I had donned the black turtleneck jumper for the photo shoot but the look wasn't so much Steve Jobs as Subo, so Jessica did the honours instead and unveiled the iSlate. I had picked it up when I went to visit my mother this weekend. It had belonged to her mother, Luisa Baruffaldi, and was used in the
trattoria/crotto that she ran to keep a tally of what the men owed. Below is a picture of nonna Luisa, nonno Mario and my mother Libushka taken in 1925. Whether the iPad lasts so long and preserves its usefulness is to be questioned.Not that I want to be too much of a luddite, but I sat on a train heading down to Lancaster, pulled out the novel I was reading, opened the pages and there I was immersed in the story. I didn't have to worry about switching on a device, loading the file and scrolling the pages. For what use is being able to carry 100 books when you can only read one at a time?
I could place it on the table, nip to the buffet and come back with a cup of tea. I wasn't worried about anyone making off with it. I probably wouldn't feel the same about leaving an e-reader on its own.
But that is just my opinion and fortunately the world is full of people with differing opinions.
ps A happy 87th birthday to Catdownunder's father. He is of the right vintage to appreciate the iSlate.
2 comments:
He says to tell you 'thankyou' and that they were a great deal more fun than e-readers. (I have just been told about the way they could be made to 'squeak' and how you cleaned them. Ugh!
Slates last for ever and create no waste and less mess than blackboards, let along whiteboards which are disgustingly messy. I imagine most of what people write each day, especially in schools and cafes, is just jotting with no long-term significance, but now it gets written in pen on paper. This is the kind of thing we'd work on if we were serious about green issues. Perhaps electronic systems have cut down on paper (or perhaps not) but at the cost of electricity and dead laptops in landfills. Bring back the slate. (My mother used one by the way, not because she's 100 years old but but because paper was rationed during the War.)
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