Newspapers on Portable Devices

We have spent a lot of time discussing the practicability of Kindle in one of my classes recently. The general consensus was divided. Half thought that Kindle would be used by an older crowd, elderly people who couldn't get around to the bookstores very often. This group thought Kindle would be very successful.
The other group did not think that elderly people would be interested in the Kindle at all. Although it supposedly had easy readability, it will be too difficult for many people to adjust to this new form of reading and it will be painstaking to read small print on the tiny device. This group thought it would be used mostly by the businessmen and women who travel often and would use Kindle on planes and during the commute.
I don't think that Kindle will really catch on the way a lot of other portable devices have. It is innovative and interesting, but it costs a lot of money and the perks don't outweigh the cons enough for it to cost as much as it does. It will be difficult to flip back and forth between pages, and sometimes it is just nice to curl up with a REAL book.
I do, however, think that the portable devices designed for newspapers will catch on. People who are likely to use these things, the more career-driven and more affluent Americans, will more likely see the benefits in investing in this over the Kindle. Although you can read newspapers on Kindle, it hasn't really been promoted as something to store newspapers and to eliminate printing costs and hassles, so many people who would like it for that reason don't really think about it that way.

No More Excuses

As I was reading the article about the increase of fundraising on the web, I couldn't help thinking of all the possiblities for me. In a way, it is exciting. I have participated in Relay for Life for years, and now I can do it online, although I don't really know how to work Second Life quite yet. There are all sorts of organizations I can help in some way without ever leaving my house or without taking up more than a couple of minutes at a time.
However, it is also a little scary in a way because now I have no more excuses. Anyone can get involved now with the click of a button. The guilt soon sets in that I don't do nearly enough to help people less fortunate than me, and it's not like it would take that much of my time. Now I am going to actually have to navigate off of my email account and other surfing activities and do something productive and good for someone other than myself. There are some sites that you benefit just by directing your browser to them. That takes nothing, but so many people forget to do it.
Although many people worry about the negative effects of the Web, it is doing so much good and allowing people to do so much good for the entire world. Some say it is making us antisocial, lazy, and even dumbing us down, but applications and Web sites like the Relay for Life section of Second Life turn this argument on its head. The good far outweighs the bad. I know that thanks to the internet, I am (and will become more) involved in so many more philanthropic organizations, even if it is just in a small way.