Happy ending

[catsittingstill]

I locked myself out of the house yesterday.  Fortunately, Kip was due home in a little over an hour.  Unfortunately, it was raining.  Fortunately a little bit of the back patio is covered by an overhang of the house and we have a plastic chair there.  Plus I had a couple of empty shopping bags to sit on, to help keep my seat warm.

And most fortunately of all, I had my PDA in my pocket.  With--ta da!--about a dozen e-books on it.  So at least I had something to read.

Which makes me think--even if I had a Kindle, or a Cybook, right now, I probably wouldn't have taken it on a shopping expedition with me; it's about the size of a trade paperback, and I wouldn't carry it around all the time (well, not after the first couple of weeks :-)).  So it would be a good idea to keep some e-books on my PDA even if I get a larger e-book reader.

Another good reason to go for DRM-free Mobipocket e-books, which I can load on as many anythings as I like (with the exception of the Sony, I think, but I don't want the Sony anyway.  Actually, come to think of it, Baen books are also multiformat, so I could even use them on the Sony.)

Comments

[mdlbear]

There's a reason why I use a shoulder bag big enough to hold an A5 object. I'd like to use something smaller and lighter, especially when traveling, but...

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

A5 is about 5 1/2 by 8 1/2, right? Or do you mean more like a laptop?

Anyway--I figure most shoulder bags would hold a trade paperback, which is about the size of most e-book readers. But I have to admit a fondness for stuff I can just put in my pockets and forget about. Until I need it, that is. :-)

[mdlbear]

A5 is half of an A4 page, so that's right. Unfortunately the bag is now so crammed full of stuff that it won't hold a paperback anymore.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

I think the solution is defense in depth. That's why I'm usually found with PDA and laptop (both with wifi and loaded with etexts) as well as the physical book I'm currently reading. It's just not worth the risk of being caught without reading material.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

:-) I appreciate your strategy. It's just that I have a bad back, and carrying a laptop everywhere is hard for me. The pda, being small and light, is much easier to just stuff in a pocket.