Well Connected
The author, social commentator, lecturer and prolific tweeter is a p-book girl in an e-book world (who can’t live without her iPad).
Author Jane Caro is an iPad-loving tweep
WhichThe iPad, tech definitely. innovation Therecan’t youare threelive without?things I use and refer to on it constantly: email, Twitter and Facebook. What other apps do you use?
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Kindle apps on my iPad. I also use Tinybeans, because I have a grandson and my daughter puts photos on there. What websites do you visit the most?
The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, Facebook and Twitter. And my trashy website of choice is Go Fug Yourself (gofugyourself. com). It’s so funny and well written. You’ve said you love Twitter despite its pitfalls – what are they? There’s a lot of abuse and also a tendency for people to play “gotcha!”– to try to drag you into boring arguments. But I follow a lot of people who tweet interesting articles. It’s It’s highlya kind curated,of random isn’t curated-nessit? in one way these but peoplenot totallyfor a reason. because I’ve followed Has anyone followed you on Twitter that you’ve been really excited about? [English actor] Paul McGann was good. And some odd ones – that woman who played Sabrina the Teenage Witch followed me. Melissa Joan Hart? Melissa Joan Hart! I didn’t understand that at all. I wasn’t exactly over the moon but I didn’t mind. It’s hard for me to keep count because I have a lot of followers – 67,000. That’s a huge number of followers! I have no idea who most of them are, though I’m grateful for all of them [laughs]. What technology do you wish had never been invented? Most of the newfangled things on cars are a pain in the arse; you know, the things that beep and tell you when you’re going too fast. I cannot bear machines that nag me. I don’t like the fridge telling me I’ve had the door open for too long or lifts insisting that the doors close. There’s this tendency to make technology that tells the user off continually. Is technology getting more complicated? I think so. I don’t like technology that’s so complex I can’t use it. My daughter switched the preferred station on my car radio. Can I get it back? No. What used to be a simple piece of technology I am suddenly unable to operate. Real books or e-books? Real books. I like knowing exactly how long they are and how much further I’ve got to go. I like that there is a cover, that there is a tactile feeling to them. Books are less tiring to read on a printed page than on a screen. Not having to carry a bag of books with me when I travel is wonderful but when I get home, I’ll often leave the e-book that I’m halfway through and read p-books – “p” for paper – until I travel next. What are the disadvantages of e-books? A p-book cannot run out of charge. If your e-reader runs out on a long-haul flight, you’re stuffed so I often have a p-book with me as well. What will be your next technology purchase? I’m pretty much covered but I’m sure they’ll invent something any minute now that will render everything I have obsolete. My pet hate is upgrades. I get my IT guy to do them. Can you sum up your idea of technology in once sentence? I regard it as a sort of fancy hammer.