By Gary Martin
I have three pairs of glasses, but alas, none of them come with a zoom button.
Gary B. Martin is an illustrator and animator who has lived on the Upper West Side for more than 30 years. His illustrations appear in the Rag on Sundays, chronicling life in the neighborhood, New York City, and the Universe. See them all here. For a broader range of Gary’s work, including animations and other motion graphics, please visit www.martoons.com
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“[…]but alas, none of them come with a zoom button.”
That is the seed of a good idea for a gadget, though. Perhaps someone has already done this? CCD array on the outside, OLED display on the inside, zoom buttons on the frame (or speech-recognition?)….
It’s only a matter of time.
Almost as good. https://support.apple.com/en-us/105102
Thank you Herb!! I kinda knew it was there but hadn’t bothered to find it. Now it is one of the few on my Home Screen! Love that you can adjust zoom and also brightness (or lots more) . Fantastic.
I used to love reading the liner notes on albums. Now I need the Hubble telescope just to find the producer’s name.
WEBB for me
At this age, I don’t read the small type—I just assume it says ‘Good luck.’
The good news is your observations are spot on….
The bad news is that your cartoons only come out once a week !!!!!!!!!
Recipe for the font-size challenged: Take a picture, send to AI, it will read it.
Ain’t It the Truth! And you probably won’t be able to hear it as well!
…or remember what you read…..
Lol! So true!
I’ve tried too many times to expand the screen, only to realize it’s an analog paper version that I’m reading. Why don’t they come with zoom?
The bad news is I gave away every vinyl!
You have to put one glasses over the other pair lol!
“[…]but alas, none of them come with a zoom button.”
There’s an app for that
Been there, Gary. One of the many “gifts” of aging.
There were two problems with vinyl records: progressive wearing out with multiple playing,, and skating (the way most turntable arms start to favor one track vs. the other as they move closer to the center of the record). The latter problem was addressed with more expensive equipment that had movable mechanisms that kept the angle of the arm consistent across the record surface (I think B&O was one of the first manufacturers to offer that). But these things were not always noticeable, or we got used to them.
Or tape a nickel to top of arm! 😜
Yup! Thank goodness for a “Magnifier” app on my IPHONE! DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT! 👏👏👏👏
So true! You nailed it again, Gary!
The worse news is that you no longer even own a record player!
I remember sitting on my purple shag carpeting (lost many pieces of jewelry in that carpet) in front of my little stereo reading the liner notes and listening to every song. The faint sounds of my parents demanding the music be turned down. The only album they never objected to hearing through the closed door…Tapestry. They may have listened to that album more than I.
I bought a magnifying glass to read the fine print… now I can’t find the magnifying glass.
Apparently, liner notes were designed by people who hate old people.
Painful – but true!!!!
I can still squint my way through ’em! Funny stuff.
Also the directions on over the counter medications and personal care products I’ve noticed….sigh!
The UWS Rag. Faint typeface/font and the yellow highlight, (instead of blue), and enlarging to more than 150$ resulting overlays of the page. I cant even see what I am typing on my desktop pc with large monitor on this site.
Font has much to do with it. i have antiquarian books that I can read with only a little assistance. It’s not that it costs more to make text readable on a website.
The cartoon is easy to see. Why not everything else? Why am I the only person writing about the illegility of this site?
This comic SO brings back sense memories of the first listening of a new album (Tuesday after school, ffs, not FRIDAY!), new needle, cross-legged in the shag carpeting of “the den,” reading the liner note.
I will add the inability to sit cross-legged for more than 15 seconds to your list of grievances about old age.
So, so true! I remember reading the album cover and admiring the art work was as important as the music. The good ol’ days!
Thanks Gary!
A family member, and several other people I know, have been very pleased with vision improvement after cataract procedures.
It’s me!!