TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
RE: Article: The e-book era is here (despite reports to the contr ary)
Subject:RE: Article: The e-book era is here (despite reports to the contr ary) From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 12 Sep 2001 16:57:20 -0700 (PDT)
> I have to agree with Bruce. The eBook technology is very
> non-impressive, and
I haven't read the article, but I wanted to put my .02 in here. An
ebook isn't something trying to be a pdf or an information
database...it is simply the electronic equiv of a book.
You don't make backup copies of a book. I've NEVER seen anyone at a
photocopier making a duplicate of a 300 page S. King book for
bckup...to give a copy to a friend, yes...but not for bckup.
You cannot press a button on a paperback and have copies come out of
a printer. You read it. Period.
I hear it coming..."Yeah...but you can't highlight in it or make
notes in the margins." OK, tough. I don't do that.
On the othe hand, right now, if I want a paper book, I go somewhere
and I buy it, or I buy it and it gets delivered 1, 2, 3 days or more
from now. ebook...I go online, I order it, I download it. I read it.
I erase it.
Think of other uses for it.
Technical manuals for on-site techs. Travel to a site. Plug in.
Download the newest version of a router installation manual. Install
router, erase manual, download material for next installation. Move
on. No PC to boot, no CDs to deal with.
Medical files. Doctor in hospital making rounds. Plugs ebook into
outlet at nurse's station. Couple of minuts, all the latest medical
records for all the patients on that floor are downloaded. Doctor
goes from bed to bed, reading all files up to and including the
nurse's notes from the previous night. Maybe as the technology
matures, it will get combined into a PDA so he can make notes about
his rounds. At end of round, he plugs in again, it automatically
uploads new data (my digital camera goes into upload mode as soon as
I plug in the USB cable with no commands from me) and it becomes part
of the next day's downloaded records.
Besides.. the technology is new and expensive...wait until it reaches
critical mass...in the beginning, most people thought PDAs wouldn't
go far. How about those tiny little WAPI displays on cell phone.
Remember what they were saying when Windows 1.0 came out?
Geezz, guys..think outside the box once in a while.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
+++ Miramo -- Database/XML publishing automation. See us at +++
+++ Seybold SFO, Sept. 25-27, in the Adobe Partners Pavilion +++
+++ More info: http://www.axialinfo.comhttp://www.miramo.com +++
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
