I see on the BBC News Website that the Local Government Association has now outlined a Banned jargon list in an attempt todrown out these horrid buzzwords that seem to appear in corporations nowadays. Things like 'can do culture', 'holistic governance' and 'citizen empowerment' all make me want to puke when I hear them. There seems to be a lot missing from that list - one in particular I seem to see a lot of, especially in job adverts is 'Helicopter view' which makes me just want to punch anyone who says it. But what also I see in that list is a lot of words which I find little sense in being there - in fact banning them would be somewhat restrictive - take for example 'welcome', 'guidelines' or 'capacity' - perfectly normal words from the English language - really it looks like they haven't thought too much about it.
So what is the worst example of these buzzwords that you have heard of late? Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
What's 'helicopter view' mean?
My partner, Rusty, hates the word 'Brainstorm' says it makes her back snap. I know what she means, there is something a bit cringey about saying it, but 80% of my job involves doing it. 'Ideas Session' is equi-wanky, what other phrase could repalce 'brainstorm'?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by McDirts: What's 'helicopter view' mean?
Presumably it means looking at the bigger picture? It's not a bad idea, even if the phrase does grate a bit.
I can no longer find it in me to hate buzzwords. What annoys me more is crazy, flighty, idiotic ideas that people flit to and fro from like moths panicking between two death-inducing neon lights. Like Ebook readers, or advertising on mobile phone search engines. Stupid ideas that aren't going to succeed that catch everyone's attention because they're new, and make my life more difficult.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Fuck, I'd forgotten I changed my signature. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about - spamming a forum with a useless link in a desperate bid to up your search engine rankings. Sorry about that everyone.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
I think that ebook readers could take off, if only because the Kindle comes with a 3G capability. I see people using them out and about, and I can imagine that companies will start pushing content quite aggressively. The DRM stuff will be worked out over the next 18 months or so.
Remember thorn - you're still not convinced by mp3s, even though the record industry no longer has a working business model due to their success.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
I'd quite fancy an ebook reader, if the content available were less expensive / more extensive. Unfortunately it's still cheaper in most cases to buy the paper-based version.
I seem to amass a huge number of books each year and they are (together with the mountains of cheap disposable Chinese-children-exploiting clothing that I succumb to) rapidly turning my house into a mouldering heap, of which a demented pensioner would be justifiably proud.
I'm all for digitising stuff, but I have to admit that I've only recently taken the leap into buying CDs only on MP3, rather than buying the disc then ripping it myself.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
The ability to create playlists of favourite chapters, or buy chapters individually, probably means the death of the novel.
[ 18.03.2009, 08:27: Message edited by: Deep Freeze ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Yes, it will have a lot of appeal to fucking cretins. But do fucking cretins really buy a lot of books.
Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
What's your favourite e-book? Mine's the 40 classics on one DS Lite cartridge.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
pathetic.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Yes, it will have a lot of appeal to fucking cretins. But do fucking cretins really buy a lot of books.
Stewart Lee...
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
if it helps, I'm a complete fucking cretin, and I still pick up and read books.
Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
What's your favourite e-cretin? Mine's Clive Sinclair.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
The main thing that makes me skeptical about e-books is the fact that every piece of editorial about them is really scathing, focussing in on things like the pages taking too long to turn, the difficulty in scooting back a few pages, the price, the sense that it's almost-but-not-quite as pleasant as reading a book.
The comparison between the music industry isn't quite as simple as Benway makes out. MP3s weren't foisted on music lovers as a way to get them to spend more money - they came up from the opposite direction, popularised by the users, while the industry looked on in horror. By the time Apple et al set up shop the demand had already proven to be gargantuan. Where's the same demonstration of demand? There's some digital piracy of books, but - Harry Potter aside - it's nowhere near what you saw for music. If the eBook is the way of the future, why aren't there pdf sharing websites on the same immense scale you see with MP3?
From an industry point of view eBooks would be great - you wouldn't have printing costs, you wouldn't have warehousing costs and you wouldn't have to give a 90% discount to Tescos just to make your book visible. So costs go right down - brilliant. It's obvious why we'd want it to succeed, and why there's the same enthusiasm that surrounded Sony's launch of SACD.
