📱 technologizing (beda day 29)

26. best writing/reading app

this post is gonna get a bit rant-y. what's new, amirite?

i think the app that helps me the most with writing is grammarly. i first started using grammarly on my computer when my spellcheck wasn't working for some reason. then i found out it could be used for quick dictionary definitions (a feature i use to this day). that got me pretty hooked. for a while i even used it to check for grammatical issues in my essays. you know, back when i cared about the quality of my essays. oops.

nowadays, i use it mostly for the double-click-definition feature instead of spelling/grammar proofreading. when you use words like "heckuva" and play by very loose capitalization/punctuation, grammarly will always be highlighting a massive slew of errors. in spite of this (and the fact that GRAMMARly sometimes doesn't catch its own grammatical errors), it's a solid app that has helped me out quite a bit.

okay, now time for the rant...

i like e-books about as much as i like riverdale - that is to say, not at all. i'd much prefer a real book any day of the week. the feeling of turning the pages. the hunt for a slip of paper or anything that can be used as a workable bookmark. the long nights spent flipping through a captivating novel. these are things that no e-book will give you.

"but e-books are more convenient!" fam, unless you're carrying around war and peace or the complete works of william shakespeare, most books aren't that heavy. toss a few in your bag and you're good to go. buy paperbacks. train your arm muscles!!

"you can store multiple books on one app!" ever heard of a bookshelf? they look great, they're pretty space-efficient, and they hold books (wow!!). heck, it doesn't even need to be a shelf. even a fricking pile can look aesthetic if you stack it nicely.

"e-books are super easy to buy!" if you can buy e-books online, you can order real books on amazon. easy as pie!! or if you don't want to pay for shipping/handling... ever heard of libraries?

as usual, i am a huge hypocrite for ranting about this. i will buy electronic textbooks if they're cheaper. or when my textbooks weigh 5 billion pounds. i do have the kindle app (even though i only use it for pdf-viewing). shame on me...

i also know that lack of space, time, money, etc. make e-books more convenient for some people. i respect that. people should be free to make the best choices for themselves. even so, why people choose to watch riverdale is beyond me...

so! if you want to get into reading and e-books work better for you, go for it! download the kindle app and get to it. reading is reading, even when it's technologized into an app. but if you find a really good book, try reading a physical copy of it sometime. you might be surprised...