« January 2010 | Main | April 2010 »

February 13, 2010

You need kindling to start a fire

I saw one of the more absurd articles in yesterday's New York Times. It seems there is a revolution afoot in the electronic world, because Amazon and other retailers are raising the price of electronic books from $9.99 to $14.99. Additionally, some publishers are getting dinged because they delay the electronic release of a book until the print version has been out a few months. And the men and women who devour e-books on their Kindles are none too pleased.

These practices have led to several hilarious episodes where readers give 1-star reviews to books in retaliation. Some of the angrier customers even berate the authors via e-mail, and vow to never again purchase that author's work. They argue an electronic book should be cheaper than a print edition, and obviously the publishing companies are gouging.

The publishers, meanwhile, assert there is more to making a book than the printing cost and paying the author. Unsurprisingly, I tend to think there is a bit of truth to each side's argument. An electronic book is cheaper than a print book, just like music on iTunes is cheaper than a CD. You don't need all that packaging, the physical media, the cost of materials. Yet, a book is not the product of a single author - I don't know the exact details of how a major book is completed, but there's a lot of work involved. That costs money.

However, the real reason I'm writing about this is because of the goofy lengths people go to express their displeasure. Writing a 1-star review? Seeking out an author to tell him he's a filthy, money-grubbing whore? Aren't there more productive ways to use one's time? $14.99 is not a whole to pay for a book, especially a brand new one. Simple logic declares a new, more popular book should cost more than one that's been out for awhile.

Kindles, however, don't strike me as especially elegant devices. Yes, it's nice to carry around tons of books in a tiny little package, but is reading off a screen really the same thing? Half the enjoyment from reading a book is the feel of the pages, the shape of the type, the way an old book smells. A Kindle has none of those things. I suppose I felt the same way about iPods, and those run my life now. Yet, I still feel a book is different. That's why I'd rather pay $25 for an actual book, rather than $9.99 or $14.99 for an electronic book.

Posted at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2010

Don't trust a dad

Back when I was at the Norfolk airport, a 5 year old boy kept setting off the metal detector. His dad couldn't figure out what it was; neither could the TSA folks. Finally they determined it was the buttons on his pants that kept setting off the alarm.

Now, I don't know what the proper next step is in this situation, but I know the dad's solution wasn't it. You see, the dad says, "take off your pants!"

So the boy takes off his pants in full view of 50 people, and goes through the detector without a problem. Even for a 5 year old boy, showing an airport your dinosaur undies has to be mortifying.

I can only assume that when those two get home, and the mom finds out what happened, she is gonna be pisssssssed. "You did *what*!?" And then she hits him with a rolling pin. At least I hope that's what happened...

Posted at 01:30 AM | Comments (1)

Snowmageddon

Hi everyone. So, last Thursday I found myself in Richmond, Va. as the so-called "snowmageddon" was lumbering towards the Mid-Atlantic. There's no denying that was one nasty storm, but I sure had to snicker at the newscasters who predicted doom and gloom. It also made me a little wistful for Ohio, where a couple inches of snow guaranteed a day off from school. Chicago, of course, has an arsenal of snow plows, and it would have to be The Day After Tomorrow before school was canceled.

Lucky for me, Social Security also snow days of sorts: if I, as the representative, am unable to get to the hearing because of the weather, it *must* be postponed. How dope is that!?

Today was one of those snow days, as Chicago took 14 inches of the white stuff in the chin. I only experienced part of it, because I ended up stuck in Atlanta. I could have done without that.

Back to Richmond: I drove the next morning to Norfolk, where the snow had turned to slush. It was pure, unadulterated misery driving in that slush. It was slow-going, but I made it. So, no matter how incompetent you think the city of Chicago is, at least they usually get the streets plowed.

The storm also convinced me that they ought to move the capital to Buffalo. Buffalo may even be better than Chicago when it comes to plowing snow. I can guarantee the capital won't shut down because it snows 3 feet.

Posted at 01:29 AM | Comments (0)