Battery Q

[barryem]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In what way does that constitute a rental agreement? The key difference between renting and purchase is that when you rent something you don't own it. The fact that an eInk reader has a limited lifespan does not alter the fact that you own it, and hence in no way whatsoever are you renting it.

I suggest looking up the meaning of the word "metaphor". It might help you understand this thread.

As a retired computer programmer I always thought of computers themselves as metaphors. Your computer doesn't actually have Windows. I bet you give the other programmers a hard time about that one.

When you stop at a stop sign, you don't start up again while it still says "Stop" do you?

By the way, I've been retired too long. Maybe you can remind me what kind of knot you tie to make a loop in your program.

Barry

[HarryT]

The statement "we're only renting these readers" is not a metaphor; it's just plain inaccurate.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by barryem

I suggest looking up the meaning of the word "metaphor". It might help you understand this thread.

As a retired computer programmer I always thought of computers themselves as metaphors. Your computer doesn't actually have Windows. I bet you give the other programmers a hard time about that one.

When you stop at a stop sign, you don't start up again while it still says "Stop" do you?

By the way, I've been retired too long. Maybe you can remind me what kind of knot you tie to make a loop in your program.

Barry

Hey Barry,
I got a scam call once. They said they were from windows and that it needed fixed. I asked when they would be out to fix my kitchen window. It needs a new spring. Why did they never show up? Could it be I forgot to give my address? Could it be they really don't fix windows free?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by barryem

I suggest looking up the meaning of the word "metaphor". It might help you understand this thread.

As a retired computer programmer I always thought of computers themselves as metaphors. Your computer doesn't actually have Windows. I bet you give the other programmers a hard time about that one.

When you stop at a stop sign, you don't start up again while it still says "Stop" do you?

By the way, I've been retired too long. Maybe you can remind me what kind of knot you tie to make a loop in your program.

Barry

Your message makes no sense.

To be clear on several points:

1. If you were trying to make analogies, they didn't apply, which is consistent with your apparent misunderstanding of 'metaphor'.

2. The use of the term rental in the context of this thread is not a metaphor, it's simply wrong. I don't know if it's wrong because the poster simply does not understand what "rental" means or if they are being intentionally disingenuous to try to make a false argument. It's the difference between falsely accusing someone of being a 'pedophile' because you think that's what you call someone who likes to ride bicycles, or doing it because you want to slander them. But it's patently wrong in either case.
That was an analogy.

3. The knot you use to tie your loops is a boolean not.

4. If your loop is itself executing multiple FOR loops, that's a meta-for.

[barryem]

I think your items 1 and 2 are a bit hard to take seriously but I congratulate you on 3 and 4. Nicely done.

I think saying that we're renting these devices is something like saying we don't own our ebooks. Of course we technically don't own the books so it's not exactly the same thing but it's close enough.

We have these devices temporarily. In a real rental we'd return them. In this situation we lose them when the batteries die. Both are temporary situations and a metaphor points out their commonality.

I really meant my post to be a humorous one. I seem to have hurt some feelings with it and if I did I'm sorry. I thought the term "rental" was used to express the posters feeling about the situation and that seemed fine with me and I wanted to gently mock those who didn't seem to get that.

Barry

[dordale]

Back to the battery question --And a different perspective--yes, it's true that the original Kindle had readily replaceable batteries, but the price of the original Kindle was $400(US). You can now get a basic Kindle for $80(US); and frequently for $60(US) on sale. So you could replace your current Kindle five times for the amount you would have shelled out for a 1st generation Kindle (if you bought it new). I prefer the cheaper price and the inability to easily swap the battery. It's much easier for me to justify replacing an $80 device when a newer, nicer model comes out than replacing a $400 device.