It just seems like the eReader is a massive compromise by the consumer in favour of the industry. I can't see what the consumer gets out of it, unless - as H1ppy demonstrates, they just buy books without reading them. and would rather they were somewhere out of sight. The comment about playlists and favourite chapters just demonstrates how far removed the way people listen to music is from the way people read books, and why the success of one digitisation process doesn't necessarily mean that the other will succeed.
I'm remaining skeptical. Amazon and Sony want it to succeed, and I suppose they're putting quite a lot of effort into convincing people to want their products, so maybe people will be won over by that advertising muscle alone, but sooner or later it would have to offer some benefit beyond simply being a new gadget to drool after.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask:
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Yes, it will have a lot of appeal to fucking cretins. But do fucking cretins really buy a lot of books.
Stewart Lee...
Yeah, I was thinking about that as I wrote it. Mulling it over, the stuff that he was talking about is ideal e-Book fodder.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Mulling it over, the stuff that he was talking about is ideal e-Book fodder.
I think that's one of the reasons it won't work. It's perfect for that sort of demographic, but not for the format or content. The sort of person who buys a couple of celeb harbacks a year probably won't spring for an e-reader. One of the main disincentives to purchasing one is that it doesn't do anything else. You can't play games on it, you can't make phone calls with it. You can't browse the internet. Popular gadgets tend to be about multi-functionality, don't they? Maybe not, But, still... Also, for the casual reader who occasionally loses paperbacks in the pub or on the bus, the e-reader is a no-no. For the bibliophile, it's a non-starter. You're right, it's all about benefits for the industry, not for the reader.
I've recently been researching and advising on the provision of e-book services for my employer. It's not a pretty sight...
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
whatever.
[ 18.03.2009, 09:32: Message edited by: H1ppychick ]
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
well, those are some good points, thorn. Certainly a better argument than suggesting that only cretins would be interested in digitally distributed and consumed text based entertainment. I would agree that by themselves, the ereaders that we've seen so far aren't too tempting, and it's the ability for them to be live tablets makes them interesting. The ability to read live text - websites - as well as books, and to be able to obtain the books on the fly are what will draw the early adopters to them. Perhaps social networks, annotation and discussion could occur around the contents of the books. This would appeal to the generation that is currently going through school, who have grown up with the assumption that work and information is inherently based around sharing and interactivity. While of course you can't build a playlist out of chapters, it's the social elements of mp3 consumption that interest younger consumers as much as the content.
I don't see them replacing book buying for those people who are already into books for reasons of contextual physical information as much as the information. It's valid for people to fetishise these elements of books - how a book physically changes over the course of your interaction with it, the cheapness of a paperback and the status that many people attach to the public display of books. These are the things that only refinement of the technology can challenge.
I don't think that they can be written off, because they represent a platform that can weave the accepted forces of social technology into the reading experience.
Posted by rooster (Member # 738) on :
The one phrase I hate (enough to make my skin crawl) that corporate types say is "bio break." It isn't really the same kind of thing as those words on the BBC list, but I'd certainly ban it if I could. I think I have banned it from froopy's language...
There is just something about being strangely graphic while trying to be euphemistic that irks me.
As for e-readers, I can't see getting into reading a novel on one of them - aside from the cost, which is just ridiculous, I think I'd miss the tactile sensation. However, if I was still LARPing or doing something like that, it would be great to have a portable version of the 100s of rule books.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
As Black Mask and Thorn mention, the product seems so backwards in that, we already have devices that you can read text on and they're a portable device that gives them internet MP3's and phone calls.
If someone brought out a device called the e-turntable and invited you to download hundreds of e-records (that you could play the flipside on at the touch of a button) that's about the size of say ...a turntable, you'd be creasing up, but somehow this has credibilty.
MP3s were about weighing up the advantages of lossy format Vs accessibility and the margin is becoming smaller. I downloaded NIN's latest album at CD quality the other day in a short amount of time, so there's a step forward, but maybe there's something slightly more basic about the book. The book is a BOOK. Look at my BOOKS! It doesn't need batteries. You can lose your book and there are always more books. It is staunch in it's message. You can't judge it by how it looks. B0oOkz.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
The academic benefits of ebooks couldn't be argued with, could they? consider how references and communities of interest could be embedded within text books, white papers, dissertations, research etc. You could have non static and interactive diagrams, instant feeback and advanced linking / searching / contextualising of information.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by Deep Freeze: The academic benefits of ebooks couldn't be argued with, could they? consider how references and communities of interest could be embedded within text books, white papers, dissertations, research etc. You could have non static and interactive diagrams, instant feeback and advanced linking / searching / contextualising of information.
