Two Great Inventions

So far this year, I am rather excited about two new (to me) inventions that have improved the lot of humankind (and dogkind). Here they are:


First, the e-reader. There are several of these things on the market. Perhaps best known is the Kindle, being pushed hard by the Amazon people. Barnes and Noble have their own brand, I imagine Borders is following, and I understand there are a few more being touted at the big electronics show in Las Vegas as the Next Big Thing.

Anyhow, Linda got me the Sony version of these things for Christmas. I had gone into my periodic "I don't know what I want from Santa - I want for nothing" mode, so I was no help, and by golly, Linda came through out of left field yet again with the unexpected. But it has grown on me.

After some serious issues with getting on line, registering the computer AND reader, and generally just getting everything to work, it is now pretty easy. A great feature is that more and more public libraries are getting more and more e-books, so you can get on the Internet, go to some library network site where you are registered, and check out and download a book right from home. I understand that the book will just disappear from your device after the two or three week checkout period - I am waiting to see how this magic works. (In my curiosity I checked out far more than I will be able to actually read, by which I mean three books.)

I am a little leery about how the whole e-reader market will shake out. Sony is not known for always coming out on top (who has a Betamax player gathering dust in a back closet somewhere? Who wishes Sony cameras would take SD cards like the rest of the known universe?), but I am hopeful that the pdf formats these books take on will sustain my reader as compatible enough with the rest of the e-literary world for years to come.

These e-readers are planet-savers, too, since they can hold a purported 350 books or so, thus freeing up ridiculous amounts of shelf space (or making future such space unnecessary). And yes, I will not give up the tactile feel of paging through a real, tree-based book as well, but this is probably a device that will only increase in importance and market share and cultural acceptance, not to mention new applications, over time, so I am ready to ride the wave.

OK, second big incredible invention. Not as technically sophisticated, but someone had to have a good grasp of animal physiology to pull this one off. I speak of the "gentle leader dog collar", which is no doubt a trademarked name. This is a collar you place around a dog's neck and snout, sorta, and clip onto a normal leash. This is for the dog who (are you listening, OLLIE?) believes a walk should involve pulling forward full force, bringing the human along briskly like a motorboat leads a water skiier.

The thing is, a dog with a conventional collar can put its whole body, and especially, I would think, its front end and chest and legs, into the forward, no-slack-on-the-leash-ever, movement. With the gentle leader, the dog is pulling with its head and neck, and is less forceful about tugging. The immediate result of a walk with the leader, first time out of the box, was a dog that kept it going, but hung back a bit, not in the same fury to push the mach one envelope on that icy sidewalk. No more need for that trip to the chiropractor! A woman I know was praising the results she got from walking a 98 pounder with one of these things.

The dog in question does not mind terribly the imposition of the snout-collar. It goes back far enough that the dog can still open his or her mouth, pant, slobber, sniff way down in footprint holes in the snow, and do all those other things that make the walk so worthwhile from the dog's point of view. The dog is usually so focused on the walk itself, and the latest olifactory news posted on that oak tree at the corner, that the gentle leader is no big imposition at all.

So as we plunge further into the second decade of the twenty-first century, my hat is off (mainly because I am inside) to those who came up with these things. Now, get working on that car that runs on melting snow.