FastCompany: Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I am an old Navy guy. A pilot.

MAF

Pilot/Initiator: SeaKing

Discrepancy: Relief tube too short.

Corrective Action: A-799
Checks good on enlisted man.

Corrected by: Rob Lister.


Good to meet you SeaKing. I feel the same way you do. Now if I could only get my current wife to stop complaining to me about what my ex-wives posted on her Facebook wall, I'd be much happier. I told her to ignore their 'friend' request, but she thought it would be rude. Go figure.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

MAF

Pilot/Initiator: SeaKing

Discrepancy: Relief tube too short.

Corrective Action: A-799
Checks good on enlisted man.

Corrected by: Rob Lister.


Good to meet you SeaKing. I feel the same way you do. Now if I could only get my current wife to stop complaining to me about what my ex-wives posted on her Facebook wall, I'd be much happier. I told her to ignore their 'friend' request, but she thought it would be rude. Go figure.

I had a good friend. He is passed now but one of his favorite statements was:

"Ain't it awful!"

That is the way I feel about Facebook. It is just out there reminding people constantly about other people and then when they friend each other, it is worse than old gossips over by the fence, at church or bingo. It is especially bad when you are one of the favorite topics.

Myspace wasn't so bad. I never had much to do with it. I did have a boy who started a bar in Florida. He called one night and wanted me and his mom to let him use our cell phone numbers for establishing two identities on Myspace. As I remember when you joined Myspace you gave them your cell number and they texted you to verify the account. I wondered at the time whether I would regret it since it seemed to mean that I never could join Myspace unless I got a new cell number, but heck it was one of my children asking for a favor and of course I did it. He used the two identities with two hot girls pictures to advertise his bar. Now he just has a facebook account for the current bar. A whole different setup.

My second wife doesn't really talk much to the others, but my first and third and my current lady friend and a lot of other people that we all know are "friends" and it gives me uneasy feelings all the time. There are a lot of things I really don't want to know.

One buddy told me that it used to be all you had to do with an ex-wife was let her keep the house you had built, and then except for the children it was more or less over. If you had 3 wives, then that was 3 houses you contributed to the economy. Now though there is Facebook.

Ain't it awful!

[wyndslash]

i would think one spouse is enough trouble...but 3...*shakes head and laughs*

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i would think one spouse is enough trouble...but 3...*shakes head and laughs*

The appropriate country song went something like "loving two women is like a ball and chain."

I think 3 is like a "wrecking ball and chain."

Rob, I forgot to add earlier. Keep an old empty Gator Aide bottle with a good top handy. At least a quart size. Forget those Pepsi cups.

[Janet Merza]

I read the beginning of this thread and wrote a great comment (I thought) but when it was added to this thread, it seemed totally out of kilter with the last few comments - where the ....has this thread ended up?

[danskmacabre]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I wish people would stop telling me that I want flash and dazzle and social networking. I'm perfectly happy with long-form text on an e-ink screen. And, being something of an introvert, I hate that social networking is being pushed down my throat everywhere I look. If I want to be social, I'll go out looking for it.

Agreed.. +1

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Janet Merza

I read the beginning of this thread and wrote a great comment (I thought) but when it was added to this thread, it seemed totally out of kilter with the last few comments - where the ....has this thread ended up?

Continental Drift.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

The appropriate country song went something like "loving two women is like a ball and chain."

I think 3 is like a "wrecking ball and chain."

Rob, I forgot to add earlier. Keep an old empty Gator Aide bottle with a good top handy. At least a quart size. Forget those Pepsi cups.

unless you're one of those who believe in the old saying, "third time's the charm"

[Crossroad Press]

People on the net seem caught between the notion (pumped into their heads by blogging gurus who take money for advertising on their blogs, but think books should be free) and publishers who can't let go of the "we keep 90 percent and overcharge everyone so we can have 5th Ave. NYC offices and feel important" syndrome. eBooks ARE cheaper to manufacture, as a whole...but that doesn't mean they should be free. Tablets CAN handle extra "sizzle" but who wants that? People trying to find new things to market - not book readers. It's like those little guys running across the bottom of the screen during one TV show advertising another. AUGH. In the end, it will settle...people asking too much have all the cash cows right now, but that's already changing. When there is no longer a backbone of Stephen King, James Patterson, etc. that people feel they have to have ... then the balance will shift. It won't be overnight...and hopefully it won't be accompanied by all that much "sizzle". Just good books.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I wish people would stop telling me that I want flash and dazzle and social networking. I'm perfectly happy with long-form text on an e-ink screen. And, being something of an introvert, I hate that social networking is being pushed down my throat everywhere I look. If I want to be social, I'll go out looking for it.

I'm with you, except for the being an introvert part.
But don't worry about that. Despite it's name, 'social' networking does nothing to change your introvert status. As an entire generation is demonstrating, you can happy tweet and update Facebook status all day long and still have no "social" contact, or social skills, whatsoever.

[Andrew H.]

I'm almost always disappointed by coverage of e-readers from the "tech" press. I always get the impression that the writers aren't actually readers (of books), and so really miss the whole point of e-readers.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I'm almost always disappointed by coverage of e-readers from the "tech" press. I always get the impression that the writers aren't actually readers (of books), and so really miss the whole point of e-readers.

I always wind up thinking that too. "People will demand interactive features now that they're possible!" Um. I don't know who those people are, but they're not me, nor the people I talk books with. But hey, maybe we're just a tiny, fractional minority.

Obviously, interactive story apps will destroy ebooks the way that movies have destroyed flat paintings.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I wish people would stop telling me that I want flash and dazzle and social networking. I'm perfectly happy with long-form text on an e-ink screen. And, being something of an introvert, I hate that social networking is being pushed down my throat everywhere I look. If I want to be social, I'll go out looking for it.

Just who IS this "we" who wants "enhanced" books. I remember the multimedia hype of the 1990s when people were claiming that we would be choosing the endings of our movies. "Clue" did it for a gimmick, but really, nobody wanted it. People want to be told a story.

People can have an interactive book with video and sound. It's called a movie. If people really wanted interactive books, books would have faded out with the invention of the motion picture.

There is NOTHING dead about text.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

People can have an interactive book with video and sound. It's called a movie.

Umm...no, movies are not generally interactive.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Just who IS this "we" who wants "enhanced" books.

They are talking about those 3 year-olds, of course!