The End of the PC...

[Charl]

Well maybe not quite, but Tablets open up a set of choices I wouldn't have considered sitting at a PC screen.

This cropped up because I finished reading my latest (4 month old) edition of Air International, and on the last page was offered a "scan and subscribe" blob.
I pointed an iPad at it, and the Jan 2013 edition was up in a minute.

Landed here, 4 months after cover date, 1 paper edition is stickered $14.20.
(Now puts tongue out slightly, calculates)
A year bought singly from the news-stand is then $170.40
Annual electronic subscription is 35 pounds... say NZD68... you can see where this is going.

It's a no-brainer, I am going to convert my paper subs and save a bundle.
And sell all shares in shipping and paper pulp production.

And, I get to write to the editor and maybe see a response, in my lifetime.

[Ian Warren]

There is one good with paper in regard to this is the book you require on the shelf for research , news magazines are fine but at times you want the hard copy for its so easy to change the literature and writings to suit the times but also there is a lot of stuff on myself here you simple will not find on the www world , ... think of John Keys in a few years time ... I don't recall .. quick change ... get the SIS to change the historical tablet

[IslandBoy77]

There are certainly a lot of benefits to digital technology & tools like a tablet. When they get down to $100-$200, tablets will be at the right price point for what they are. There is a large trade-off that people aren't fully appreciating yet: loss of privacy and the ability of many "thems" to be able to know what people do, where they go (both physically & on the net) and a host of other similar things. Time will really tell the full story on this, but I fear that by the time the fullness of the downstream effects of privacy loss are felt and appreciated, it will be too late. Do any of us really believe that digitally-stored historical records of anything won't become target for revisionists, no matter how well meaning they are? The temptation to "put things right" will be too high, IMO.

[ZK-LGD]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Jan 4 2013,4:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do any of us really believe that digitally-stored historical records of anything won't become target for revisionists, no matter how well meaning they are? The temptation to "put things right" will be too high, IMO.

Please, don't get me started on this issue. As a "card-carrying" historian, the wholesale transferal of such records to any digital storage medium has me very scared ... especially come the Great Brown Out.

[scaber]

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Jan 4 2013,4:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a large trade-off that people aren't fully appreciating yet: loss of privacy and the ability of many "thems" to be able to know what people do, where they go (both physically & on the net) and a host of other similar things. Time will really tell the full story on this, but I fear that by the time the fullness of the downstream effects of privacy loss are felt and appreciated, it will be too late. Do any of us really believe that digitally-stored historical records of anything won't become target for revisionists, no matter how well meaning they are? The temptation to "put things right" will be too high, IMO.

All good and valid points, and sadly so far no significant realisation of these factors by either users or promoters of these devices

[Charl]

Ahh Luddites, the lot of you!
I so want Big Brother to profile me 100% so I get junkmail that satisfies my deepest cravings...
And I truly don't care who knows what I do or where I go.
Also: the wicked ones of the world especially, need a little of this closer inspection.

As to security of the history? Please!
When there is only a paper copy available, it is the easiest thing for it to get "lost" either by accident or design.
It is precisely in this way that histories get re-written.

In a networked world, on the other hand, there is much more likelihood of multiple originals surviving.
The Keepers of the History are the same people who would keep the paper, and they just have a better tool!

Oh and the electronic editions of the mags are waay better than paper, as they interact and link and dance in entertaining ways.
Books should go there, too, folk might start reading again.

[AlisterC]

I wouldn't want to read my expensive laptop/ipod in the bath, but would quite happily do it with my paper copy magazine I find reading a pdf on a PC a frustrating affair for the most part. But, you've certainly raised a good point about the price being right!

[IslandBoy77]

Ah, Charl - the poster child for the new "give it to me now no matter the cost" group.

Well, let me know how well your experiment works out when the big power switch gets thrown. Of course, those of us luddities with books and paper can still get a good read - so long as the power switch throwers don't decide to have a book-burning session to stoke the turbines for your power!

As I said earlier, there are certainly a lot of pluses to the new mobile technology (and the main reason I don't have a tablet or even laptop is priorities: there's only so much money, and useful toys are at the bottom of the list). I still contend that our world is far more unstable & unpredictable than what most people are willing to accept, and relying too heavily on digital technology is going to end up biting a lot of people. Problem is, when "it" happens, I won't be able to tell you "I told you so" because I'll need power for my computer to do so...

[Charl]

You're right it's about priorities, and the iPad is not mine, but a cleverly disguised Xmas pressie to the wife, who doesn't mind me playing with it!

Mind you, I saved a bundle not going with that "give it to me now no matter the cost" rubbish that MS trotted out in the last incarnation of FS... hardware maybe 6, 7 grand since '06, never mind all the very expensive payware you'd have to have!

QUOTE (AlisterC @ Jan 5 2013,1:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldn't want to read my expensive laptop/ipod in the bath...

Me neither, but generally I read last thing at night, and if I want to do so later than my bedmate wants to be awake, I switch off the bedside light, and read on!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (AlisterC @ Jan 5 2013,1:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldn't want to read my expensive laptop/ipod in the bath,

Or in my case , some off the very expensive books i have here ..... WHOOPS .. only have a shower here .. OK in that case there is no way im having a shower hold an umbrella while i use my laptop or read my expensive book

[Charl]

Ian: you need a Showerdome...

And if all this is not enough, what will the Luddites be thinking of this? a Virtual Control Tower, no bricks and mortar here folks:
http://www.reporterherald.com/news/lovelan...d-virtual-tower

[deeknow]

QUOTE (Charl @ Jan 5 2013,7:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And if all this is not enough, what will the Luddites be thinking of this? a Virtual Control Tower

What could possibly go wrong !!!

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Charl @ Jan 5 2013,7:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ian: you need a Showerdome...

Ah Ha .. something a little like the cone of silence

[Snowman]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jan 5 2013,9:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah Ha .. something a little like the cone of silence

The "Cone of Silence".................
Geeez Ian,......... youve watched tooooo many episodes of "Get Smart" back in the 70s.........

Lawrie.

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (Snowman @ Jan 5 2013,10:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The "Cone of Silence".................
Geeez Ian,........

Arrrr Chief .. did'nt hear that .