[extropy-chat] Read All About It

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> I'd rather have a rugged tablet or a wearable,
> something I could drop or use
> in the bathtub, with a battery life of 6-12 h. It
> should be cheap, and back
> itself up automatically, to not lose content ever.

Hmm.  My Palm Tungsten C (pocket PDA, so as portable
as a wearable) has been through a few adventures with
me (let's just say it has survived impact trauma -
though the extra case I bought for it helped), though
it needed repairs the first time (a tougher case would
probably have prevented this; they didn't sell such
then, but they do now), and seems to display the
necessary battery life.  It's a relatively high-end
model, but I suspect one could find these properties
in their sub-$100 models too.  Backing it up is a
matter of putting it in its cradle (so it can
recharge) and pushing a button; since it has to
recharge somehow, which requires establishing a
physical connection (short-range beamed power is not
viable for household use...is it?), I don't see it
getting much simpler than this.

Which leaves the issue of the bathtub.  I've heard
that from a number of people, even seen it in ads on
TV, but...isn't that dangerous to paper?  I mean, if
you're willing to take care not to get the paper wet,
then it's just like a PDA: merely being near water is
a far cry from being in it.  Dropping it in could ruin
a book more likely than ruin a PDA, given the types of
paper most books are made from.  There's no serious
electrocution hazard from most PDAs that I know of, if
that's the concern.  Am I not seeing something?