux-based
hand-held...but at least it's not micro-Windoze!!   ;-)

-Lawrence