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Thursday 8 November 2012

Favourite things

Learning to embrace technology 



An oldie but a goodie - iPad for horses!
When smart phones first came out, I have to admit I was sceptical. I was like "who needs a camera on their phone?" and "if I want to use the internet, I'll sit at a computer". Famous last words, huh? Then, my husband got an iPhone. I was given his iPod touch as he didn't need it anymore...I started hooking it into our wireless internet at home and began to see what all the fuss was about! That Christmas, my husband bought me an iPad and my world was changed forever.


Anyone who has jumped onto the Apple product bandwagon knows what I am talking about. My favourite cartoonist, The Oatmeal  has captured Apple product ownership  oh so well...The gift of the iPad then led to the discovery of two things that have changed my life significantly. As someone who loves to read (and claimed to love paper only formats) I'm a convert to all things digital. Enter Zinio and Kindle  apps...



I'm a magazine junkie. Of course, my particular interest is in horse magazines. I have half a bookshelf taken up with over 20 years worth of horse magazines that I can-not-bear-to-throw-out! (I do have hoarder tendencies). I love to read magazines from overseas, but the cost of a subscription with international postage was a bit ridiculous. Not to mention, by the time magazines get to me, they are old. If I go into a local newsagent to buy a magazine from the UK or USA, it is usually $10 or more for ONE magazine. Yes - yet another magazine to add to my hoarding space!
 


Therefore you can imagine my delight when I discovered Zinio. I made this exciting discovery when browsing the Horse and Hound website one day. It took me 5 minutes to sign up and there it was...the latest issue of Horse and Hound delivered to my inbox, able to be read on the iPad or desktop computer! As there are no weekly horse publications in Australia, getting my Horse and Hound each Thursday (for around $2 per issue) is one of the highlights of my week. After my revelation of digital subscriptions, I wrote a Letter to the Editor of H&H, which was published!

Made it into Horse and Hound!
I then discovered I can also subscribe to the likes of Dressage Today and Practical Horseman for just $10 for a full 12 month subscription. The best bit is that I am free to hoard as much as I like, as this huge pile of mags is all stored in cyberspace! 

So magazines are sorted, what about books? Although I still love reading "real" books, there is something to be said for the invention of e-readers. I downloaded the Kindle app not long after my iPad arrived and starting buying books through the Kindle StoreNo more waiting for books in the mail; within a few clicks, new reading material is right at my fingertips! I no longer need to pack a selection of books and magazines for a trip away now, my iPad has got entertainment covered. 

Now after years of tolerating a "dumb phone" I am considering stepping into the 21st century and upgrading. After all, a blogger needs to be able to take photos on the run and upload them! Look out, iPhone, here I come...




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