This is undeniably an excellent use for ebooks, the only downside I can think of is that digital content maybe easier to tamper with than paper-based formats and processes. I can imagine someone slipping some hilarious bullshit into a site full of downloadable content relatively easily, if you did the same with getting a bogus book into an academic library full of books you'd need to print it, have it bound, get it indexed and catalogued, get it onto the shelves...
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
Like, if you could write a virus that would infect all the content of an academic library of philosophy books that would autcorrect every instance of Bertrand Russell to Benny Hill. That just wouldn't be possible with a biro and some tippex.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Man, an ebook club is the sort of thing my grandparents would imagine themselves doing in The Future. Alongside pavements that take you to work, flying cars and robot-maids. I bet an ebook club would be pretty cool and you'd say 'well gee willickers, Freddy, Bill Bryson's new travelogue looks hot tooo trot' and then you'd transfer the book to yourself with a noisy ZAAAAAAOW.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
Or a mathematics library, where you changed all the 2s to 7s. Imagine the mayhem.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: Like, if you could write a virus that would infect all the content of an academic library of philosophy books that would autcorrect every instance of Bertrand Russell to Benny Hill. That just wouldn't be possible with a biro and some tippex.
but on the same tip, a library can burn down and books can get nicked / damaged. No form of information storage and management is completely secure, as every story re: people leaving laptops on buses serves to remind us. Greater maturity and understanding of this kind of thing will come. We've only really been working online for a few years.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by Deep Freeze:
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: Like, if you could write a virus that would infect all the content of an academic library of philosophy books that would autcorrect every instance of Bertrand Russell to Benny Hill. That just wouldn't be possible with a biro and some tippex.
but on the same tip, a library can burn down and books can get nicked / damaged. No form of information storage and management is completely secure, as every story re: people leaving laptops on buses serves to remind us. Greater maturity and understanding of this kind of thing will come. We've only really been working online for a few years.
Changing Bertrand Russell to Benny Hill on a computer is funny, a library burning down is a tragedy. You barbarian.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
Without paper books, the survivors in The Day After Tomorrow would all have died. What use is your e-book in that situation, hmm?
Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
...and what about books that cover the other letters in the alphabet, eh? How come they don't get a look in?
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ringo: Without paper books, the survivors in The Day After Tomorrow would all have died. What use is your e-book in that situation, hmm?
Choose a prayer form the e-bible and set the voice function to 'Serious Stephen Hawkins'
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Deep Freeze: The academic benefits of ebooks couldn't be argued with, could they?
There was a story in the Bookseller yesterday called 'E-book devices not for students', reporting from a conference of academic publishers that the e-book devices weren't suitable to Academic publishers because they make cross referencing difficult, inability to display charts and diagrams, browsing is harder, and they have fewer benefits than either books or laptops. I mean - I don't see anything in what you've written in terms of sharing and socialising that can't already be achieved with a laptop. So the answer to your question is 'apparently, yes'.
It also makes me think of something else to do with the way in which one studies, that Dr Benway himself pinned down a while back. Talking about having a two-screen setup on his desk he mentioned that it was possible to compare sources of information and make links that otherwise wouldn't be possible. Regardless of what you're studying, I'm sure it's fairly common to wind up with several books open in front of you as you flit between various sources of information - something that's just not going to be possible if you're stuck using one single screen device.
Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
This E-Book thing, it's a bit like David Bowie and Drum 'n' Bass isn't it?
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: something that's just not going to be possible if you're stuck using one single screen device.
In the future we'll have ebook goggles, with a different book in either lens.
Posted by Lilo (Member # 8247) on :
I think ebooks are brilliant as a tool for people who work in publishing. Being at a trade fair and being able to put a manuscript straight onto a Sony Reader made my life so fucking easy and saved seventy quid on getting it printed out.
I no longer work in publishing and I no longer feel the need to have one. Also the iRex iLiad was the single worst thing I have ever had to use. It crashed constantly, you had to press a seemingly random sequence of buttons to make it switch on, the pages were either too big or too small and it took FOREVER to load when you tried to skip chapters. Although that was an earlier model of ereader. The Sony reader is pretty fucking ace, to be honest.
