Quote:
Originally Posted by Gideon
Bah... I work in the circles where "elite" issues are very relevant and that is nonsense.
Most the people I know who have such devices are middle class/lower middle class who spend most the entertainment budget on books and having a Kindle pays for itself for these heavy readers.
What a load.
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Well I will grant him that the price is not exactly what I'd call highly accessible but it is a great tool for people who read a lot. Even though I would like to see the price come down to the point where they're pretty much universally accessible, that doesn't make them a toy for the "elite". He probably doesn't realize how much money a reading device can save but that's not really the point to me. This charge of elitism lacks any real perspective. Just think of what most working folks spend on entertainment. How many people do you know who spend $50-$100/month on TV programming? They very likely spent anywhere from $300 to $3000 on the TV itself. Maybe a few hundred more for a DVR, DVD player, etc. I see people with portable DVD players all the time on airplanes yet I have no desire to punch them. Would he think I was "elitist" if I spent $200-$350 on a bookshelf? It really is ludicrous.
Still, it's his loss. He can either have official copies of his books in electronic form or not as he chooses but if his books are at all popular, there will be an electronic copy of them out there whether he likes it or not. It would make more sense for him to allow us to buy them from him.
I just have to add that one of the things that makes me chuckle is I've always seen ebooks as a great way to get books to so many who would not otherwise have access. That's one of the reasons I jumped in despite the early-adopter prices. I'm voting with my money for something that I truly feel is the best thing for our future. Programs like OLPC present an opportunity to give poor children all around the world entire libraries. We couldn't do that with paper. OLPC supplies the hardware, but to get the books, it takes an electronic publishing industry. For that, we need folks like you and me buying ebooks. I guess he won't be sharing his little nuggets of wisdom with them, either.