BUT I Can’t Curl Up With an E-Book in Bed (and Other Fake Arguments Against the Future)
Can you dramatically and meaningfully improve your life overnight with one purchase? I did. I am now on Day 11 of my New Improved Life With iPhone. I used to…
Can you dramatically and meaningfully improve your life overnight with one purchase?
I did.
I am now on Day 11 of my New Improved Life With iPhone.
I used to poo-poo all-in-one mobile devices. My thinking was that if I wanted to take a picture, I wanted my camera. If I wanted to read e-mail or surf the web, I wanted my laptop. If I wanted to listen to music, ... etc.
I don't know where this inane thinking came from. Perhaps I can be forgiven, because at that time no device like the iPhone existed.
I have also been skeptical of e-book devices and reading on mobiles, despite the trends that I see in the rest of the world (primarily Japan). I used to trot out the same cliches as everyone else: you can't curl up with an e-book, you can't flip through it easily or take notes, or my favorite, "there's just something about the feel of paper."
Well, let me tell you, there's just something about the feel of an iPhone, and I keep it within arm's reach when I sleep. (In fact, The Conductor asked me last night, as I climbed into bed, if I had properly tucked in my iPhone. Indeed I had!)
Here's an example of all the ways I used my iPhone this past Saturday, when I day-tripped to see a friend in Jeffersonville, Ind.:
- Woke up to the alarm I had set
- Text-messaged with my friend to confirm arrival time
- Input my destination address into iPhone, to get live GPS directions
- Played music and podcasts through hook-up in car
- Played music through friend's stereo system, and also just from the device
- Had my picture taken in Jeffersonville and e-mailed it (see below)
- Checked e-mail
During this trip, I could have also:
- Taken phone calls obviously, but I don't like talking on the phone
- Checked and made additions to my work/personal calendar
- Used instant messaging systems like AIM
- Updated my Facebook or Twitter status
- Posted to my blog
- Read an e-book
- Caught up on my Google Reader feeds
- Played more cowbell (see here)
- Found the best place to have dinner and a drink in Jeffersonville
Do I read in bed with my iPhone? Absolutely.
Will people read digital books in bed? Of course.
Will print books continue? Yes, but I tend to agree with Seth Godin on his proclamation that books will become souvenirs.
So I want to know: Who else cuddles with their iPhone?
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
