Amazon Kindle (ebook thingy)

the more my bookshelves start to overflow the more appealing it seems.

yeah i totally understand this and 5-10 years ago i would be right there with you, but i've started to donate books that i know i won't need anymore. i just don't feel the need to own every book i've ever read? and if i need to buy something again, it's easy enough to find a used copy

and as far as cost and space issues go, there are always libraries

i mean shit, all you need is an ID and you get a card and limitless endless access to an unending stream of books for free

I have 4 packed floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my basement, and I will always love vinyl, but I also find it hard to believe that after the near-demise of the music industry as we know it people still maintain that the print industry is completely immune

These are all really good and really valid points, but I don't think the mega-serious book lovers will be the ones to decide the fate of physical books. I mean, its pretty much the 5 CD a year people that decided the fate of the music industry, right?

returning books and paying overdue fees is a hassle, though (which is why people stopped going to video rental stores the minute they had an alternative).

i'm not saying the print industry is completely immune--not by any stretch of the imagination. there needs to be a correction there, too. i think advances for novels especially are way too high, for example, and there have been some adjustments lately, which is a good sign.

returning books and paying overdue fees is a hassle, though

you really think returning *free* books to a *free* library is a hassle?

yes

I am like a 5 minute drive from my library and it takes me 30 minutes to get there cuz of traffic so I rarely go

sounds like you could walk there

it's inconvenient, i put it off or forget and then they are no longer free

then again I could get my books routed to the library that I can walk to a block away so I don't know what I'm typing about

many libraries offer renewal services online

i can see it working out in a big way for universities, given the high cost of textbooks and the slight ridiculousness of having students sell back the same books every semester.

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, April 22, 2009 2:33 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is how I see it happening - assuming continued improvements in the device quality and capacity - if it catches on with kids in school, there eventually will be a generation that views somebody who carries books as quaint, like somebody who still gets their shoes repaired. and carrying around books is a huge pain in the ass for students.

segway (ewalk thingy)

also my library is a 5 minute drive away, I can renew online, and I still paid $10 to rent tron on DVD for "free"

library should offer door-to-door service imo

anyway, libraries are an amazing public service and all, but i worked in a bookstore for years and i've always felt good about spending money on books (although even paperbacks can be kind of ridiculously expensive these days).

can't wait to set my eggers page turn tones

ilx is the greatest book ever written

I saw some dude on a segway a few days ago waiting for the walk sign to change and he was just in one spot spinning in circles

much like this thread

nothing has ever wanted to make me buy something as much as that scene

holy shit some of the words in that sentence are in the wrong place

on the new kindle you can rearrange the words, make your own books

i suppose i think some technology or some things that are pushed on people as being these great new things (mcmansions! suburban subdivisions! wall to wall carpeting!) are actually things that end up making them a little more miserable and disconnected.

don't ask about the wall to wall carpeting thing, that's a whole other pet peeve i have.

indoor toilets, electric light, clothes

you should have seen the thread where the monks complained about the printing press

also my library is a 5 minute drive away, I can renew online, and I still paid $10 to rent tron on DVD for "free"

why didn't you just buy it for 5 more bucks?

http://www.amazon.com/Tron-20th-Anniversary-Collectors-Bridges/dp/B00005OCMR

because I support piracy

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh

mr. que are you a librarian

I thought the library was a B&M pirate bay store

any guesses on which ilxors will be the first to hire a robot to lift the fork to their mouths?

goddamn right i'm a fucking librarian

(not a public library librarian)

a robot to lift the fork to their mouths?

o shit what have you heard? tell me they are working on this

there are private libraries?

I bet batman has a private library

i work for aquaman, in his undersea library.

but i know the woman who works for batman, she's really sweet and has helped me out with maritime law stuff on occasion

waterproof kindle in 2010 dude look out

mr. que are you sebastian the crab

i want my foldable digital paper ereader before i'm ready to hop on board
and this fucking thing needs to support COMICS and CROSSWORD PUZZLES, DUH

and not through some wackadoo transfer to .xpc file bullshit, but integrally

I have this sneaking suspicion that nintendo's nextgen handheld is gonna be a combo ebook that's gonna render the kindle moot.

Missed all the posts today.

1. No backlight. This is impossible on an e-ink screen. There are some frontlighting technologies, but make the screen look bad when they are not on (see the new Sony reader for example).
2. Re: "it's just kinda funny because i think the people who are hardcore pushing this particular technology have no real grasp about how the little random ephermal shit like books makes life often kinda great (or they don't really care.)" - That sentence was a little garbled, but I think I get the gist of it. I can't speak for everyone, but most of the people I work with spend a LOT of time thinking about this. I don't think the Kindle will ever match some of the physical aspects of books (smell, etc.), but there are definitely some things that make it BETTER than reading a book. For example, being able to instantaneously look up a word, in context.
3. I've always felt like fully-digital "libraries" would be a great end-run around all of the DRM/DMCA/anti-piracy issues, but I think they would have to by accompanied by some sort of entertainment tax.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=3662746

is a kindle an apple sniffing dirt repellent origami phone/book/watch? if not then i'm not interested, sorry...