Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 17, No. 369.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
www.princeton.edu/humanist/
Submit to: humanist@princeton.edu
[1] From: Patrick T Rourke <ptrourke@methymna.com> (25)
Subject: books and their openings
[2] From: Michael Hart <hart@beryl.ils.unc.edu> (34)
Subject: Re: 17.366 new books; books and their openings
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 07:05:20 +0000
From: Patrick T Rourke <ptrourke@methymna.com>
Subject: books and their openings
>Observations like Norman Hinton's in Humanist 17.361 I think we should take
>seriously, and not just because in this case I agree with his preference
>for the printed codex when reading in a sustained way.
For readability, it's impossible to beat a 6 x 8 x 1 in. codex with boards
- for instance, the I Tatti library books.
I wouldn't have put the "search inside the book" feature into the Amazon
basic search by default. Some things are just obvious, like not bringing a
pitcher back in the seventh inning after he's struggled in the eighth, and
not complicating your basic search functions at an online store in a way
that will return a larger number of irrelevant results to users who don't
choose to use the complex search functions.
>Is it not less than helpful to promote a "one size fits all" approach to
>the reading, say, of (a) a poem by Seamus Heaney, (b) a novel by Toni
>Morrison, (c) a write-up of research results from a high-energy physics
>project, (d) a scholarly monograph in the history of ideas, (e) a book
>review, (f) a survey of current work in cognitive science? (One might add
>the books listed in the previous note :-)
It's hard to promote a "one size fits all" approach to the same work in
different contexts and with different aims. For a lexicon, electronic
delivery is far more useful than for a poem. Ideally, I'd rather read
Station Island in codex than on the screen. But if I were trying to find
Heaney's line "the English language belongs to us now," and didn't know it
was from Station Island, the electronic version would be far more helpful
than any index. Is it my imagination, or is the printed concordance
largely dead?
Patrick Rourke
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 07:05:44 +0000
From: Michael Hart <hart@beryl.ils.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: 17.366 new books; books and their openings
My apologies for not including this yesterday.
A few more words about setting up for eBook reading:
In addition, there are many more variables in modern lighting than most
people ever consider. A quick trip or call to a lighting store finds:
1.
Bulbs with increased persistence = higher persistence, which do not
interfere with the refresh rates of monitors.
2.
Bulbs with a variety of spectrum types.
A.
If I am using fluroescent lights, I get wide spectrum.
Some are expensive, but GE F4OPL/AQ is a real bargain,
and the ones above me here last for years, 24/7. This
works particulaly well with the green letters [above].
B.
There are also a wider variety of incandescent lights
than one might suspect, also having wide persistence,
or decreased flicker. However, GE Soft White is fine
and available nearly everywhere.
3.
Obviously there are multitudes of light fixtures, lamps,
chandeliers, etc. Some people like multiple bulbs, and
some like single bulbs. . .it's worth the effort to put
in a little time finding out what's best for you.
Thanks!!!
So Nice To Hear From You!
Michael
As of October 31,
~10,175+ FreeBooks at:
http://gutenberg.net
Michael S. Hart
<hart@pobox.com>
Project Gutenberg
Executive Coordinator
"*Internet User ~#100*"
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