My commute is far from gruesome. I've seen worse - hiking up hills in Aberystwyth or cross-country marching at 8AM to an early-morning class in University Park, PA were far worse.
However, short and sweet as the morning PATH journey is, it lacks the stability of my own two feet, and commonly throws my fellow passengers and I to-and-fro, making anything more than listening to music difficult. And, frankly, I grow very tired of listening to music in the morning.
It's something individual to the NYC/NJ commute, too - the rough-and-tumble ride isn't in effect in London, Paris, Japan, or even riding in a taxi along the winding turns of Sardinia's hills. The controlled chaos that we deal with requires a certain steely will - and a plethora of entertainment means that fit those hanging on for dear life.
Please keep all naughty jokes related to one-handed anything to a minimum.
The Kindle and iPhone/iPod Touch are the most generic choices, mostly because they’re built to be held, navigated and used with one hand. More importantly, you can also get a significant grip on them if, for example, the train judders wildly from side-to-side at an unexpected opportunity. This is where phones like the Droid lack in finesse - the proud inclusion of the keyboard in a tight package makes for a hard-to-wield device when supporting yourself on the morning rush.
Road warriors trying to eek out that last email on the train will prefer the Droid's physical keyboard which is far more reliable than shakily stabbing at the iPhone's on-screen keyboard. I fail to mention other e-readers simply because, at present, the Kindle is reliably better for anyone trying to read with one hand. You can do everything with a firm grip with most of your fingers, deftly clicking between the menus using your thumb. This may seem somewhat of a trite point, but Sony's awkward clicky-wheels and touchscreens, or the oncoming glut of Tablets don't seem like they'll be too useful for anyone standing.
Neither the Nintendo DS nor the PSP are particularly friendly for a bumpy subway journey without a seat. Playing the PSP with one arm wrapped around a bar will work briefly, but a wrong turn will send it hurtling out of your hand. The DS is just too fiddly to be used by anyone destabilized.
The iPhone features plenty of games that are totally and utterly unsympathetic to the road warrior yet remains arguably the best gaming tool for the job. However, Bookworm ($2.99), Crush the Castle ($1.99) and Civilization: Revolution ($6.99) can all be played effectively either with a nimble thumb or in small, controlled doses - between stops, calm moments on the journey, or when the train decides to stop for no reason.
In fact, here's my little tip to the print industry for its next technological leap; whatever you use to display the news on next, please make it usable with one hand. The New York metro will thank you for it.
If you have any great ideas for how to keep oneself entertained while being flung about in a tube full of sweaty individuals, feel free to leave a comment.
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However, the question you posed was "what to do on a bouncy train?"
In the Andes, the primary mode of transportation is walking. People walk many miles to market. They spin wool on a drop spindle while walking.
I'm not terribly good with a drop spindle, so I knit. Crochet is a little easier and safer. People always talk to you when you're knitting or crocheting something, they're fascinated by it. Use of interesting colors and stitches also give your eyes something happy and textured and real to focus on -- something you're making yourself, a statement you are making -- rather than billboards, text, advertisements, that are all blared *at* you by somebody else. Someone with an agenda to get your money into their pockets! Don't watch that, watch this! Knit one, purl two!
But the point isn't primarily to entertain oneself and others -- it's to produce something, to create something, get a gift finished by the holidays. An added benefit is that it doesn't cut you off from the people around you the way mastur...er, I mean playing with your iPhone or Droid does.
There's also an advantage to knitting while riding as the passenger in a car. If you're pulled over, the driver is more likely to be let off with a warning! I think it's an image thing.