>how about the U.K. where miserly pols are closing libraries even though the Guardian says "a third of UK children do not own a single book and three-quarters claim never to read outside school"?
So, the argument here is that at least 75% of the children never use libraries, so libraries should be kept open? Interesting but, I'm afraid you've lost me there.
I don't really see reading books on a phone. The text is too small. On a tablet, sure, that works, and I've been very happy to dump all my shelves and
Don't knock it until you've tried it; While a proper e-ink screen is nicer, new phones with large, high-res screens are really nice to read on, and even older phones aren't bad (I read loads of books on my 4" Nexus S). More importantly phones have the big advantage that you have it with you practically everywhere by default and they're almost always connected.
On a train? Read a book on your phone. Waiting in line for something? Read the same book on your phone. Waiting for a late friend? Read the same book
I got my first cell phone last January. It cost me $20, and I paid $10/mo for (limited) voice, text, and data. But that phone only ran J2ME apps and was pretty restricted, so in November I got a new one for $30. Android 2.3.6, so now I can do a lot more with it. I'm still paying the same $10/mo for my service.
The argument for libraries: who wants them? (Score:2)
>how about the U.K. where miserly pols are closing libraries even though the Guardian says "a third of UK children do not own a single book and three-quarters claim never to read outside school"?
So, the argument here is that at least 75% of the children never use libraries, so libraries should be kept open? Interesting but, I'm afraid you've lost me there.
I don't really see reading books on a phone. The text is too small. On a tablet, sure, that works, and I've been very happy to dump all my shelves and
Re: (Score:1)
Phone-reading (Score:2)
Phones are out of the question
Don't knock it until you've tried it; While a proper e-ink screen is nicer, new phones with large, high-res screens are really nice to read on, and even older phones aren't bad (I read loads of books on my 4" Nexus S). More importantly phones have the big advantage that you have it with you practically everywhere by default and they're almost always connected.
On a train? Read a book on your phone. Waiting in line for something? Read the same book on your phone. Waiting for a late friend? Read the same book
A bigger monthly bill (Score:2)
More importantly phones have the big advantage that you have it with you practically everywhere by default and they're almost always connected.
And the disadvantage that upgrading from a dumb phone to a smart phone may inflate your cellular bill by $300 per year or more. One may have to upgrade from $7/mo low-minutes voice-only service to $35/mo voice and data service if the CDMA2000 carrier refuses to activate voice-only service on a smart phone or the GSM carrier exercises a provision in the boilerplate terms of service to automatically add a data plan the subscriber's voice-only SIM [slashdot.org].
Re: (Score:0)
I got my first cell phone last January. It cost me $20, and I paid $10/mo for (limited) voice, text, and data.
But that phone only ran J2ME apps and was pretty restricted, so in November I got a new one for $30. Android 2.3.6, so now I can do a lot more with it.
I'm still paying the same $10/mo for my service.
$10/mo for service on an Android? (Score:2)
Android [...] $10/mo for my service.
Which carrier in which country?