Our first video game was Pong and we thought it was wonderful! Batting a virtual ball back and forth over a virtual net with controllers that had only a dial and were attached to the game with long wires, oh yeah, that's living!
Photo courtesy http://blog.pongr.com/2011/05/16/mountain-dew-ping-pong/
Our first computer was TRS80. Remember those? Radio Shack’s finest!
From 5¼” floppies we went to 3½” floppies. Somewhere in the mix were 8” floppies and tape drives as well. How long has it been since you have seen a computer with a 5¼" drive? We recently tossed a bunch of 3½" disks because they are totally useless.
I could go on but you get my point. Things change and the way we did things yesterday is not necessarily the way they will be done tomorrow. So what will happen someday when we no longer have computer CDs, or thumb drives or SD cards? What will happen if all your blogs are in “The Cloud” and it starts to rain?
Where will all your posts go? Will your children and your grand children and all their descendants be able to read what your life was like way back in the early 21st century? Or will they even care, but that’s another topic.
So, not only for the generations to follow who want to see what it was like back in the olden days, but also just for ourselves, we have put our blogs into book form. At least we know the good old printed on paper book will last for a while, even if computers and media storage continue to evolve.
Russ surprised me by making these blog books for me.
He didn’t do any editing but let Blog2Print do the whole thing. That works okay and is quick and easy but I will do some editing on the next book. Also, the default choice is to save pages and let the program squish the pictures in amongst the text. This can give some strange (but not totally unacceptable) results as Loree just found out when she got her book. This option will save money by saving pages but you can opt to have the pages print as they appear on your blog. It will take more pages but the pictures and captions will be where they ought to be!
A slide show will of course not show up so if you have one embedded in your blog, it will be necessary to edit the book and insert a picture. There seems to be a lot you can do with editing. I am going to order twice a year as I tend to be longwinded and my books are already fat.
I think you might be surprised how family loves the books. I was going to do this post some weeks ago but my sister has had the books, reading every word and was not quite finished with the second one. However, I told her I needed them back as Granddaughter Bekah is coming this weekend and she was not finished with the books either! They have been a real hit.
Russ also surprised my with a book from our Canadian Trip that we took in 2009.
This is a larger coffee table sized book and is hardback with a dust cover. I don’t remember how much it was but that wouldn’t help you anyway as it is based on the number of pages. He did this one on My Publisher. He makes books like he makes videos – there are nice pictures in the book but NOT ONE WORD!! So we will have to stay together forever to help each other remember where the heck we were when we took these pictures.
I liked My Publisher so well that I did a book for my sister. We used to travel together as couples quite a bit and so I titled the book “…and Four to Go.”
You know me, there are lots of words in this book. My sis and her husband loved it and were so happy to have some of their memories in a handy, permanent medium. Blog2print is better for capturing your blog but I really like My Publisher for doing a stand alone book. (just my opinion)
No I don’t get a commission nor do I own stock in either of these two fine companies!! I just wanted to share with you an idea for keeping your treasured memories in a permanent fashion. I know many bloggers have already done this but if you haven’t, you might want to consider it. Yes, it costs some money but it’s not a fortune. Jerry and Suzy are the ones who originally started Russ thinking about making our books so thanks guys!
I also want to mention that I tried using Blurb to do a book and I didn’t like it at all. It was not user friendly, in my opinion, and did not allow enough editorial capabilities to suit me. I know of some who love it so it is just a matter of personal opinion. Russ actually purchased a blog book by Paul and Margery Zeller that was done on Blurb just to see what a finished book looked like. Theirs turned out great but I don’t know how much work they did on it. Hope you all find a way to keep and preserve those wonderful memories we are making everyday. Your family will thank you.
Each of the first two years we have had Blog2Print make our blog into a book. I should say both of those years it took two books to capture our blog. I had to unlink all the links to Picasa. Blog2Print wanted to print all the pictures out of our online Picasa. I contacted them and they confirm that Blog2Print looks at ALL the graphics that have a link.
ReplyDeleteThe coffee table book is FABULOUS. What a wonderful husband to do that for you.
Boy! Have you given me something to thing about. Sometimes we think that what we've written won't be of interest later on... BUT... Donna, your family has certainly reaffirmed my feelings that family, more than anyone else, really appreciates having a chronicle of our lives. who'd'a thought! Hey... we may become even more documented that the LDS!
ReplyDeleteThe 'they' that said change is inevitable also said that suffering is optional. I had some of the same computers and games. My first 'real' computer was an IBM PS2. It was completely DOS and what a nightmare for me. The instruction manual was bigger that the computer. Love your work.(both of you)
ReplyDeleteI did try the blog 2 print website..but my blog was too fat!..and at that time I wasn't in the right frame of mind to work on it!..nice gift and a lovely keepsake!..I may have to have another look at this idea!!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has been making memory books for several years. One year fro each of the foreign nannies or au pairs she has had. She has also made books of special occasions or trips. They are truly keepsakes.
ReplyDeleteWe could of talked about this!!! I did not like blurb either & had to download things to the computer, so now that is there & i haven's used it!! ;0..Love my new book!
ReplyDeleteOH my goodness, I remember playing Pong. lol Loved it at the time. That was sweet of Russ to have that done for u. Know u will enjoy looking at them for years to come.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look into this. Thanks for the info, Donna!
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting idea - I never even thought that there might be a program like that. Thanks for the info. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat posts come at wonderful times it seems. I have been wanting to find a way to create books of Bob's stroke recovery for his children. Since it is quite lengthy...I need to explore affordable options. Thanks for the direction.
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip down memory lane. I too remember Pong. My first computer was an Apple II. I also remember hearing about a couple of local Houston fellows who designed a portable computer system and called it a ComPaq.
ReplyDeleteI'll be checking these blog to book links. We have several friends who are not commuter folks and would love to have a print copy of our blog.
Great info.
I've used Blog2Print a few times and it's a nice program - does a good job. Always something more to think about with blogging for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna, for the mention! Blog2Print does have many options -- we've had to re-order twice because we forgot to include comments! Good thing we were using their PDF option, not the printed option. Now we've dropped Blog2Print. Every once in a while we get ambitious and do it ourselves: copy text into a Word document, copy the pictures right from the blog into the doc, and we're done. It looks exactly as we want to to appear, the pictures are with the text, larger or smaller to keep the post from winding up with one or two comments on the next page. Now we have a shelf full of 3" binders.
ReplyDeleteGood food for thought. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe Blog Books Russ put together sure look nice. So nice to have to help remember your past adventures. Lolita and I send our best wishes to Donna for Mother Day and hope it's a Great Day!
ReplyDeleteI see you have joined the followers on my blog. Thanks and welcome. I hope it doesn't get too boring for you.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of turning your blog into a book. I'd seen the adverts but until this week had not seen the results. Your books look great.
I don't know if it would work here since there is the issue of postage but I will give it a go one day soon.
Blessings