See this NY Times story about the importance of hardware usability. It’s not enough to digitize books — you need hardware that’s as cheap and long-lasting as the printed page.
1 thought on “Why haven’t portables caught on yet?”
Jonathan Iannone
“It’s not enough to digitize books — you need hardware that’s as cheap and long-lasting as the printed page.”
Here lies the real technical challenge! The only recording methods that last longer then the printed page are cave paintings, hieroglyphs and cuneiform and even these methods can be degraded significantly by the environment.
The only advantage electronic media has over the stone age methods are the speed at which the content can be created and broadcast. The longevity of the information is significantly less then 100 years.
“It’s not enough to digitize books — you need hardware that’s as cheap and long-lasting as the printed page.”
Here lies the real technical challenge! The only recording methods that last longer then the printed page are cave paintings, hieroglyphs and cuneiform and even these methods can be degraded significantly by the environment.
The only advantage electronic media has over the stone age methods are the speed at which the content can be created and broadcast. The longevity of the information is significantly less then 100 years.
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