what I recall from Alexie's first outburst was, as I said, his anger that he perceived the ebook as a toy for the idol rich. ok, I didn't say it that way, nor did he, but I think that was more or less the intent.
having spent a LOT of time on the reservations in the southwest I have to say that the day the bookmobile comes to your little spot on the map is pretty much a holiday. the first two or three times. then you realize that they are the same worn out tired books that have been rejected by big city libraries and you are not going to get anything new. these are places where getting to a real library, let alone the big city library (and these folks don't have money to be buying books... not even a snowball's chance) are so remote, that it's not even worth it to think about it. I wonder... when Bill Gates realized that he really was a multi-millionaire, he helped fund adding additional wiring to some of the reervations, and computers for schools... I wonder if some other philanthropist(s) gifted these reservations Kindles or nooks (anything that requires a computer connection wouldn't be worth it), and assisted the associated libraries to come up to speed with ebook lending... I just wonder if this is a tune that might not change. of course the incredibly phenomenal change that it would make to reservation residents... well, I think you could count the stars in the sky before you could count the good that would come from this.
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