Re: Digital Age
You know what I've noticed? My hand writing has turned to mush...we're not used to writing as much these days. I used to have beautiful writing and now...its like I can't be bothered to pick up a pen. I want to type it all.
Likewise!! My handwriting used to be so beautiful and now I can't be bothered to write as a result my handwriting has become poorer.
Re: Digital Age
^ Exactly!!!
I still love to thumb through several old books that I have jotted notes in. I'll never get that feeling from electronic media. Never.
That is so true, whenever I look at my old junior and senior school books or diaries it brings back so many memories and just laughing at how our thinking was at that age. Or finding scribbles and doodles and notes sent by friends. I love my computer and yes it has made a lot of things easier but writing with pens and reading actual books is a completely different feeling.
Re: Digital Age
Who doesn't like the smell of fresh newspaper?
I don't; with today's papers - they smell so oily. Used to, when I was younger and they used something else for printing ink.
Re: Digital Age
Who doesn't like the smell of fresh newspaper?
especially when you are holding your hot serving of deep fried fish and chips in it.
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The reason newspapers were invented, at least in Pakistan. 
Re: Digital Age
Who reads newspapers anyway? I don’t. So much negative. Why pollute my mind. Better to read news that positively affects your mind. That’s why I have my personalized news selections online. 
Re: Digital Age
^ unless you read negative news you cant get the true sense of +ive news.
and on original topic, for everyday use, I like to go digital but when I am reading some book, I love it the old style way..I want to feel the paper in my hand. e-books are just a non starter for me. When I am reading a book I like, I want to be care free of battery running out, spilling coffee on the screen, falling of device on the floor etc...
Re: Digital Age
For someone who travels a lot, I love my Ipad. I used to carry 3-4 magazines and 1-2 books with me. That used to increase weight and not so convenient because you cant read them without proper light. Now I have my Books and Magazines in my Ipad (I have digital subscription of about 6 magazines). NOt only that I always have a latest issue of couple of magazines loaded in my Ipad but also I save huge amount of money. Digital subscriptions are not only cheap, but no one would be calling you to renew.
Re: Digital Age
i do appreciate being able to type and access notes all over without lugging it around, and ebooks. digital media is great for storing ideas once solidified.
but when coming up with something wispy - the seeds of a concept, or when it comes to solving a problem or coming up with a well-thought out design - anything that involves assisting the brain's thought process with quick scribbles, layered drawing, complicated arithmetic, abstracting thoughts - pen on paper is the most effective means for me personally. a cursor even with a mouse/touchscreen/keyboard is still extremely limited and drains more effort from your main thoughts, when compared to using your own fingers and paper and pen.
Re: Digital Age
Well-said Mr. Aziz Ansari.
Re: Digital Age
i do appreciate being able to type and access notes all over without lugging it around, and ebooks. digital media is great for storing ideas once solidified.
but when coming up with something wispy - the seeds of a concept, or when it comes to solving a problem or coming up with a well-thought out design - anything that involves assisting the brain's thought process with quick scribbles, layered drawing, complicated arithmetic, abstracting thoughts - pen on paper is the most effective means for me personally. a cursor even with a mouse/touchscreen/keyboard is still extremely limited and drains more effort from your main thoughts, when compared to using your own fingers and paper and pen.
This is the sort of material I was talking about that I want to feel paper for. I had to print and read queer's reply.
Re: Digital Age
Well-said, Maula Jatt.
It was painful for me to read on-screen also. 
[But most likely because of my ADD. ]
Re: Digital Age
i do appreciate being able to type and access notes all over without lugging it around, and ebooks. digital media is great for storing ideas once solidified.
but when coming up with something wispy - the seeds of a concept, or when it comes to solving a problem or coming up with a well-thought out design - anything that involves assisting the brain's thought process with quick scribbles, layered drawing, complicated arithmetic, abstracting thoughts - pen on paper is the most effective means for me personally. a cursor even with a mouse/touchscreen/keyboard is still extremely limited and drains more effort from your main thoughts, when compared to using your own fingers and paper and pen.
Very well put, Queer. I agree. As much as I'm in favor of all the points noted in post # 1, I still find myself scribbling down ideas. I am, however, using mind-mapping apps once in a while when I have a lot of ideas and need structured, organized plans. But I still love a good pen and paper.
Re: Digital Age
Haven’t you heard of the famous phrase " nellikyay, mumbil kakkim, pinnay madurikkim?
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Sorry, don’t know French. Please translate.
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Inspired by our resident philosopher in post 27 - Ned to read bad news so one can enjoy good news.
Nellikkay is a bitter fruit. But after eating it water tastes sweet.
Tastes Bitter - kakkim
Tastes Sweet - madhurikkim
Re: Digital Age
Here is a article in nytimes that is very informative on the cost of the digital age. Nothing is as free as it sounds. But, I don’t know how this compares to the cost of traditional print industry.
The article is about datacenters. I had a chance to visit a datacenter and the guy giving me the tour said the same thing.
A data center or computer centre (also datacenter) is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices. Large data centers are industrial scale operations using as much electricity as a small townand sometimes are a significant source of air pollution in the form of diesel exhaust.
Some major points from the first page of the article.
A yearlong examination by The New York Times has revealed that this foundation of the information industry is sharply at odds with its image of sleek efficiency and environmental friendliness.
Most data centers, by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner
Online companies typically run their facilities at maximum capacity around the clock, whatever the demand. This is because they need to have backup servers running all the time in case of failure of the mains servers
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company analyzed energy use by data centers and found that, on average, they were using only 6 percent to 12 percent of the electricity powering their servers to perform computations. The rest was essentially used to keep servers idling and ready in case of a surge in activity that could slow or crash their operations.
To guard against a power failure, they further rely on banks of generators that emit diesel exhaust. The pollution from data centers has increasingly been cited by the authorities for violating clean air regulations, documents show In Silicon Valley, many data centers appear on the state government’s Toxic Air Contaminant Inventory, a roster of the area’s top stationary diesel polluters.
**Worldwide, the digital warehouses use about 30 billion watts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear power plants. Data centers in the United States account for one-quarter to one-third of that load, the estimates show.**
“A single data center can take more power than a medium-size town.”
“This is an industry dirty secret, and no one wants to be the first to say mea culpa,” said a senior industry executive who asked not to be identified to protect his company’s reputation. “If we were a manufacturing industry, we’d be out of business straightaway.”
These physical realities of data are far from the mythology of the Internet: where lives are lived in the “virtual” world and all manner of memory is stored in “the cloud.”
The inefficient use of power is largely driven by a symbiotic relationship between users who demand an instantaneous response to the click of a mouse and companies that put their business at risk if they fail to meet that expectation.
Re: Digital Age
here is a virtual tour of google datacenters
Data centers ? Google Data centers
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Superb article. Highly informative. Thank you!
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Thanks again. Provides reality check.