The Earth goes around the Sun? Really?
This is one of those amazing pieces of equipment that everybody loves. It’s a very simple model of the moon, sun and earth. There are two moon so that you can see how the sun would create eclipses. It uses gears and chains to accomplish this.
In a world filled with computer models, when I pull this model off the shelf to show the students, I get instant attention. They love this thing! It took me a long time to realize why. We, as a human race, love to touch stuff. Our biggest organ is the skin and we love to put it to work. The students love the fact that this is an actual piece of equipment and they can make the world move. Once I realized this, my job changed. I am a computer person. I love having a laptop with EVERYTHING on it. But the touch isn’t there. The touch comes from doing a lab. It comes from handling a specimen or a chemical. Touch can make us know something that reading or hearing about just doesn’t cover.
The same goes for books vs. ibooks. I just got a iPad and I haven’t yet read a book on it (although I’ve downloaded a few). Why? I like to hold a book. I like the smell of a book. Will I read on the iPad? Definitely. However, there is comfort in the touch.
Must be why I hate museums. “Don’t touch the painting. Don’t grab David’s schlong.” Stupid museums.
Paper or plastic? Books that is.
I was a fervent supporter of paper books for all the reasons mentioned in the article. Also, based on a negative experience with an early E-book (anyone remember the Rocket Ebook?), I wasn't thrilled by the alternative.
Two things changed my mind: I ran out of space on my shelves for more books and I received a Kindle as a present last Christmas.
So I'm a convert.
While I have not given up on paper books entirely, I always check Amazon for Kindle availability first.
Being able to carry around a thick book without any effort is nice. Being able to read without having to keep the book open is nice. Being able to load up a bunch of work related PDF on it during business trips is nice (no need to lug a laptop and a paper book). Being able to buy a new book and start reading it while being a passenger in a car is nice. Being able, in a pinch, to access my entire library via my mobile phone (Android app) is nice.
So will I ever stop buying paper books? Probably not, but I will certainly think long and hard before doing so. I do enjoy reading 19th century engineering books, so fo the large format ones with many illustrations, paper is still better. When it comes to novels and other books filled mainly with text, plastic it is.
I got my wife a Kindle for Christmas last year. She was hesitant, but she absolutely loves it. She'll still get the occasional paper book, but the Kindle is definitely a nice bit of kit. I might want one now…
Yes, I got the most recent Kindle, and everyone looked at me like I had committed a sin. I really, really enjoy it. I have read numerous classics, and books for just 99 cents that are very entertaining. Now, I am not saying the Kindle will ever be a book replacement, but for the time, I enjoy not lugging around a novel to read.
I only see myself getting one if I decide to go off the grid and travel very, very light.
I am a very visual person. Someone could explain to me how a cam works, or I could read about how a differential operates, but until I see it in action it doesn't really mean much to me. In that way, computers and the intertubes are amazing. I can look up how a differential works and find Tube of You videos demonstrating it.
Having said that, there is something about the tactility of something in the real, non-virtual world. Working on my buddy's race car and actually disassembling the differential (then asking his dad for help figuring out how it all goes back together) and actually messing around with the suspension have taught me more than any book could.
That's why I became an aerospace/mechanical engineer. You can see something happening. I, for the life of me, can't see electrons.
When the subject of differential gears comes up, I reach out for my big box of Lego (OK, it's many boxes). I grab a Technic differential piece, three bevel gears, a couple of cross-axles, two wheels and a few beams. I throw a quick chassis together and presto: show and tell!
I love these models of the planets and sun. It reminds me of watching Pitch Black for the first time, and they stumble upon the observation room or whatever it was. They crank the solar system till it don't go no more. Fun film.