Poll Party #6
Wow! I can’t believe it’s been a year since I threw the last “Poll Party”!
My regular readers know that I really like to hear your opinion. I often ask for it at the end of posts (and I try to give you conversation starters), and I love reading (and responding to) the comments.
I know not everybody wants to, or has the time and energy to, write something like that.
That’s one reason I love the polls we do here. It gives people another way to be heard. Even though we certainly aren’t a scientific sample of the mainstream, I find it interesting to see what we are saying. I suspect we might even be predictive as a group, as far as e-books are concerned, but I don’t really know that.
I like to find a theme for these (although I may throw in some “odd ducks” that don’t really fit).
This time, I wanted to explore the two sides of the Kindle for my readers. No, no, not the screen and the back. 😉
The Kindle is tech and the Kindle is about reading and books.
Those two work for me. I’m really a booklover, and I’ve worked with tech for a long time…although I’m not as much of a hardware person as a lot of people might think.
Yes, I was a Microsoft Certified Professional…I even still have the card I got. That makes me a card-carrying geek…and guarantees me a seat by the kitchen in restaurants. 😉
However, my part of that was more software (including programming) than getting out a…what are those called? Oh, yeah, screwdrivers. Actually, and this is true, I literally have a screwdriver scar from trying to use one of those things, slipping, and digging out enough of a chunk of my hand so that it literally “left a mark” (as in “that’s gonna…”).
I mean, it shouldn’t be that hard! I had a blue and gold macaw for quite a while.
When I first got the macaw, I was reading a book (naturally) on training them. It said that if you pressed a dowel gently against their chests, they had to step up on it, and you could start training them to get used to being carried around, and eventually, used to being on you.
Well, my macaw (“Perry”) was in a large cage at that point…maybe four feet high, with a small door. I reached in, pressed the dowel…and Perry proceeded to run up my arm on to my head! Yes, passing through the little door.
You can’t grab a macaw and force them to do something. First, they can easily break a finger of yours if they want…they can crack Brazil nuts, after all.
Second, they are birds…inherently fragile.
There was simply no way to make Perry go back through the door…the large bird would have to duck, and if it wasn’t voluntary, it wasn’t going to happen.
I got a relative to use the dowel to scoop Perry off my head and on to the top of the cage.
Then, I figured I could take the top off the cage. I unscrewed a couple of screws…and that wore me out. 🙂
So, I stepped out for a minute.
When I came back, Perry had unscrewed another screw…and was working on an additional one when I saw it!
Yep…holding the screwdriver with one foot, and turning it by mouth.
I know: I’m not as mechanically oriented as a bird…
We say, “How many software people does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, we don’t do that…it’s a hardware problem.” 🙂
A lot of what happens with a Kindle or a Fire tablet (or the Fire TV, or the Fire Phone, or the Amazon Echo) is about software. Not very many people are taking theirs apart (although some do).
For me, that tech element is part of the fun…as, clearly, is the element of books.
I’m curious about you…
On this first one, note that you can make more than one choice…so picking the first two is fine, if that fits you.
I’d pick both of them.
Now, let me ask you a book quantity question:
My answer on that one? More than 10,000. We have one room dedicated as a floor to ceiling library, and the books are on shelves horizontally, vertically, two deep…there are a lot. 🙂
A quantity question on the techie side…think about your typical day. How many tech gadgets do you use? I would include:
- A SmartPhone
- A Kindle
- A tablet
- The Amazon Echo
- A Fire TV (or other TV device)
- A wearable (including a fitness tracker)
- A gaming console
- A desktop computer
- A laptop computer
and so on…you get the idea. If you use two different ones of the same category, count it as two.
For instance, for me…let’s see.
I use my Fire tablet, my Paperwhite, my personal Fire Phone, an iPhone for work, a Fire TV, a Fire TV stick (two different rooms), a Tivo, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and a two-in-one (a convertible computer that can become a tablet or works like a laptop)…I think I’d say that’s it on a pretty much daily basis. I know you may have to make some guesses as to what counts: that’s up to you. I’m interested in your own impressions of what you do as well as objective reality.
Here’s something which some people might think would help define someone who is “serious” about books.
For me, it’s more than 100 years old. I have some of the original Oz books, for one thing, and I have one volume of the Britannica which is a 19th century edition.
Now, let’s get a sense of your computer history. With this one, I’d like it to be something that was on the computer in its time…not that you used it in a computer museum, or something like that. It should be something that you used practically.
Interesting…I’ve used all of these except one. I never had or regularly worked with a computer which used tape reels…punch cards, the floppies, an optical drive…sure. Some of you might assume everybody has worked with a computer which had an optical drive…it will be intriguing to see what the poll says.
This next one is actually making me nervous just writing it…
I used to joke about being “web blind”, and saying my hands would start shaking. 😉 I mentioned that today, but noted that we are almost never web blind (without internet connection) for long at all these days.
I’d hate that I’m going to say this, but I think I’d have to go without the reading. Aarrgghh!
Why do I say that?
With the internet, my writing would proliferate like beetle species during the Triassic period!
On the other hand, I could write and just not publish it for a day. That way, I could read books and write…using a computer, but not connected!
Yep, I change my mind…I’m going without the internet, and submerging into a day of reading and writing…but I do want them both.
Okay, one just for fun:
I think it’s better that I don’t reveal my answers on this one. I will say that I can legitimately say four of these…and often more than once.
Looking forward to what you have to say! If you can’t find answers that fit, feel free to comment on this post…I never seem to be able to design polls where the questions satisfy everybody, and the reasons people give me for that help me make better polls in the future.
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This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.
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