Amazon has banned my account - my Kindle is now a (partial) brick.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I assume he is talking about the 100s of years old device known as the book.

BOb

Oh. (Looks disappointed.)

[snape]

Personally, I think that the Kindle (as much as the Sony) is a rich-kids gizmo rather than something of any practical value. It is large, fragile, complex, useless without batteries or Internet, far overpriced, and when used as intended, more expensive and inflexible per publication than the books it strives to replace.

Al Gore probably heard a lot of the same kind of comments when he was inventing the internet, and look at it now.

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by snape

Al Gore probably heard a lot of the same kind of comments when he was inventing the internet, and look at it now.

Beside the fact that he had nothing to do with the invention of the internet. He was responsible for the "High Performance Computing Act" but he never invented the internet...

[Rayon Fog]

Originally Posted by netseeker

Beside the fact that he had nothing to do with the invention of the internet. He was responsible for the "High Performance Computing Act" but he never invented the internet...

Nor did he ever say he invented it!

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by Rayon Fog

Nor did he ever say he invented it!

He claimed he "took the initiative in creating the Internet", which is just as false. It would be fair to say he "took the initiative in helping to expand the Internet" but that's a very different claim.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

He claimed he "took the initiative in creating the Internet", which is just as false. It would be fair to say he "took the initiative in helping to expand the Internet" but that's a very different claim.

He was instrumental in passing the legislation that turned DARPANET into the Internet. Close enough for me.

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

He was instrumental in passing the legislation that turned DARPANET into the Internet. Close enough for me.

Nope, that's not the case either. The Internet already existed before that, and the ARPANET component of the Internet had already ceased to be relevant. He did co-sponsor the legislation to officially allow commercial traffic over the Internet, but that was something that was a fait accompli before the legislation passed:

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

And I should know; I was there.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Nope, that's not the case either. The Internet already existed before that, and the ARPANET component of the Internet had already ceased to be relevant. He did co-sponsor the legislation to officially allow commercial traffic over the Internet, but that was something that was a fait accompli before the legislation passed:

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

And I should know; I was there.

I like the article you link to. Particularly the part that says of Gore "he sponsored the 1988 National High-Performance Computer Act (which established a national computing plan and helped link universities and libraries via a shared network) and co-sponsored the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992 (which opened the Internet to commercial traffic)."

So, okay, you win; he didn't create the Internet. He just took the initiative in creating the Internet as we know it today. (shrug)

[sirbruce]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I like the article you link to. Particularly the part that says of Gore "he sponsored the 1988 National High-Performance Computer Act (which established a national computing plan and helped link universities and libraries via a shared network) and co-sponsored the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992 (which opened the Internet to commercial traffic)."

Yep, the part I gave Gore props for, but which in no way matched his statement.

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

So, okay, you win; he didn't create the Internet. He just took the initiative in creating the Internet as we know it today. (shrug)

That's playing fast-and-loose with language, too; the Internet "as we know it today" didn't exist in 2000, or 1998, or 1993, or even 1989.

At best, you could say Gore took *an* initiative, which was one of many initiatives, which helped transform the Internet. But the Internet existed before Gore, and was transformed by the contributions of many other people more important than any politician in Washington.

[snape]

Good grief, people, it was just a joke.

[catsittingstill]

Alas, it's kind of a sore point in the culture wars. :-)

For what it's worth, I agree that e-book readers in general both have some improving to do and are likely to do it. I kind of look forward to seeing where they will go, and I very much hope some version that will display (and allow search and annotation of) scientific articles in their proper format is in the works.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by snape

Good grief, people, it was just a joke.

I have to admit, it gave me a bit of a giggle.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

For what it's worth, I agree that e-book readers in general both have some improving to do and are likely to do it. I kind of look forward to seeing where they will go, and I very much hope some version that will display (and allow search and annotation of) scientific articles in their proper format is in the works.

The ebook reader that will make things take off is an Apple TouchBook with a screen about the size of a paperback book - the Pocket kind. It would be nothing more than a kingsized iPhone/Touch. Pair the iPhone version with a bluetooth earphone, and watch Apple/Amazon rule the ebook world.

Reason I believe this is that one of my sons, a thirty-something who is only a desultory reader told me the other day that he's reading the Sherlock Holmes books on his iPhone. This happened because I sent him the free ebook link to the BeeKeeper's Apprentice.

I predict that this will happen when Steve Jobs gets reading glasses.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Harmon

The ebook reader that will make things take off is an Apple TouchBook with a screen about the size of a paperback book - the Pocket kind. It would be nothing more than a kingsized iPhone/Touch. Pair the iPhone version with a bluetooth earphone, and watch Apple/Amazon rule the ebook world....

The 10" Apple netbook/tablet/ipod will likely be announced in June. The problem using it as an ereader is, that the screen is backlit, like the Iphone. Harder on the eyes than e-ink for reading, and it drains batteries.

[joblack]

Answer from Amazon:

Hello,

We serve more than 88 million Amazon Retail accounts. The vast majority of customers are honest, but a tiny fraction are not. We work hard to identify and restrict the small number of fraudulent and abusive accounts. Failure to do so would drive up retail costs and make it impossible to serve honest customers with the lowest prices.

Kindle accounts are not impacted by Amazon Retail account restrictions.

I hope this information helps. We look forward to your next visit.

Best regards,

Account Specialist
Amazon.com

---
So your Kindle account shouldn't be affected ... have you even tried?