I have tried audio books but find the extra concentration required for books rather than music, too difficult to manage while gardening, even if the gardening is fairly mindless. I guess I find music more uplifting and interesting than the general vague hum of life - there is so much of it in such infinate variety from the preposterous psychedelia of the Incredible String band, the cool Celtic grooves of Van Morrison, the sheer invention behind electronica like Venetian Snares or the gorgeously lush cabaret sound of Antony and the Johnsons, a bit of alt-country if I am in a bluegrass mood or even some John Adams or Gorecki when I am feeling solemn. It is the only thing which enables me to survive winter and nearly every important event in my life has been accompanied by music which absolutely taps into my psyche like no other mood-enhancing drug (Not even nicotine, ha). Books, well where to begin - this is the other expensive addiction in my life - we live with thousands of books in our little house - every stair is heaped, every surface filled, piled on the floor, against walls (they make excellent soundproofing and insulation). Like music, no particular genres (although I am a secret and avid devourer of science-fiction if I HAD to choose). Would probably avoid 'chick-lit' or romance though. Mainly novels, but not always and, of course, I am really addicted to old gardening books. At present, still reading Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantell) and amusing myself with Walter Scott (Castle Dangerous) Sammy, multi-tasking is just so necessary. I have tried to knit when reading (failed) but when time is always so limited, we simply have to train ourselves to do many things at the same time - my ipod is a wonderful buffer against the daily hassle and grind. If our library went (it is always coming under threat), I would be there, chaining myself to the potted plants or the returns desk, in protest.

The xoom will be the one to watch, very nice specs and big competition with what all it can do plus it will be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. It is an awesome tablet but in the next month or so a lot of awesome Android 3.0 tablets will be hitting the market. Google Android 3.0 and Motorola Xoom: Hands-On, and Awesome The Xoom Club I love my PDN but will seriously be looking at some of these next gen Android tabs, the fact some will be running dual core processors alone will put them heads above the rest. A nice look at some of the other competitors that we can look forward to real soon (including some windows 7 versions). It's Tablet-Palooza at CES 2011

I got my first good look at a Kindle this weekend. Impressive for sure. I've researched a bit online, and almost everyone loves theirs. (OK--not Sheriz6!) I would bet that most people who use Kindle also have other books they read not on Kindle. I would miss seeing the cover as the book sits on my desk, I would miss seeing how far I am into the book, how far I have to go. But I can see they would be very handy, and if they were more like $100, I might get one. Many books I read I return to the used book store or of course the library, and really wouldn't want a copy to keep. Wouldn't need to keep a copy of Kindle, but since it holds 1500 books--I guess it doesn't matter if you keep books you don't care about. Book purchases apparently are about $10. Just amazing to be able to download a book in one minute from anywhere. I get most of my books from the used book store, library or Amazon Marketplace which makes $10 look high usually. Still, Kindle is tempting....so portable...so cool!

I've had a Kindle for several years and the only thing I don't like about it is I can't leaf through the pages to find a reference. I don't have any sentimental attachment to "real" books and appreciate not having to decide if I like a book enough to keep it on a shelf. I do wish I could share Kindle books with people who don't own one, but I am unwilling to lend them my Kindle. I know some people swap the actual Kindle among friends and family who also own Kindles, but I don't have anyone close who also owns a one. It is so much more portable than a book and I always seem to haul around a lot of stuff so the small size is great. If I could afford it I would love to have a tablet to read on and to nuts around on while watching TV. However, I need one that I can download and read Amazon Kindle offerings on. I like dealing with Amazon. I am a terrible pragmatist and can't understand why a lot of people feel strongly that a real book is more pleasant than a Kindle. However, I do wish Kindle book pages were numbered so I could easily skip around and find a desired passage. If anything were to happen to my Kindle I would immediately buy another because I don't want to give up the convenience of an e-reader. If Kindle came out in a tablet with a display as astounding as the I-Pad Retina I would buy it immediately. So far, they haven't matched the fabulous clarity of the Retina. Nancy