The Never-Get-Bored Machine

I just read the best and most evenhanded review of the new Amazon Fire tablet over at the Monkey See blog.  I remember having high hopes for it for some reason, then hearing many drawbacks in it's design before it came out, then finally being pleasantly surprised when it was finally announced.

I was mostly surprised and delighted that they were also continuing with their dedicated Kindle e-readers as well as trying out a tablet.  Previously, it had sounded they would be switching to this new tablet and abandoning e-ink, which seemed a shame.  Well, obviously I was wrong to worry.

I would love an iPhone.  Mostly because I love my old iPod classic, love having a digital camera at hand and like having a cell phone.  With an iPhone I could have all three in one device that could also have a Kindle app on it and become my take-everywhere and never-be-bored device.

But I really can't justify adding a data plan to our monthly expenses for something that's basically entertainment.  (We just cut our cable, for crying out loud.) And an iPad is too big to carry around.  So the Kindle Fire looked pretty neat.  I know there are bad aspects to the company, but I'm mostly very happy with Amazon.  But then, I'm mostly happy with Apple and there are bad aspects to their company as well.

So I looked at iPads and the Fire and Nook colors and so on until I was reminded of the iPod Touch.  It's not the everything-in-one device the iPhone is.  But if you think of it as an iPod plus a whole lot of other amazing things, it will make you happy.  It does for me.

It's a better iPod than my old iPod.  I used it mostly for audiobooks and podcasts.  With the Touch I downloaded an app called Downcast and it magically updates all my favorite podcasts without synching!  The music is great of course, but now I find myself listening to Pandora more and that's been great as well. And I can watch all those iTunes U videos now as well!

It's got a camera on it, but it's not any better than a crappy cell phone camera.  It does have better video, though, which comes in handy on occasion.  I'll have to play with it more.  The cool thing is, if you get into the video thing you could download their iMovie app and actually edit the videos right there on the device, then upload them onto youtube or wherever.

I downloaded the Kindle app since it's free, but didn't expect too much.  Well, turns out I love it, and this has been the biggest surprise for me.  The thing is so light, you almost forget it's in your pocket.  So I carry it everywhere.  Now I don't know about you, but let's say I've just pulled into a doctor's office parking lot and am about to go sit in a waiting room.  Before, I would have to decide if I wanted to bring my Kindle to read with (but risk being annoyed by loud conversationalists) or take in my iPod to listen to something.  Now there's no decision to make.  This thing is both and more.  I also downloaded the Instapaper app and have a ton of articles ready to read as well.

It's much better for reading that I expected.  I've read a few things on my wife's iPad and it's fine, but I much prefer my Kindle for that.  The big, glowing screen can strain the old peepers after a spell.  But while it seems like it should be too small, the little handheld screen on the Touch is perfectly clear and doesn't bother me at all for reading.  I still use the Kindle at home, but whenever I'm out and about, I can steal a few minutes of reading here and there throughout the day which has made this a fantastic thing for me.  I love it. And I love it more because it's smaller than even the Fire.

To compare: they are both only 8GB for the basic models and are wi-fi only.  They're definitely more for consuming than producing media.  You can stream video and play games on both of them.  You can read books on both of them.  They both have browsers.  You can watch Netflix and other streaming services on them.  The Touch will not stream Amazon Prime content (but I do that on my computer or on my TV so that's cool).  But the Touch just feels better designed (remember it's on the 4th or 5th generation while the Fire is still new).  And the Touch has cameras.  I use it for an alarm clock, weather checker, article reader, book reader, radio, music player, video watching and capturing device and browser.  And I take it everywhere, whereas I feel like I'd just leave the Fire at home.

So for just long form reading, I still recommend either e-ink Kindles or a library card (or both).  For an iPod, plus access to all kinds of other fun stuff I say get the Touch.  Unless, unlike me, you can justify going for the full iPhone experience.

Whales on stilts; turtles in paradise and more

After the wonderfulness of Every Soul a Star, I decided to go lighter and went with M. T. Anderson’s Whales on Stilts.  It was just as much fun as I expected it to be.  He and William Joyce need to get together and create a paean to B-movies with Pixar or somebody.  They both love to take those tropes and shove them into modern-day contexts.  In this one, Lily feels overshadowed by her friends the famous Katie Mulligan (who fights off zombies and were-goats) and Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaught.  But she uncovers the plot of an evil genius who wants to take over the world with an army of stilt and laser-equipped whales.  But of course! The interesting thing is not just that it’s fast-paced and hilarious, but that Anderson manages to inject some moments of serious reflection and levity among the wonderfully absurd nuttiness.  

Next up was Jennifer L. Holm’s Turtle in Paradise.  I enjoyed this one but wish I could talk to the editor who chose the cover.  The book is about a young girl (twelve, I think) during the Great Depression who is forced to move in with relatives on a remote island off of Florida called Key West who people say will one day have a bridge to the mainland and become a tourist paradise.

She doesn’t know about that but she does meet some interesting characters including Slow Poke, Buddy, Kermit, Pork Chop, Beans and even some old writer dude named Papa.  It’s pretty episodic and reminded me of a slightly (but only slightly) more serious Little Rascals.  So instead of a postcard-looking cover of a girls hand holding a starfish on the beach we could have used something that showed the interesting mix of kids (girls and boys) that might have led to a wider readership.  It’s okay, though.  I’ve already talked it up to some teachers who are planning on reading it aloud.  Grab a copy, read the first paragraph and tell me if it isn’t a great opening.

