So I just got a new Samsung Galaxy S over the weekend and have been playing around with it like crazy, of course....... And it occurs to me soon enough that there are hardly any apps worth downloading that has anything to do with writing or heck, reading.
I know, I know - how much reading can you really do on these tiny screens? But surprisingly a lot, you might find. It has also been a while since most of my reading has been on screen - not only because the number of physical nooks I buy has dwindled (I still buy all my books for class and then more) but because there are just such a vast amount available to read.
I've also been observing that a lot of submission guidelines for magazines - especially the website oriented ones, obviously - indicate a preference for shorter pieces more suitable for the screen. So I'm actually wondering - why don't they go the full length and make an app? Do they exist and I just failed in finding it, or is it just not cost-efficient for the small number that will download it?
I guess I am just trying to think this through. People who buy Kindle are mostly all readers to start with. People who buy smartphones are not. Promote enough 'reading apps', and could we maybe even promote these mags as well? Get more people reading? Subscribing? Saving the world?
Bottom line, I would seriously love to have handy buttons to just click through and access all the lovely stories that simultaneously inspire me and make me despair. Ideomancer at www.ideomancer.com/wp has somewhat right idea. So dear readers, if you know of ways I can squeeze in more reading between waiting for transportation and awkard time slots between classes, please do let me know.
Oh, and do not get me started on the whole all tablets=iPads & all smartphones=iPhones thing. I see one more website that proudly declares "iPhone edition" for a mobile site... I'll.... I'll....
(The New Yorker does this. What...what am I supposes to SAY??)
I would help but my cell phones are just crappy little Nokia prepay ones because I don't bother talking on the phone.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many apps I could get for my Droid...still waiting on the Netflix one.
ReplyDeleteEdge of Your Seat Romance
Well, when you're paying per word, shorter is cheaper . . .
ReplyDeleteStill looking for now... Asked ppl at work, but one told me about zinio, which she has on her iPad and which I could not find on the android market.
ReplyDelete@Deborah That is true - another, possibly stronger reason to ask for shorter wordcounts.
I bet Margaret Atwood has an iPad. So there ya go...your hero lol.
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ReplyDeleteI am that generation that remembers life without cell phones, but who isn't too set in her ways to just assume that old school is better. When I purchased an iPhone last October, it turned me into a teenager. I hate it and I love it.
ReplyDeleteOn my blog located at genresofmylife.blogspot.com I have a couple humorous posts about smart phones. Check them out!
@Michael Offutt
ReplyDeleteIt's not really that I'm against iPad TOO much (ohohohoho), but really that it's not the ONLY tablet/phone/mp3/singing monkeys out there. A mobile site is one for all mobiles, not only the iSomethings. The moment someone says "turn off your iPods" instead of "turn off your mp3 players", I will automatically judge that person to be technologically dumb consumer who doesn't think beyond the first shiny commercial they see. (So nyaaaa, obviously =P)
On the other hand, you know, the tech-savy people around me who are the engineers, the CS majors, the digital artists - which includes anything from film to mixing music to 3D art - I see them touting Apple, and I can see that from their point of view. Just, not the kiddies in my lecture halls with their macbooks they use to surf facebook while not paying attention to their profs.
And yes, Margaret Atwood probably has an iPad - because she probably has all the gadgets in the world and then some. Did you know she's an inventor, too? /fangirl moment
@Holly Vance
Of course right now I'm feeling like my android has turned me into a suave business woman who must simply check her mail every minute to ensure nothing goes wrong during the second I take my eyes off work.
Although that doesn't include the games/fun apps I've downloaded them. But the calorie counter is just wicked and the Choice of Games are just soo addicting....
....anyways. Off to check out your blog now! =)
Very interesting question. Perhaps your new calling in life - inventing writing/reading apps??? :)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Rach
invent a writing/reading app --> save the world. I like it. I have a blackberry, which has microsoft word/powerpoint/excel apps and that works nicely for me. I don't know that I'd want to get books on it, sicne I could just as well throw a book in my purse along with my blackberry and save my eyes the strain.
ReplyDelete<3 Gina Blechman
Yeaah :) Love http://bit.ly/oJ6PDh
ReplyDeleteHi! Just letting you know I gave your blog the Liebster Award!
ReplyDeletehttp://belle-knight.blogspot.com/2011/09/liebster-award.html
Very Nice Blog !
ReplyDeleteI Like This Very Much.
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i would love to get one !
ReplyDeleteGreat idea.......
ReplyDelete