But yeah. Now I don't have to lug manuscripts around all day I have no desire to own one.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
How's unemployment going, Lilo?
[ 18.03.2009, 11:13: Message edited by: New Way Of Decay ]
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
nobody says that ebooks have to single screen, and I'm sure that the current ebooks aren't exactly mind blowing machines, but they're first gen. No reason to write off the principle, or be able to see their future, surely? Be like writing off mp3s in 1998 because all mp3 players have a maximum capacity of 128mb.
And, they're more like tablet pcs than laptops in terms of the way they're used. I agree that there are similarities though, and in a couple of years, there will be some convergence. An ebook up until now is more a demo of the epaper screen. Now it's gone live with the addition of 3g, you'll start to see things like newspapers and live content, email etc going through it. It's obviously moving into like smartphone territory, but the differences in screen, battery life, form factor and straight up content suppliers will keep it different for a while.
[ 18.03.2009, 11:22: Message edited by: Deep Freeze ]
Posted by Lilo (Member # 8247) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: How's unemployment going, Lilo?
Brilliant. Unemployment suits me. I've lost weight and my skin is clearer!
Because I can't afford to go to the pub as often as I did when I had a job.
Also I've unlocked more achievements on Oblivion than anyone I know!
I've also started having full blown conversations with the dog and picking arguments with my family and friends for the attention, interaction and block of time it wastes.
I'm going to an employment agency on Friday. The irritatingly upbeat girl who called the other day (and woke me up at lunchtime) said she had "some projects" she thinks I could be suitable for. This is the most exciting thing to have happened since I lost my job.
Posted by Cherry In Hove (Member # 49) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lilo: Also I've unlocked more achievements on Oblivion than anyone I know!
I've got 1000/1000 and I believe Benway has more than that. Of course, we're not really people you know so you can keep that claim.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Deep Freeze: nobody says that ebooks have to single screen, and I'm sure that the current ebooks aren't exactly mind blowing machines, but they're first gen.
No they're not. The first generation of ebooks arrived back in 1998. Apparently they were the future. Look at them go woo-hoo.
quote:[QB]No reason to write off the principle, or be able to see their future, surely? Be like writing off mp3s in 1998 because all mp3 players have a maximum capacity of 128mb.
Not really. e-Books - like MP3 players - have been around since 1998. They've had the same amount of time to evolve, and they're still found to be wanting. It'd be like writing off MP3s in 2009 if they were still being dragged along without innovation or genuine success after 11 years desperately trying to convince the public that they need another gadget.
Posted by Lilo (Member # 8247) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cherry In Hove:
quote:Originally posted by Lilo: Also I've unlocked more achievements on Oblivion than anyone I know!
I've got 1000/1000 and I believe Benway has more than that. Of course, we're not really people you know so you can keep that claim.
Yeah well I'm not done yet. Yesterday was a good day because I became Arch Mage. Today I work on completing Fighters Guild.
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
not really. current gen ebook readers have been around for consumers since 2004, and only then, only as extremely high end devices with little functionality beyond simply displaying ebooks. When I make the comparison with mp3 players, I'm talking about their potential in the current technological climate. Mp3 players kicked off around the same time as file sharing. Other techs have advanced since 1998 that make the ebook reader a much more feasible and useful product, like for example widespread 3g networks. Hence why they're starting to appear now.
I would like to emphasise that I'm talking about the ebook reader as a concept - a fully networked, booksized reading device that uses electronic paper to display content - rather than specifically the Amazon kindle. Perhaps you're right, that the advent of the online ebook reader advances them to 2nd gen as a tech. I just disagree that they're a pointless gadget. Perhaps they seemed it 10 years ago, when the social web was restricted to forums and email, and mobile data access was a joke.
[ 18.03.2009, 11:57: Message edited by: Deep Freeze ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
The earliest one listed there is 1998, surely? It's listed as discontinued but just because it's not available now it doesn't mean it wasn't available then. Otherwise you may as well make a case that television was invented in the year 2000, because a particular model of TV based on earlier technology is currently unavilable.
Why did eBooks have to wait for wireless networks, when MP3s managed to find massive success more than half a decade ago? Why is that going to make all the difference to their success? Is there something about books that you only want to buy them when you're on the bus?
