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Old 02-25-2010, 01:20 AM   #16
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I grew up in a very small town which had a tiny library and only one book store. Thanks to the internet I had access to the gutenberg library etc. and could read books on my computer which weren't available physically. So, in my experience, ebooks are a 'democratizing' element. Sometimes I think those who live in big cities forget that not all the world is the same, that many of us do not have access to good book stores.

Ebook devices are not that expensive. I am not rich, by any means, but I can afford one. My local library doesn't carry many books and if you want to read in a language other than Spanish, you are on your own, mostly. I used to spend about 100 euros a month in books and that was money I could hardly afford, but a voracious reader needs food, clothes can wait . Since I have my prs-505, I am spending much less.
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Old 02-25-2010, 04:57 AM   #17
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Hm. Karin Slaughter worries about elitism? Why? Because she's afraid people won't read her books any more? This really sounds like table talk that should never have been put in writing.
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Originally Posted by Slaughter
above-average intelligence (though to be sure we all possess both)


Anyway, after reading that 'article' I've seen enough trite statements to last me through the week. As said above: If I have to choose between buying a TV that costs 500$ and an ereader that costs the same, the choice really isn't that hard. It all comes down to choice.

OTOH, it seems entirely likely that, if she were to switch to ebooks only, she would sell far fewer books. Whether that's a bad thing, I don't dare say, but it seems prudent of her to worry about it. (Although it would mean that her "worried stance" is rather more self-interested than she would like us to believe.)

Last edited by zerospinboson; 02-25-2010 at 05:08 AM.
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Old 02-25-2010, 07:13 AM   #18
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"I am of the opinion that simply READING has become an elitist class."

Yeah, that.

It is funny that she talks about children in the South discovering the library as a means to get to the air conditioning. If I were to go up into the most poverty stricken areas of South Side Chicago today, I suspect I would find hundreds of children who couldn't even tell me where their nearest Public library is located. Pretty much the only books they are acquainted with are through their schools.

I guess there are many different ways of looking at the issues. One person might say "$275 - how can they afford that?" Another might say "For a mere $275 per household, I can give them a limitless bookcase right in their living room!"
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Old 02-25-2010, 02:28 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by tsantsa View Post
"Will eBooks create an elite reading class?"

I am of the opinion that simply READING has become an elitist class.

EDIT: Not that I'm saying readers are elitist in general, but some people see you as a snob if you read heavily. I don't know about you, but I have a dead-end job filled with knuckle-draggers (elitist? me? no! ;> ) and we have conversations throughout the day. I like to talk about my hobbies and likes. My co-workers are much the same, except for the reading part... Sometimes, I do sense a certain degree of "I bet he thinks he's better than us" responses or looks. Although, I bet when some of them are talking about whatever it is they do, I probably have the same attitude sometimes...

But my point is, they seem to view reading itself as elitist. I wonder what they teach their children.

Yeah, this is really bad in the US. There's just a huge wave against intellectualism period lately.

With the bitter partisan divide between liberals and conservatives, and the rise of people like Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly etc. and this Tea Party movement there's a lot of anti-intellectualism going on.

Especially in rural, conservative states. I grew up in one, and I'm still big fan of my state universities sports teams. But man if you mention reading, or I mention I'm a professor etc. on the off topic boards on such sites, you get shouted down as an elitist snob, and out of touch intellectual, have gay slurs thrown at you and everything else.

It's really disconcerting that it's becoming a bad thing to read, to be an intellectual, to do intellectual work in many segments of society in the US. And you're right, it doesn't give much hope for the future if people have these attitudes and pass them onto their children.
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Old 02-25-2010, 02:30 PM   #20
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What's the story?

People will always read if they chose and WANT to do so. It's a lifestyle choice.

Access to e-readers is a nothing issue. Access to FILES is the important point.
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Old 02-25-2010, 02:31 PM   #21
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Todays problem isn't the availability of books but the missing motivation of the masses to use them
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Old 02-26-2010, 10:52 AM   #22
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I sure hope so

I hope she's right, I've always wanted to be an elitist
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:13 AM   #23
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This is kind of misleading, though. I got started e-reading at no expense at all, given that I already owned a computer, and most people do.

Download ADE if you want to get your books from the library. Hell, download the Kindle PC App or the B&N PC app, or epub reader and just start chugging away at the free classics and promos (or, heck, the bargain bin ebooks that are 99 cents to 2 dollars). Read the Baen free library. Pull your books off bittorrent if you can't afford the price of new. If anything, e-reading is cheaper than regular books if done on the shady side, and it doesn't require bus fare to the library!

The real barrier is computer ownership or at least the use of a computer.

Oh, and people don't see you as a snob if you read mostly SF or mostly romance. They see you as a totally different kind of stereotype completely
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:32 AM   #24
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I'm disappointed. Karin used to have better research skills than that. I was on a board with her once, and she was a lot more coherent then...
I wouldn't entirely disagree with her. If I just look at my niece (6 years), who just got into school. And in first class they already talk about needing a laptop. Of course she will get hers. But I'm pretty sure, not all parents will be able or willing to afford it. And if I look at my threads, about 1/3rd of the questions rank around costs (for the unit and the books). Obviously, costs are a factor. And if lots of people can't afford certain technologies, it will affect their children as well. So, at very early age, some already will have huge advantages, and lots of others will have respective disadvantages. Whether you call this "elitist" or "social darwinism" or whatever, the fact remains. (But of course that's nothing new. And tons of examples show, that the smart underdog still can beat the less talented "rich kid".)
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:34 AM   #25
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Access to e-readers is a nothing issue.
Maybe to you or me. But if I look at the tons of threads, talking about "budget", it seems to be an issue for many.
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:42 AM   #26
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Maybe to you or me. But if I look at the tons of threads, talking about "budget", it seems to be an issue for many.
Ereaders are not needed to use ebooks though. Yes, budgeting is important for those who buy them, but they only make the experience more pleasant for those who can afford it. For most who cannot afford it, they typically own other devices that already can read ebooks.
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:45 AM   #27
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I believe it will/does. At work there are only two who use eReaders, myself and another, and we talk about books and devices together. It's to the point others may be purchasing one just to know what we're talking about. We even joke about having "eReader time outs".
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Old 02-26-2010, 11:09 PM   #28
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I work with disadvantaged families who rely on income benefits for survival. I frequently walk into homes where paretns styate they struggle to clother their children spprorpaitely or pay rent, yet there in the livingn room is an emormous plasma TV with xbox or similar, oh and of course cable TV is on as well. Sorry but an E-reader is not such an expensive item for what it offers. A kindle is only $250 US and a fraction of the cost of a plasma TV. Does that sound like a value judgement, well yes it is, those who value reading will prioritise this in their expenditure, those who don't will not.
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Old 02-27-2010, 05:10 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by zerospinboson View Post
Anyway, after reading that 'article' I've seen enough trite statements to last me through the week. As said above: If I have to choose between buying a TV that costs 500$ and an ereader that costs the same, the choice really isn't that hard. It all comes down to choice.
Not hard at all. For me it would be the reader; I read far, far more than I watch TV. I could happily live without TV; I wouldn't want to live without reading.
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Old 02-27-2010, 05:46 AM   #30
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What a load of crap that was. I particularly was entertained by her alarmist view that ebooks will make censorship easier. Please. They make it harder. Any place that tries to ban an ebook will have a lot of visitors to the darknet. That is much easier and safer than trying to get your hands on a banned pbook.
But then they can threaten to sue for copyright infringement.

It will also be easier for moral panic people to subtly change content of the ebooks available in for example school libraries.
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