The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Is this referring to the robot itself? If so, I'd wonder that 'access' might just be some weird phrasing to make it seem more robotic.

Yes, "the Wonk" is the name of a robot. And your explanation makes sense. When I read it, I thought maybe I didn't know enough about robotics, but all my googling hasn't come up with anything about "access of motion" and robots. Lol, not a big deal, but puzzling. Thanks.

[theducks]

Access of motion might mean that it was previously restrained or immobilized?

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by theducks

Access of motion might mean that it was previously restrained or immobilized?

Oh, maybe! I didn't think of that, although the robot wasn't physically restrained. The robots in this location are all there to be diagnosed or decommissioned because of problems with their programming. Some of those problems do include physical dysfunction, so your suggestion makes a lot of sense. Maybe it wasn't a typo after all. I thought perhaps the author had dictated the book and the AI translation got it wrong.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Oh, maybe! I didn't think of that, although the robot wasn't physically restrained. The robots in this location are all there to be diagnosed or decommissioned because of problems with their programming. Some of those problems do include physical dysfunction, so your suggestion makes a lot of sense. Maybe it wasn't a typo after all. I thought perhaps the author had dictated the book and the AI translation got it wrong.

I've read a LOT of Science Fiction over the decades. Regaining mobility (after a long standby / shut down to conserve power) is a common theme.

[icallaci]

I think you solved the mystery. Thanks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by icallaci

Since the topic of poor editing has arisen, I wonder if someone can help with the following: I am puzzled by a particular phrase in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Service Model, about a robot that kills its owner and goes on the run. Here's the sentence: "With a sudden access of motion, the Wonk leapt to the rail, bunched itself, and jumped the gap onto another platform..." What is "access of motion"? Or does he mean "excess of motion"? "Axis of motion"? I'm at a loss.

My guess is accessing it's motion functions for more speed.

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My guess is accessing it's motion functions for more speed.

Could be, thanks. At least now I can stop wondering if it's a typo and get on with the story.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Authors who use the same book title as an already existing book title by another author. Just pick an original title.

Which is why some authors use those helpful add-ons, like 'a gripping thriller with a plot twist that will make you sh!t your pants!'

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

The lit screens mean they don't look especially different to an LCD tablet screen. The reflective performance of eInk is wasted.

That hasn't been my experience. My first reader was the Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight in 2012. I've never mistaken an e-ink screen with an LCD. Maybe I have eagle eyes, which would surprise my optometrist.

As they make the interfaces more like phones/tablets then they need the sceen to update more often. Kindles used to page through the library, now they scroll, which means they need to update constantly as you move your finger. It's just a bad use of the technology.

Again, all that stuff you are talking about was on my Nook twelve years ago.

I think you reached a decision and are determined to find facts that support it.

[DrNefario]

To some extent, yes: I never use the backlight, so I wish I could get a reader without one, and I think the UIs have been getting steadily worse, on Kindle at least - I stopped updating my Kobo - since the old keyboard model. I also wish I could still get a reader without a touchscreen (I've been contemplating a new battery for said kindle keyboard). There are occasional improvements, like adding the book covers on the sleep screen, but the library screen in particular seems to get worse with each update. Some of that is general enshittification, sure - got to make sure people see the store as often as possible. Some of it is standardising across the apps and the ereaders, probably to the detriment of both.

I still feel that, if you aren't already a convert, it's a lot harder to see the advantages of eInk now, and a lot harder to explain to someone why they shouldn't just read on their tablet or phone.

[Renate]

Some people like cover listings. I hate them.
I use a custom library app that just has a text list.
You can search by anything, but usually a half dozen letters get me what I want.
I spend 0.1% of my time in the library so I don't care a lot.
My ereader is 99.9% of the time just on a book page.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I still feel that, if you aren't already a convert, it's a lot harder to see the advantages of eInk now, and a lot harder to explain to someone why they shouldn't just read on their tablet or phone.

That has not been my experience. When I showed my old, unlit, nontouch ereaders to my friends and relatives, they shrugged and were politely silent, but it was clear they didn't understand why anyone would want to read on such an ugly, grey screen with little contrast and no touch capability. While one of them gladly accepted my Oasis 2 with frontlight and touchscreen as a gift later on. She had smartphones and tablets, but saw the advantages of frontlit eink immediately.

I never read on an unlit eink screen now, and would not want to. I love my frontlit Kobos. The light is always on.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I still feel that, if you aren't already a convert, it's a lot harder to see the advantages of eInk now, and a lot harder to explain to someone why they shouldn't just read on their tablet or phone.

Battery life, and being easier on the eyes than a backlit LCD (even when using the frontlight). Pretty much the advantages E-Ink always had and still has.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I still feel that, if you aren't already a convert, it's a lot harder to see the advantages of eInk now, and a lot harder to explain to someone why they shouldn't just read on their tablet or phone.

I'm with you. The easy converts have been made, many a long time ago. For everyone else? They've already got a device that'll do the job. Why spend $100, $200, more? on a single-use device? Especially for people who don't read much anyway -- that might be their book budget for a couple of years.

That said, coming off summer when I saw a lot of people at the beach and pool reading paper books (and really, my heart swells with fellow feeling, especially when it's a kid) I wonder why they haven't converted. But aside from the price, I think it's lack of hands-on exposure. At least in the US, you don't see the devices much in the wild and you'd have to make an active effort to seek them out in one of the few retail outlets that still sell them. Near me, it would be Best Buy or B&N, and that's assuming B&N have them in stock. People just aren't aware and I don't know how you make them aware. As for Amazon, its pages are so busy that people only see what they want to see. I think eink readers have something of the aura of a pager or a Blackberry -- antiquated tech with no relevance any more.

[Sirtel]

Yeah. I saw lots of people using ereaders in the early years, before smartphones with large screens became ubiquitous. Now I never see them anymore. But I don't think it has anything to do with ereaders acquiring frontlight and a touchscreen. It has far more to do with the evolution of smartphones and tablets. And of course many younger people suffer from screen fatigue these days, having grown up and spending most of their time among aforementioned devices; they don't want to read a book on another screen, eink or not. That's a generational thing, I think - most diehard eink users are middle-aged and older, and have not spent their whole life staring at screens. Of course those younger people may change their mind about paper books, once they get older and their eyesight deteriorates - reading paper books will be more difficult then.