As I've mentioned before, one of the reasons I was drawn to the Sony eBook reader (and, also the Kobo) is the fact that you can read PDFs on them. For some, this may not be a huge issue but, for me, several times a month, I go to meetings with lots of required documentation. Generally, the documents are sent in PDF format and run 50-200 pages; I usually print two per page and print them double-sided. Still, that's a lot of paper every two weeks. This weekend, I realized that I could put the PDFs on my Sony reader and today my eBook reader and I went to a meeting (which I shall not name for reasons that may be apparent later on). As I sat down and opened up my eBook reader, the person to the left of me whispered "Is that THIS?" and held up her stack of 172 pages. "Yup." "Oh, that's cool..." Yeah, it is. Later, the person to the right of me noticed and said "I couldn't bear to print this all off... you don't happen to have item 4.3.2 on there do you?" A simple search for "4.3.2" brought us to the issue in question.
As the meeting hit a lull, I mentally composed this blog entry. I'd talk about how much paper I was saving, how much easier it was to find item 4.3.2 on the eBook reader than in the print document, how much lighter the eBook reader is than my laptop or my netbook, and so on. True, I imagined myself writing, the navigation wasn't as smooth as it might be since the PDF's we get don't have tables of contents that would let you jump to appropriate sections nor is it clear what page numbers will get you to a particular section. But, in paper form, we're all scrambling to find the appropriate page too so this isn't an eBook reader issue.
By the time I'd finished writing this blog entry in my head, the meeting hit the kind of lull that only a powerpoint with pie charts can induce. I tried to pay attention. I really did. The person to my right had fallen asleep. The person to my left was drawing what seemed to be architectural plans for a new space station (perhaps a space station for dogs-- it was unclear). I looked down at my eBook reader and remembered that peril had befallen Flavia in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I needed to know what happened to her. I realized that, unlike laptops with their upright screens visible to all behind and beside you, my eBook reader lay flat in front of me and only I could see what was on the page. As if it had a life of its own, my stylus tapped the screen twice and there was the imperilled Flavia paused in the action. I had only meant to finish the chapter but I had twenty pages left and had to know what happened. So, I finished the book. I mentally added this sentence to my then imaginary blog post: "I love you eBook reader! I shall never doubt you again."
Now, I don't necessarily condone the reading of novels during meetings but... oh, what a delicious reprieve it was. I won't do it again. Probably. I probably won't do it again. Or, if I do,it won't be very often. I'm sorry. I'll be better at the next meeting.
1 comment:
I am now burdened with the overwhelming need to know what conference topic would necessitate the pie chart featured in this blog posting?
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