Sherman Alexie still hates ebooks

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

He was on The Colbert Report last night (a late night satirical talk show on Comedy Central). He wasn't as inflammatory as when he wanted to punch you in the face. This time around he was merely misinformed and paranoid.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...sherman-alexie

*****
He signed my Kindle a couple months back at Fall for the Book. I'm really beginning to regret having asked.

"I think white folks should be ashamed it takes an Indian to save a part of their culture." Hunh??? What the f**k is he talking about? Oh, right. He's talking about how we should continue to *buy* locally our books. Now as he's alluding to the "Eat Locally-grown Food" movement, that means he only wants us to *read* books that are written by local authors. Oh great! That means I can only read Sarah Paretsky, Sue Grafton, James Patterson and a few others. Can't read any J.K. Rowling - no John Ringo or David Weber allowed in *my* bookstore basket! Well hayl-fahr-n-damnation! Thet means I won't be able to read any Adam Smith (there goes any attempt at understanding real economic theory) or Ayn Rand (same for libertarian fiction).

Yeah. Sherman Alexie can go sit on a peace pipe and rotate for all I care.

Derek

And yes, Alexie's views dovetail nicely with Kaufman's. It's the same old 'restrict what authors the customers can read so they'll be FORCED to read our books' crud.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Yes, Kenny. It was hilarious. I'm sure you know that B&N and EMI don't have the same boss, never fear.

Yeah, you laughed so hard I could tell. I think I saw a sense of humor for sell on ebay, want me to check for you.

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

"I think white folks should be ashamed it takes an Indian to save a part of their culture."

Can anyone imagine a white guy saying something like that about Indian culture? He'd be strung from the nearest lamppost before the program was over.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Can anyone imagine a white guy saying something like that about Indian culture? He'd be strung from the nearest lamppost before the program was over.

True. Very true.

I'm not upset by that. I'm more upset by the fact that he's masquerading his "let's force people to read what we want them to" dogma as an "I'm just trying to 'save culture' campaign". As someone else here tends to say, codswallop!

Derek

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yeah, you laughed so hard I could tell. I think I saw a sense of humor for sell on ebay, want me to check for you.

Kenny, you and certain other members of this group have an exaggerated opinion about your sense of humour. Contrary to what you may have been told, asking rhetorical questions the answer to which is an obvious No is not, in fact, funny in itself. People usually transcend that phase in their development when they find humour in such things by puberty.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Why do the research, check your facts and actually argue your case if you can simply blather on about ebooks being the death of the book as we know it. I wish someone actually held a proper debate where these morons could be challenged by someone who knows what he's talking about.

Normally on Colbert's show he manages to defuse most of his more idiotic guests by taking their dafter ideas to extremes, but in this instance you couldn't be sure if he had his own doubts or simply lacked knowledge on the subject.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yeah, you laughed so hard I could tell. I think I saw a sense of humor for sell on ebay, want me to check for you.

The other possibility is that meraxes has a perfectly adequate sense of humour and that it was just a poor attempt at humour on your part

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I'm more upset by the fact that he's masquerading his "let's force people to read what we want them to" dogma as an "I'm just trying to 'save culture' campaign".
Derek

Well that doesn't surprise me because it's the same the world over, including my own country. Insecure, manipulative, passive-aggressive pricks trying to scare or shame everyone else into doing what suits them. I'm just imagining how all the white folks in the audience must have been squirming at this Indian/White culture thing, yet knowing that the minute they open their mouth to say "hang on a minute", they'd be labelled as racist. That's what I find baffling.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Well that doesn't surprise me because it's the same the world over, including my own country. Insecure, manipulative, passive-aggressive pricks trying to scare or shame everyone else into doing what suits them. I'm just imagining how all the white folks in the audience must have been squirming at this Indian/White culture thing, yet knowing that the minute they open their mouth to say "hang on a minute", they'd be labelled as racist. That's what I find baffling.

I grew up with the Civil Rights Movement being broadcast live on all the news channels. I just figured it was bound to happen that we'd have at least an 'attempt' at racial equality. And I think the US kind of gave it a go. What's frustrating at times these days is that any non-caucasian American can use just about any racial slur out there - either about 'whites' or even as some perverse form of racial-bonding within the non-white community (As an example, 'nigra', 'nigger' and 'nigga' within the African-American community.) but if any 'white' person slips up with such a phrase all hell breaks loose.

I get that the various 'N*' words are offensive. I get that so too are 'colored' and, to some, 'black'. I also get that while I grew up avoiding the 'N*' words at all costs, I find that amongst the blacks I associate with they are becoming VERY commonly used.

But if *I* were to use those words, even to close friends, I'd be reviled and castigated.

So if they're so damned offensive, why would those who call them offensive *ever* use them? Why would so much of the music and literature that focuses on their culture use them? It makes me wonder, it does.

Derek

[fugazied]

So his rationale for being anti-ebook is primarily big brother paranoia? Doesn't this guy use the Internet?
And wait, he trotted out innacurate facts about piracy too, who is this guy, what a complete moron!!

Fact is big media makes MORE money from movies, TV shows, mp3s than ever before. The box office is bigger than ever before. There are all kinds of new ways to monetise media, itunes sells a lot of TV shows which may have previously been recorded on a video or simply not consumed past the inital airing.

So instead of highlighting the millions of NEW readers who will take up reading again because it's suddenly far more convenient than lugging around hardcovers, instead of highlighting the benefits for independent publishers and authors, he trots out paranoid jibberish and pretends to stick up for 'small town bookstores'.

Truth is we've lost most of the small town bookstores to walmart already, he didn't whinge about that because his books sell in walmart. This guy is a clown.

[Beau]

Originally Posted by Crowl

Normally on Colbert's show he manages to defuse most of his more idiotic guests by taking their dafter ideas to extremes, but in this instance you couldn't be sure if he had his own doubts or simply lacked knowledge on the subject.

I suspected he lacked the knowledge to really get into it. I can only hope someone will educate him. Whats-his-face was very well prepared to be on the attack... with just enough quasi info that Colbert was probably unable to counter off of the top of his head-- Starting with "musicians no longer make any money off of their music."

Beau

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

So if they're so damned offensive, why would those who call them offensive *ever* use them?

Derek

Because they are exempt from judgment. But you, like every single white, is always under suspicion and must prove every single day that you're not racist.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Because they are exempt from judgment. But you, like every single white, is always under suspicion and must prove every single day that you're not racist.

Yeah... As always.

Derek

[meraxes]

Originally Posted by Beau

I suspected he lacked the knowledge to really get into it. I can only hope someone will educate him. Whats-his-face was very well prepared to be on the attack... with just enough quasi info that Colbert was probably unable to counter off of the top of his head

Beau

Then the problem is with the network, which has done a very poor service to its audience. They should have got someone knowledgeable to represent the other side in this debate. Letting idiots prattle about things they know nothing about might pass for entertainment, but this is not just about entertainment. This is an important public debate on a matter of clear public interest.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by meraxes

Then the problem is with the network, which has done a very poor service to its audience. They should have got someone knowledgeable to represent the other side in this debate. Letting idiots prattle about things they know nothing about might pass for entertainment, but this is not just about entertainment. This is an important public debate on a matter of clear public interest.

The problem is not the network and this was not a formal debate that required a right to reply, this was simply the tangent a book-plugging interview took on a show on comedy central. Their obligation is to be entertaining and ideally funny with any informing being incidental to that aim and to expect more from them is as silly as one of the cable news channels who wasted their time fact-checking a snl sketch.