Speaking of reading aloud, I paired up Rylant’s In November with the sillier Fall Is Not Easy this week while everyone else beat the Thanksgiving books to death.  The first title quiets them down and the second makes them laugh out loud. Now to gather holiday books for next month...

My daughter continues to surprise and delight my nerdy self with her interests.  After her flu shot a few weeks back, I asked her if she wanted to get a treat.  Normally that would mean an ice cream or small toy.  Nope.  She wanted to hit the comic book shop across the street!  She bought a big, fat, Justice League of America compendium.  Just...wow.  And the nerdistry doesn’t end there.  She asked me for some information on Houdini and loved the graphic-novel-style bio I brought her from my library.  We’ve been on youtube to watch clips of the man himself.

Reading aloud at home has gone straight from Sisters Grimm #2 to Sisters Grimm #3 because of Michael Buckley’s mean trick of “...to be continued.”  Like we could stop there! But they are a little scary.

In my personal reading I have been alternating through three books.  I do that.  Salinger’s Nine Stories for the book club (it was funnier than I remembered).  Richard Dawkin’s The Magic of Reality which is just amazing and gorgeously illustrated by Dave McKean.  Too bad I don’t work in a middle or high school, because I’d get a pile of them for my library if I did.  It’s wonderful.  And it’s a brilliant app for the iPad as well.  The third book I’ve been reading in between everything else is Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad.  I’m only up through chapter 18 and there’s something like 60 chapters.  It is damn funny and biting.  He seems to be getting more cutting as he goes.  It started off with light, jovial humor, but as the journey goes further, the satire gets sharper.  I loved his definitely skeptical take on the Heloise and Abelard mythology.  He’s in Italy now, enjoying some Cathedrals.  Can’t wait to see what happens when he gets to the Holy Land.

Next up for the book club is Dead Souls.  I’m not really excited about it but since it’s free on the Kindle, I’ll give it a shot.

The family is coming for Thanksgiving.  Will that mean more reading time or less?  I’m guessing less...

Cabin Fever Release Day Means...

THE CABIN FEVER

HOLD REQUESTS 

ARE COMING

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

Against Homework, 1860

"A child who has been boxed up six hours in school might spend the next four hours in study, but it is impossible to develop the child’s intellect in this way. The laws of nature are inexorable. By dint of great and painful labor, the child may succeed in repeating a lot of words, like a parrot, but, with the power of its brain all exhausted, it is out of the question for it to really master and comprehend its lessons. The effect of the system is to enfeeble the intellect even more than the body. We never see a little girl staggering home under a load of books, or knitting her brow over them at eight o’clock in the evening, without wondering that our citizens do not arm themselves at once with carving knives, pokers, clubs, paving stones or any weapons at hand, and chase out the managers of our common schools, as they would wild beasts that were devouring their children"

—Scientific American, Against Homework, October 1860

(via susanohanian.org)

Tweet!

On the right sidebar you'll see a link to my Twitter feed.  Google has done away with their "share" thing I was using to add links of interest to the right sidebar.  They were usually articles, posts or videos I found interesting or funny but didn't feel like working into a whole post.  Now I've added a Twitter doodad to my browser so will share links that way instead.

I'm not into the whole social networking thing.  Facebook and Google+ just didn't do anything for me.  I always sign up for stuff like that then remember that I don't have enough time for them or maybe I just don't like anybody.  Heh heh.  Twitter is good because there's a whole lot less decisions to make. It doesn't care about filters or circles or whatever.  And with their "list" feature, you can follow and unfollow more people than anyone needs to know about.  So yeah, whenever you want to see stuff I've been noticing online, that's the stuff right over there.

A Good Week for Reading!

This was, indeed, a good week for reading.  The best story comes from My Lovely Bride's classroom.  She has the daughter of another teacher in her fourth grade class this year.  The young lady is an active, fun girl, not much of one for sitting and reading.  Her mother, being a teacher, has dutifully spent a ton at every book fair, taken her to the library, played audiobooks in the car on trips.  Nothing has really taken.  Well, she liked one of the Dork Diaries books on audio, but the mom didn't really think that counted.

MLB has, as well, tried many different approaches.  Nothing.  Nothing, that is, until she basically bribed the girl to at least start on a book she thought might grab her.  Somehow the stars aligned and this one worked.  The mom caught the girl under her covers past lights out with a flashlight, devouring the first Sister's Grimm book.  The effusive thank yous from the mother are still echoing around here.

In my library, an order of kid-friendly books came in.  Some of my orders I earmark for teacher request, curriculum alignment, etc.  Some I earmark for kid requests and interests.  This was one of the latter.  The smiles of delight as kids left hugging new books in anticipation of just plain fun reading makes everything worthwhile.

At home we finished reading aloud what some call ''the perfect children's book.''  Burnett's The Secret Garden.  Treasured by MLB and now my daughter and I as well.

I finished reading Wendy Mass' Every Soul a Star and loved it.  The three narrators and their friends and siblings for the most part rang true, the setting was wonderfully unique and the story was great.  And it had astronomy!  And not in a heavy-handed way.  I have to say there was a wee bit of over coincidence at times (two sets of parents who decide to move and uproot their families without really telling their kids at the same time?) but even that didn't topple the smooth narrative.  It's been favorably compared to Spinelli's Stargirl.  I love them both but would have to give this one the edge.  It's just more affecting for some reason.  And the star party campground?  The Penderwick family needs to visit there!