Comments on: CON GAMES: Kindle Me Too http://aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/ Think Global, Post Local Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:18:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Sue Gray http://aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6782 Sue Gray Wed, 27 May 2009 15:07:33 +0000 http://www.aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6782 Mitch, Thanks for the story. I concur that treasures can be found in the middle of a pile of shit, and in the case of used book stores, one person’s shit is another’s treasure. Michael, maybe you missed my point. If you know what you want to read and it’s a current publication available on Kindle, great. But so much of what I read doesn’t come off the best seller list. Haven’t you ever “discovered” a book purely by circumstance? Sometimes the book you would never actively seek out, the one that just falls in your lap, is the one that changes your life. That can’t happen with Kindle. By the way, don’t you find it interesting that the word Kindle denotes fire? Farenheit 451 comes to mind. I wonder if that was deliberate. Mitch, Thanks for the story. I concur that treasures can be found in the middle of a pile of shit, and in the case of used book stores, one person’s shit is another’s treasure.

Michael, maybe you missed my point. If you know what you want to read and it’s a current publication available on Kindle, great. But so much of what I read doesn’t come off the best seller list. Haven’t you ever “discovered” a book purely by circumstance? Sometimes the book you would never actively seek out, the one that just falls in your lap, is the one that changes your life. That can’t happen with Kindle.

By the way, don’t you find it interesting that the word Kindle denotes fire? Farenheit 451 comes to mind. I wonder if that was deliberate.

]]> By: Michael Conniff http://aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6781 Michael Conniff Wed, 27 May 2009 13:40:44 +0000 http://www.aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6781 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Sue. I too love the smell of coffee (and napalm) with the local paper in the morning. But I have just read two books on the Kindle 2--one by Bill Russell and another about Roger Clemens--and I've been reading the latest New Yorker (delivered wirelessly) and The New York Times every day. It's the words (and pictures and accounts) that count and nothing else. I can't tell you how sick I am of hearing yet another person talk about the wonders of print. Print is a pain in the ass! I couldn't possibly carry all of the above with me every day--no way--and the convenience is absolute. Not to mention the ability to order books, new and old, online. The browsing you so love is available in spades in the Amazon Kindle 2 store. I get it--I'm of your generation after all--but with devices like the Kindle 2 cropping up there's no longer the need to bemoan the loss of something because we've got something better. When was the last time ANYONE bemoaned the appearance of network television clips on the Web? The point is convenience and distribution. It's the same animal (for now) wherever you find it. Don't be color-blind: it's all there in black and white. Best, MIchael! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Sue. I too love the smell of coffee (and napalm) with the local paper in the morning. But I have just read two books on the Kindle 2–one by Bill Russell and another about Roger Clemens–and I’ve been reading the latest New Yorker (delivered wirelessly) and The New York Times every day. It’s the words (and pictures and accounts) that count and nothing else. I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing yet another person talk about the wonders of print. Print is a pain in the ass! I couldn’t possibly carry all of the above with me every day–no way–and the convenience is absolute. Not to mention the ability to order books, new and old, online. The browsing you so love is available in spades in the Amazon Kindle 2 store.

I get it–I’m of your generation after all–but with devices like the Kindle 2 cropping up there’s no longer the need to bemoan the loss of something because we’ve got something better. When was the last time ANYONE bemoaned the appearance of network television clips on the Web? The point is convenience and distribution. It’s the same animal (for now) wherever you find it.

Don’t be color-blind: it’s all there in black and white.

Best, MIchael!

]]> By: Mitch Mulhall http://aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6780 Mitch Mulhall Wed, 27 May 2009 04:45:01 +0000 http://www.aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6780 Sue-This reminds me of an old Ron White bit. His dog Sluggo takes a legendary dump, and in it there's what looks like a glove. Since he can't read shit without his glasses, White goes to the house to get his bifocals. Sure enough, the inscription on the wristband says, "Huntington Municipal Golf Course." Turns out, Sluggo found a golf glove on a nearby golf course and ate it whole. As White tells it, he rinsed the glove off and has been using it ever since. Being green is nothing compared to being brown. Whooof! Cheers, Sue-This reminds me of an old Ron White bit. His dog Sluggo takes a legendary dump, and in it there’s what looks like a glove. Since he can’t read shit without his glasses, White goes to the house to get his bifocals. Sure enough, the inscription on the wristband says, “Huntington Municipal Golf Course.”

Turns out, Sluggo found a golf glove on a nearby golf course and ate it whole.

As White tells it, he rinsed the glove off and has been using it ever since.

Being green is nothing compared to being brown.

Whooof!

Cheers,

]]> By: Sue Gray http://aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6779 Sue Gray Wed, 27 May 2009 03:35:17 +0000 http://www.aspenpost.net/2009/05/22/con-games-kindle-me-too/#comment-6779 In defense of old fashioned books: One of life's little pleasures is browsing a used book store for unknown treasures. Some of the best books I've ever read I didn't even know existed until I ran across their intriguing covers in a used bookstore. Somehow I don't think browsing Amazon for downloads will give me as much of a thrill. Do I really want to subject my eyes to more strain and my cells to more electronic radiation? I get enough radiation surfing the Internet and working from my computer. And what's to become of bookmarks? I love bookmarks! And public libraries? And librarians! I think there are enough people like me to keep the paper book alive for awhile. And if not, if books are going to become extinct, well maybe I ought to start collecting as many as I can now. Rare objects increase in value over time. In defense of old fashioned books:

One of life’s little pleasures is browsing a used book store for unknown treasures. Some of the best books I’ve ever read I didn’t even know existed until I ran across their intriguing covers in a used bookstore. Somehow I don’t think browsing Amazon for downloads will give me as much of a thrill.

Do I really want to subject my eyes to more strain and my cells to more electronic radiation? I get enough radiation surfing the Internet and working from my computer.

And what’s to become of bookmarks? I love bookmarks! And public libraries? And librarians!

I think there are enough people like me to keep the paper book alive for awhile. And if not, if books are going to become extinct, well maybe I ought to start collecting as many as I can now. Rare objects increase in value over time.

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