Quote:
Originally Posted by sirbruce
The "elitist" class argument simply doesn't hold up. Okay, maybe the poor can't afford Kindles. But you know what, the even POORER can't afford books at all! How can you expect them to spend money on paper and ink when they can't even afford food? What's the long-term environmental impact of all those paper mills killing Mother Earth to make pulp for your pages? And many of them can't even read!
No, if you were truly empathetic you would realize that every disadvantage society thrives on ORAL TRADITION. Thus, you should reject books as elitist, and only allow your work to be transmitted orally by tribal elders around the fire to the children, so they may communicate it to the next generation, and so on.
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Well, the 5 inch devices do break new ground... $199 for a really good and fast device giving up 1 diagonal inch and having even 6 inchers beaten on speed of page turns. The Pocket PRO is a good example.
STILL... $199 is a hell of a lot to someone just trying to put food on the table. When I worked for the City of Morgan Hill my job was to help the poor rehabilitate their homes. I saw trailers with no roofs, houses with no power and candles used for light and warmth, floors that had huge holes in them, and even chained-up teenagers knawing at the woodwork (true story). So, I am not stupid enough to think (no offence to anyone) that a $199 Pocket PRO is viable for the poor.
But, Sherman Alexie is not poor. His comments try to start a war where there really is not one. eBook Readers are coming because prices are dropping and they just make a hell of a lot more sense than storing old paperbacks in the attic. They are also coming because from an environmental standpoint they are a lot "greener" and the bleaching of paper is destroying the environment.
I say we send Sherman Alexie to live near a Pulp Paper Mill for a month. That would take the starch out of him!!