Tag Archives: Using Products & Services

Transition of Reading from a Book to Reading on a Kindle Paper White

30 Tuesday Oct 2018

Posted by in Product Review, Review

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Written words is much younger than the spoken words, so reading is relatively new given the history of language. The timeline is not as important as the impact it has on the reader and thoughts shared to the world. The secrets of the past and the plans of the future get revealed in interesting ways through the art of reading.

I don’t know, if I should call reading ability a science or an art, because I feel it is both. If we were to look at the various type of languages available to human beings, then it is interesting to inspect at all the attempts to capture the various sounds and pin it down as recognizable symbols on the materials that allow recording, that can be later used for reading to expand the knowledge thought pool.

I feel that language is the greatest discovery of Human civilization. What makes me curious is the fact, that we have so many languages in this world, which I believe have explored the recording of various sounds. The more languages one knows, then, more capable is the human brain to work out complex logics.

The progress of language in reading is an interesting story. Graphical representation transforming into representative symbols, that later was recognized as a set of sound and progressed to creating a bunch of sound that can be recognized as a word, the very basic element of a sentence. These sentences become a mode to express complex human prone logics. It is an interesting explorative learning to explore about reading as a habit.

The reading began in walls, clay tablets, dry leaves and other materials, which preserved the imprints of the language symbol to be read over the years. Some of these materials are available even today, which is not surprising. It is worth noting, that the language scripts are still evolving, so a single language being universally used is happening in slow progress.

With the advancement in technology, the material for recording text on papers got improved when the printing press was invented. The advancement of each era saw the improvement happen over the centuries. The printing press made mass production cost effective and helped in standardizing the language.

Books open up venues to share and to bring new innovative thoughts to the entire world what with advancing mode of communications. The latest think tank materials are brought to the public that has add-on value for the discerning thinkers. This kind of wide scale sharing led to getting people to understanding and expand their thoughts.

Being born in the later half of the 20th Century and given the advancement of the world, the printed books have played an important role in my growing years. Naturally, there was a lot of influence from my surrounding that has led to books having an important place in my life.

The comic to novel transition happened in slow progress; but it also reflected on the shaping of my thoughts. The joy of enjoying the beautiful arrangements of words on printed book was such a happy moment for me.

There so many smells connected with the books. From the smell of fresh papered new books to repellent sprayed old books from the local library, has left behind smells of varied kinds of books from various places. The experience of holding a book and turning pages to catch up with the thoughts process of the writer’s expressions is a wonderful feeling.

The shift from hardcopy bound book to the Kindle was a new experience for me, since the instrument fitted into my hand and was light weight, less strain on my eyes. I had got the Kindle during my third semester of college and was hooked onto it. But I broke the screen accidentally and the instrument was not useable after that incident.

Later in 2017, I got myself a Kindle Paper White with Wi-Fi connection that allowed me to read as many books that I please with Kindle Unlimited. There is much learning happening with the instrument.

The one thing that makes me uncomfortable is the size of the Kindle, but I am happy with the text size. This is like reading a book using a pager. I think it is just a matter of settling down with the instrument, then I will start feeling comfortable. Because books have never been Square so far, in my book reading experience.

The square Kindle makes me go squint-eyed. The previous Kindle was rectangular; but this time, I had deliberately chosen a square one. So, it is a matter of settling in, you could say! The other features like touch-screen one is pretty much interesting to work around.

I need to get familiar with the instrument to understand it in depth. But all in all, I love the Kindle Paper White for its clarity and lack of glare. The text can be switched for convenience and easy on the weight, really helps. Of course, books like Theory and Criticism of Literature can be read with ease in the Kindle, if the Kindle Unlimited has those books for free.

I recommend this product with four hearts out of five hearts.

URL: Kindle Paperwhite, 6″ High Resolution Display (300 ppi) with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi  

Image Source: Amazon

Impact of Quitting Social Media

21 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in Random Thoughts, Review

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One thing that I liked the most in social media platforms is the motivational speeches. The interesting thing about motivational speech or any speech for that matter is that it is usually a two ways road for the speaker and listeners. Not all motivational speeches have the same kind of impact on the listeners.

For most parts a speech is so much about how it is delivered, toned and pitched. It is also about the images the speaker evokes in the listeners, that makes a motivational speech, a most effective medium of self-expression.

My experience with social media channels are limited to Facebook, mild Twitter exposure and from opening to closing of Instagram account. I never came across flame messages and always thought multiple times before I wrote anything on social media.

Not that I was shy about expressing my thoughts, I personally I thought it was not necessary to have a screaming match online with a total stranger, who I didn’t even know and the stranger me and of course, family members are too busy to check social media postings. So I had a relatively peaceful Facebook experience.

I moved out of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram only this month, hoping I would find a more creative ways of doing other things in life. Not surprisingly, the only thing from social media, that I missed was the motivational speeches in Facebook.

That kicked off my curiosity, and I started to wonder, what makes a good motivational speech, in the first place? It brought many thoughts to my mind, such as positive view of a negative situation, a sense of well-being for the troubled-mind, a peace that all is not lost and thereby some hope is attached to the life situation.

There is much more that I looked out for in a motivational speech. I was silently looking for confirmation on the thoughts, that I held, which I would use for situations in life. When there were a lot of pressures, it is then, that the best or worst part of my inner self comes out into the open.

Motivational speeches for me became a reiteration of what I believed in. Having moved out of most of social media channels, I am much happier, but I still felt that, I was running away from the facts of present day life. But much of the stress that is there in our life is it truly justified?

There are moments in my life when I refuse to fight and just take flight as an option. The choice of leaving Facebook was also close to flight because I was really unhappy being in that space. I refused to live in some kind of social pressure to live up to an illusion of my projected self and fable of my own life.

I didn’t like it one bit. Moreover my writer friends were all in the Facebook and I had been putting off the decision to quit the medium, merely for the fact, that I will lose touch with my friends. But this month, I braved up and quit the space and I am none the worse from the decision.

There is a sense of peace from having quit the space. I have nothing against social media, I merely wanted to live my life without comparing against others who are much more socially active and having the time of their life. My tasteless life seemed really to be of no worth.

Facebook made me more depressed and worthless. To prevent the sense of being alone in a huge crowd of friends, I decided to subscribe to Motivational speeches, after a while even those speech couldn’t remove the despondency I felt within me. I was convinced there was much at stake for my peace of mind in it too. So I peacefully arrived at the decision to quit.

It is nearly two weeks of having quit social media platform and there is a marked difference. I am happier and I do things because I like it and not for some post on the internet. That thought feels much more an healthier attitude. I am sad that I will not be able to reach all my writer friends; but I know they would want me to be happy with whatever is good for me.

Okay then Facebook, goodbye you were entertaining, but I must move on to find my rainbow! Life is not tied down to that red circle with numbers on a blue background on the right edge of the top screen. Real life is much more than that!

Image Source: Pexels.com