by Sin | July 21st, 2010
Music of the week: “Outta your mind” Lil Jon (Crunk Rock, 2010)
(I bet you guys didn’t see that coming. I’m in a mood. Chance get the bar ready. I want to dance.)
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You can’t deny that technology is all around us. Even as readers we’re beginning to feel the effects of the technology boom. EReaders are all the rage right now. The Nook, The Kindle, the Sony Reader, even the iPad… They are here to make the readers life easier to read in style. I’m resistant to the idea of holding an electronic device to house my usual paperback novel. I like the smell of the paper and ink. I like the way the paper crinkles between my fingers as I turn the page. (One thing I don’t like is when Mina decides to make my book her new snack.) But an eReader would’ve come in handy the last time I made a trip and wanted to pack along 10 books with me. Instead of packing along 10 books, I could’ve downloaded them all into an eReader and tucked the eReader into my bag.
I can say without a doubt I’m not the person to call if you ever needed your ancient VCR programmed. Or if you need a surround system hooked up to your HiDef flat screen TV, TiVo (or whatever the hell it is that records TV now), your cable box, Blue-Ray scanner, DiVX player, XBox 360 and Wii all into one TV.
Not going to happen in this lifetime.
Now, with that being said, I like gadgets and I love gadget research. This whole eReader thing has me curious. I’ve been completely against eReaders since the Kindle came out. Did you know the battery life is supposed to last for 2 whole weeks?! And holds 1500 books?! The little reader girl in me squealed in delight when I came upon that. Fifteen hundred books? Are you kidding me? And they’ve lowered the prices on eReaders. Which has me doing furious research on eReaders for my upcoming birthday and Christmas present. Oooooooh, Undead Monkey… I’ve found what I wanted!
(Besides my very own island. A new Z28 (Nevermind they don’t come out until 2012… we’re professionals ’round here.) and that S&W .40 I’ve been wanting but no one will dare buy me. Wonder why.)
I got sidetracked from my own blog. Tangents within tangents.
I love to read about new advances in current technology that “makes” our lives a little easier from day to day. But how do we decide what technology to include in our manuscripts?
Hellie brought up a good point the other day. In advances in series that are several books in (as well as SEVERAL years in the making) how do you gauge what fits and what doesn’t? Her point was Janet Evanovich has written a series where the heroine never ages- yet the series started in the mid-90’s when stretch pants in neon colors, big hair, Walkmans and the word “rad” were all the rage. How do you integrate iPods and Harry Potter references into that? The series produces a book a year. Obviously to appeal to younger audiences you have to reference gadgets and pop culture people recognize.
I’m sure all of us would understand record player, 8-Track and cassette tape references but kids now have lived in a world where they have only known CD’s and MP3’s, iTunes and legalized Napster. (Anybody remember the days before legalized Napster? Aimster anyone? Kazaa?) I referenced a quote the other day to a teenager, “Better eat your Wheaties.” And she just looked at me with a blank stare. She had NO idea what I was talking about. I thought that was a quote that transcended generations. Apparently not.
We all know I write tech inspired fiction. I grew up with a love for computers. My first computer was a Mac Apple IIe. My parents still have it in their basement. Anyone remember the computers of old days where you had actual floppy disks? Where you had to command the computer to do functions that we take for granted now? I own several computers now (no Apple which I plan to fix in the next year). Laptops, wireless servers, encrypted emails; sophisticated programming inspired me to write about criminally conscious women who use their skills to help others in their time of need. Research on this technology is one of those things you can’t stay ahead of the curve unless you’re at the forefront.
So let’s talk about what types of technology you feel comfortable mentioning in your manuscripts. What do you wish you knew more about? Any opinions about technology in fiction?
Side note: I finished reading the Millennium trilogy (AKA Steig Larsson’s novels about the “hacker” Lisbeth Salander). While it wasn’t detailed, might I say that every time computer technology gets mentioned in a novel, even slightly, I go gaga. The only thing that saved the first novel for me was Lisbeth’s equal love for computer technology and the beauty of computer specs. All and all, the second book was my fav.
Fortunately on the way to your office is Tropical Liquors. They have 6 shots of liquor in their medium drinks, did you know that? I bet it’s just hot enough to justify one.
I wonder if I can get one before going to the gym?
I don’t have the iPod hook up in the car but I also shelled out the money to have a head unit put into my car that runs off my USB. So I currently have 2GB of music at my disposal, and thinking about upgrading the mini flash drive to a 4GB.
This is why I get tanked on the large. That and the 151 I have added. lol
I had thought that it might be fun to podcast a book. I’ve been skirting around the info about this stuff for a year or more…and now that I’ve read my entire Kraken’s Mirror, looking for things to correct? I think it would be fun to have it available on podcast!
Not sure I’d be the best to read it, but I enjoyed hearing it as I read it…
I actually enjoy podcasts. Mostly, I enjoy book discussions via podcasts. There are also music discussions that I like to listen to as well. Book by podcast… interesting.
A friend turned me onto Muri Lafferty, she’s been podcasting her stuff for a while. I like the idea…if I can just figure out how to do all of it! And get a computer that would allow me to do it wihtout having to add on a ton of bells and whistles.
The new laptop…maybe!
I’ve not really looked into what goes into an actual podcast. Could be interesting information. Can’t be that difficult. Teenagers all around the world are podcasting about Twilight and HP.
Make that Muir Lafferty…http://murverse.com/
My friend loves to listen to her books. I admit, I like the idea but haven’t followed up on it.
Reading about it now. Podiocasts are what the audiobook versions of podcasts are called. Should be just as easy as recording your sound through your computer, saving it as an MP3 and creating an RSS feed for your upload on your webpage.
Quoted from the Wiki “… podiobooks.com provides a platform and community for aspiring podcasters to be able to distribute their work worldwide.”
This might be worth looking into Chance.
“I suppose it’s like being able to e-mail from my cell phone.”
NO woman I know would bother emailing from their cell phone.
They’d make their kid do it for them!
LOL. Jules, if I didn’t know better that would sound like a guy excuse.
SIN, I just have Muti Tasking down to an art form.
*snort*
Snort? Snort indeed! And she wonders where My Little Pony came from.
And I know what your answer is dear …
Its “Nay Julie . neighhhh…”
And SIN, so you know that I too can stay on subject.
What do you wish you knew more about?
Microsoft Sound Recorder … and headsets!
What do you Pirates wish I didn’t know more about?
Uuhhh ….Microsoft Sound Recorder … and headsets?!