e-Reading on the Tube

I remember the days when e-readers were extremely few and far between on the London Underground. Now Kindles are pretty common place. Just within six months, even seeing someone reading an iPad on the Tube has lost its novelty value.

It was quite sweet when I recently some children staring at women's Kindle with open curiosity. Admittedly the extremely colourful skin probably threw them. After a couple of stops their curiosity got the better of them:


"What's that?" said one.
"It's a Kindle", she replied.
Blank looks from the kids
"It's like an iPad", she tried to clarify
"Ah", The penny dropped and they carried on chatting to each other.


I remember feeling like the kids when I saw this chunky looking e-reader above five years ago.  I had no idea what it was at the time. e-readers have certainly come on leaps and bounds since then.

However, I wonder if in ten or even five years time we'll see more people reading from iPads, Kindles or other e-readers than we see people reading printed books and papers on the Tube?

Are people worried about getting these devices out for fear of getting them nicked?  Is it all just a question of cost (even though a Kindle costs about the same price as an iPod), are they still too expensive?  Is it still more comforting to handle physical paper & newsprint on a Tube journey?

Creative Black and White Photography by Rodney Smith

Many of you know the name of Rodney Smith. Not surprisingly, such kind of photographers must be famous. His pictures are always easily identified thanks to a special style of Rodney. His photo is like special moment of someone’s life. Looking at them, it seems that a man could do the impossible things, he able to stop time. Besides, his stories lure the viewer as something magical, fantastic. It’s similar to very realistic dream.




Celebrated photographer Rodney Smith graduated from the University of Virginia in 1970 and earned a Master of Divinity in Theology from Yale University in 1973. While at Yale, he also studied photography under Walker Evans.

In 1975, Smith received a Jerusalem Foundation Fellowship which enabled him to travel to Jerusalem for three months. The photos taken there resulted in his first book “In the Land of Light” which was published in 1983.