Why, for that matter, isn't there more widespread use of computers for reading books? Why isn't everyone already using their PC as their library, in the same way they were prepared to do with their music collection, years ago? If it's simply that they find it unpleasant to read on their computer screens, haven't ebooks already lost one of the main elements - versatility - that largely contributed to the success of MP3?
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
quote:The earliest one listed there is 1998, surely? It's listed as discontinued but just because it's not available now it doesn't mean it wasn't available then. Otherwise you may as well make a case that television was invented in the year 2000, because a particular model of TV based on earlier technology is currently unavilable.
Why did eBooks have to wait for wireless networks, when MP3s managed to find massive success more than half a decade ago? Why is that going to make all the difference to their success? Is there something about books that you only want to buy them when you're on the bus?
Okay, sorry that I'm not making sense here. This is getting kind of embarrassing now. While I'm interested and optimistic about the technology, I'm not an expert on the things. I don't think it's important that somebody was able to get hold of a device using electronic paper ten years ago because the technology wasn't ready for consumers, in terms of price and supporting infrastructure, and in terms of how people interact with information.
Your TV metaphor is a good one though - how long was it since the first person had a TV before they became a useful product? It wasn't the case that they were invented and then became a massive success overnight. The tech needed refining to the point where it became practical and affordable. So while this dude had an ebook reader in '98, that doesn't mean it was a useful product. It clearly took another five years of development before it was decided it was a good enough product.
Plus, with something like mp3, you can instantly rip your CDs to mp3 and get going. An ebook reader with no ebooks isn't so hot, and you can't just start knocking your own out. Bit more chicken and egg than mp3s.
I remember the first ebook reader that Sony brought out, but before then, my only knowledge of epaper was as a future tech that was being refined. I hope this makes sense. Does it make sense? I agree that the tech was there, but I am suggesting it wasn't a readily available product until a few years after that appearance. Sorry if I misled you on that point. I guess I forget how explicitly you need things explaining.
As for why they'll flourish under wireless networks, simply because this allows them to become far, far more useful and versatile than before. I'm obviously not talking abut buying books on the bus - I've already stated why mobile connectivity is useful. The internet is not just a series of transactions between people and companies.
quote: The ability to read live text - websites - as well as books, and to be able to obtain the books on the fly are what will draw the early adopters to them. Perhaps social networks, annotation and discussion could occur around the contents of the books. This would appeal to the generation that is currently going through school, who have grown up with the assumption that work and information is inherently based around sharing and interactivity.
Consider how references and communities of interest could be embedded within text books, white papers, dissertations, research etc. You could have non static and interactive diagrams, instant feeback and advanced linking / searching / contextualising of information.
sorry to quote myself, but I have already answered this question. It's not just about the physical infrastructure, but how people use the web, and how they see themselves in relation to the information that they consume. This seems like wrong place to talk about things like the semantic web etc, but you know. The mobile web is a lot more than buying things on buses. I thought that you had originally rejected my comparison with mp3s, but I'm glad it's helping. I suppose that the mp3 player solved a practical problem - carting around a huge amount of music. It's rare that people will want to cart around a huge amount of books, so they aren't solving the same problems associated with their traditional formats. An mp3 player didn't need to be live to be incredibly good at solving a problem.
I believe that being live is what will allow an ebook reader to shine because of the points I've already mentioned. I know, it's like 'but is the ability to digest live content and to socially contextualize books really a problem? One that can't be solved by a laptop?'. I think that once you start thinking about, the potential there is huge, and it doesn't so much solve a problem as begin a paradigm, like how something like friendster changed the way we view ourselves and our communities on the web. It's super early for the devices in this context, but it's why they're getting more interesting than they were in 1998.
Finally!
quote: Why, for that matter, isn't there more widespread use of computers for reading books? Why isn't everyone already using their PC as their library, in the same way they were prepared to do with their music collection, years ago? If it's simply that they find it unpleasant to read on their computer screens, haven't ebooks already lost one of the main elements - versatility - that largely contributed to the success of MP3?
