Beating backpack blues

Swagga T
“There are 165 days of summer vacation. Then school comes along just to end it”
If you like watching cartoons, then you will be familiar with the lyrics to the theme song for Phineas and Ferb. Right now you really feel the meaning of the words because Tuesday it is time to get back to school again. Ouch, groan, complain.

You can already feel your shoulders ache from lugging a backpack full of books, your lunch pack, your juice bottle and all the other stuff that we shall not get into here. If only someone could do something to take the load off your shoulders, school would be way more cool, right?

Well, ICT is not just about social networking although that is wonderful too. It is about making life easier and better. Some of you are familiar with Kindles and may even have some novels loaded on your laptop or iPad.

But some of you may not be able to afford those gadgets. And this is where an e-reader comes in. This gadget comes in different brands and sizes to provide you with your very own digital library which weighs about the same as your mobile phone. And it costs much less than a laptop or an iPad.

E-readers have different specifications and capacities with some able to take up to 3 000 books. Yes, that is 3 000 books. You can have all your textbooks including the ones from past classes for reference. You will not have to suffer embarrassment by having to borrow a maths book from two classes back because you will have it loaded on your e-reader.

So not only do you have everything you need at your fingertips, you can also take your school work everywhere with you without having to drag a backpack that weighs a tonne or look like a geek. You can study wherever you are, whenever. How is that for being top of the class?

And best of all, the gadget will take you through college and beyond. You simply delete the books you no longer need and install the ones that you are currently using. As e-books are much cheaper than the printed editions, ultimately this costs you much less than buying the traditional books.

Look for an e-reader from shops that sell ICT gadgets. While you are at it, you could also learn e-publishing which is how you get to create reading material for e-readers, laptops, iPads and even mobile phones.

So get a load of your shoulders by being IT savvy. Have a lovely summer and a great academic term.