Bridging e-reading with paper-reading

"'Go-Green, use electronic media to read books'. I've been trying to implement this since long. It just doesn't seem to work. There is an intangible factor to reading from books which can just not be simulated on this screen. The screen is fine to read casual stuff like news articles, but when it comes to reading books and serious text, nothing matches the paper-back book."

If your experiences with reading have been similar, let us try to churn this new concept.

Some of the major reasons why reading on the screen is not as good are:

1) The disconnect between reader and the text comes from the vertical screen away from you and the third element (mouse) handling the way we read. In contrast, a reader is so very connected with the text when "handling" the book, and it makes it so very easy to learn new concepts and refresh/retain them!

2) You can't handle the pdf/doc the way you do your book. You can't underline, highlight, or scribble anywhere you wish on the e-document the way you do on your book.

3) Other handy facilities like placing bookmarks in the book and folding pages to refer back are so useful.

The good news is that the the signs of above said issues fading out have started coming. We have all the right hardware in place, but are perhaps waiting for the right software. The first problem cited above has been addressed by the likes of iPad, which allow a user to connect with the document as he holds it in his hand, flips pages using touch of his fingers. Still, the comfort zone is far from prevalant. Why?

A software that could allow users to read documents and underline/highlight/mark/scribble using a felt pen(very much a reality) and auto-save any changes made on the fly is just what we need. To all software developers this could sound like a trivial piece of software. Truly so, we really need a trivial simplistic solution. As said earlier, we have all the technology and hardware needed to achieve this; we are just waiting for the right initiatives from the software industry.

Being able to use electronic devices to read books and take notes just the way we've always used paper appears to be coming close. This article is an appeal to technology developers to take the necessary steps to create the needful and help penetrate the same to the masses.

Let's Go-Green!

"Employability" life cycle

Following text presents a hard fact of life, with a solution towards its end. Readers are encouraged to respond.

Employability, or the potential in your profile to be rewarded with responsibilities and remunerations that you expect from the industry, has an interesting trend. It follows an inverted U curve. The law of increasing and diminishing returns seems to be working here as well!

Fresh out of college, you are full of enthusiasm - like the dried sponge, waiting to get soaked into the industry. You are always on top of the latest happenings around the world, take up new technologies and processes on the fly, and with each passing day, become more proficient at your work. In other words, your demand in the job market maintains a steady rise.

Your experience largely catalyzes your employability. As you gain experience(number of years could vary from half a dozen to two based on your industry) you start commanding a position in the industry. This is when the slope of the curve starts to reduce. Newer folks are in the ascending stage while you arrive at a "risky" position. Risky, because, with age, your rate of knowledge enhancement has reduced, your ability to work hard has reduced, and you want a higher salary than those younger people who can perform as good!

At the third stage, you are at your vulnerable best, and the peak has happened by. Your heavy salary packages start biting you, and you are left with two possible options. One, fight it out. Push your mind and body to their limits and try to re-establish yourself. Two, dump your self-esteem and let things continue till your employability is non-zero. Commonality in both cases states it is perhaps too late!

Law of diminishing returns is inevitable. However, the good news is that a solution exists for all of us! Economics teaches, "development and technology can postpone diminishing returns in the long run". THE ONLY WAY OUT of this trap is continuous development and use of latest technological tools throughout the career. If one is able to do just these two things, there is no way that one gets overtaken.

Impact of experience on employability experiences an exponential rise when it gets coupled with continuous skill development and technology upgrades. This is THE solution to make sure you plan your succession at work, instead of getting succeeded because of obsoleteness.

Wishing you an exciting latter half of your career!