I agree with you, that it's the screens, which is why ebook readers exist, because they don't use 'computer screens' as we typically know them. They don't emit light, they don't make the eyes tired. Plus, there's something about holding a book in your hands and being able to close it, open it easily, put it on your pocket, not need to keep charging it up that make them much more appealing than laptops or tablet pcs for straight up reading. ebook readers are trying to address these problems. I don't really understand your final point though... why would ebook readers be lacking versatility?
[ 18.03.2009, 13:11: Message edited by: Deep Freeze ]
Posted by McDirts (Member # 6680) on :
You need to look at this in the context of Tin Machine Bowie to really understand the issues.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote: The ability to read live text - websites - as well as books, and to be able to obtain the books on the fly are what will draw the early adopters to them. Perhaps social networks, annotation and discussion could occur around the contents of the books. This would appeal to the generation that is currently going through school, who have grown up with the assumption that work and information is inherently based around sharing and interactivity.
Consider how references and communities of interest could be embedded within text books, white papers, dissertations, research etc. You could have non static and interactive diagrams, instant feeback and advanced linking / searching / contextualising of information.
This is like a shopping list of things that eBooks can't do, that other devices can. I thought I'd already mentioned that the academic community had criticised eBooks for not being able to do this sort of stuff.
Are you simply saying that one day a new device might be invented and that if it can do certain things that are different to the things this current device can do, then it might actually be useful?
[ 18.03.2009, 13:24: Message edited by: Thorn Davis ]
Posted by Deep Freeze (Member # 841) on :
Apologies. I forgot to say that I'm talking about the ebook reader as a concept - a fully networked, booksized reading device that uses electronic paper to display content - rather than specifically the Amazon kindle. Sorry.
Even if we were talking about the kindle, have you seen what it can do? I won't list it all out here, but actually, some of that stuff it can do, and as I said, this is very early for this technology in its current form. I see it going that way, based on how I see mobile technology and the web going in general. I should admit that this is mostly based on the conferences I go to and the research I produce...working as I do as an analyst in educational technology. I haven't sat down with one of the devices. I also haven't said that right now they're amazing devices that we should all go and get, and I'm sure this crack team of intellectuals has come to the same conclusion, but it's a developing technology that I can see huge potential for. You can't see that, and that's fine. Maybe you're right, maybe we're going in a different direction to what I think we are.
You may recall, I originally said 'I think that ebook readers could take off'. Not that they are, right now, fantastic. I've said 'could be' and 'could have' every step of the way. Christ on a bike.
[ 18.03.2009, 13:36: Message edited by: Deep Freeze ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
At least we can both agree that we've ruined Waynester's thread.
Posted by Kanye West (Member # 837) on :
Speak for yourself. My unstoppable righteousness can only enhance the quality of any thread it touches, dipshit.
Posted by Physic (Member # 195) on :
The whole e-book reader thing is a bit of a mystery to me I must admit, at a time when laptops are getting smaller and more lightweight than ever I really can't the point in having what's basically a slightly smaller laptop which can only perform a tiny fraction of the tasks that a standard laptop can.
Regarding use as a reference tool for academics and the like, personally I have a library of several hundred IT reference books in .pdf format on my USB key, considering I can simply plus that into any machine I want, including my laptop if I'm on the go, and instantly have access to all that information, why would I want a separate device for doing basically the same thing?
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
It does seem that the e-book reader is going to do for reading what the Segway did for walking.
Actually, looking at the Segway website, it's interesting that people are still apparently coming up with new uses for them. I can see the e-book reader going the same way. Could they be put in hotel rooms for example, or coffee shops, so you'd have your favourite newspapers and magazines at your fingertips, instead of a day old copy of the Daily Mail and a Hello magazine. Dentist's waiting rooms, there you go. No more Reader's Digest and National Geographic.
I dunno, I can imagine them finding some kind of niche market, but that applies to pretty much any new gadget. The one thing they absolutely cannot hope to do is to replace a paperback book. It's just not possible. Some things in this world have simply reached perfection in their existing form and cannot be improved upon.
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
I'm surprised airlines aren't renting the e-book readers for $20 as people board long flights, preloaded with, for example, the current NY Times Top 10 bestsellers. Would seem to be the perfect captive audience, no?
eta: Kudos to benway for the best Samuel L Jackson impression I've yet seen this week.
quote:Originally posted by Kanye West: Speak for yourself. My unstoppable righteousness can only enhance the quality of any thread it touches, dipshit.
