sales of consumer ebooks down 17%, sales of physical books up 8%

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Manufacturers drive this because they won't allow OS updates on these phones.

Or consumers drive it because we buy them even though we don't get upgrades that help keep them useful. I mentioned that somewhere above.

(Though, truthfully, in many cases firmware is not the limiting factor. Security updates are important, but rarely a show-stopper for many device use patterns.
Especially when we're talking about the kind of media-player/e-reader usage that many folks buy low-end devices for. Most apps stay viable on OS versions that are downright ancient in Android years.)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ApK

Or consumers drive it because we buy them even though we don't get upgrades that help keep them useful. I mentioned that somewhere above.

And we come full circle. Low-end devices aren't the only ones to get abandoned by the manufacturers. It also happens to high-end devices.

Take Amazon for example. Even though previous gen premium devices (Fire Phone and Kindle Fire 8.9" 3rd Gen) have the hardware to support the latest firmware, Amazon refuses to upgrade these devices. Because of that, I no longer buy their high-end devices. What's the point when I can buy a $50 tablet and get the latest features?

It's a disposable world. I'd keep my tech devices longer if only the manufacturers would support them longer. But they won't, so I won't.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by pata

the article is largely trash but i thought this part was a little interesting:



I guess the new trendy device is the Kindle Oasis but well it's $289. There's been little improvement to the Kindle/Paperwhite in ages. Any other suggestions of hip/sexy looking ereaders?

The new Aura H2O.

Spoiler:

...while the new $179 Aura H20 borrows the name from its predecessor, it has much more in common with the Aura One that was released last year — and that’s a good thing.

The new Aura H20 is rated IPX8 water resistant, meaning you can submerge it in two meters of water for up to an hour. It shares the same overall design as the Aura One, including the wonderfully grippy rubber back plate. It also gained the Aura One’s ability to change the color temperature of the screen. And, of course, it has built-in Pocket integration.

The Aura H20’s 6.8-inch, 265 ppi E Ink screen is slightly smaller in size and resolution than the Aura One’s. But the new e-reader is 20 grams lighter, and it’s cheaper — the Aura H20 will cost about $50 less than the Aura One when it goes on sale May 22nd.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by darryl

I do wonder if your preference is wholly or partially a cultural thing. Often programs, particularly comedy, which screen in one country, in this case the UK, are re-made for another, in this case the US. Yet it would usually be more cost effective to simply screen the original series rather than re-make it. Presumably the reasoning was that the idea behind the show would travel well, but the actual show itself would not.

Particularly in the '70's there were a LOT of American remakes of British programs. And I'm sure culture is part of it.

But Sanford and Son also starred Redd Foxx, a legendary comedian and an influence on Richard Pryor and Chris Rock.

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've seen some of Steptoe and I used to watch Sanford and Son and I have to say that Sanford and Son is the better show.

Originally Posted by darryl

I do wonder if your preference is wholly or partially a cultural thing. Often programs, particularly comedy, which screen in one country, in this case the UK, are re-made for another, in this case the US. Yet it would usually be more cost effective to simply screen the original series rather than re-make it. Presumably the reasoning was that the idea behind the show would travel well, but the actual show itself would not.

I have to say that I think darryl is spot on. I've seen a couple of episodes of Sanford and Son and thought that it was just awful. I loved Steptoe though and I'm pretty sure that's because I'm British and Jon's American.

[maddz]

I remember when they were test screening The Full Monty in the US, apparently they had to provide audiences with translations because the slang was incomprehensible otherwise. So yes, humour is very much a cultural thing, not to mention a generational thing. My sister and I are 7 years apart and our sense of humour is poles apart.

I vaguely remember Steptoe and Son, but I was considered too young to watch it. Mind you, the humour wouldn't have been much to my taste anyway - I don't go for potty humour. Oddly, I remember a rag and bone man and his horse and cart going round when I lived in West London in the early 80s.

[Bilbo1967]

I don't think that Steptoe and Son was potty humour at all. Was it?

[DiapDealer]

Sanford and Son certainly wasn't "potty" humor. If it was anything like Steptoe and Son, I can't imagine it was either. But I've never seen the latter. Only the former.

[Cinisajoy]

"You hear that Elizabeth. I'm coming to join you honey."

In an ironic twist of fate, that line actually caused the actor's death.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

In an ironic twist of fate, that line actually caused the actor's death.

Pretty sure the heart attack caused his death.
You are referring, I assume, to the suggestion that reaction to his heart attack was delayed because onlookers thought he was faking, as his character often did? I'm not buying that the few seconds hesitation made a substantive difference. I'd find it hard to believe that the show biz people around him would otherwise have instantly properly diagnosed and treated him. But who knows.

I didn't know till looking up the show today because of this thread that "Sanford" was Redd Foxx's real last name, and he named the character after his brother and father.

It never was one of my favorite shows. It used to be on during the afternoons and I would watch when I was home sick from elementary school.
I just read the description of "Steptoe" and I suspect I'd like that even less. The father seems like an odious person.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ApK

Pretty sure the heart attack caused his death.
You are referring, I assume, to the suggestion that reaction to his heart attack was delayed because onlookers thought he was faking, as his character often did? I'm not buying that the few seconds hesitation made a substantive difference. I'd find it hard to believe that the show biz people around him would otherwise have instantly properly diagnosed and treated him. But who knows.

I didn't know till looking up the show today because of this thread that "Sanford" was Redd Foxx's real last name, and he named the character after his brother and father.

It never was one of favorite shows. I used to be on during the afternoons and I would watch when I was home sick from elementary school.
I just read the description of "Steptoe" and I suspect I'd like that even less. The father seems like an odious person.

Pretty sure you are right. Oh and I didn't know his real last name until I googled to get the exact line.

[Alpha o]

We have Sanford and Son on DVD.

Since you don't recognize the name, Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley made some of the more notorious adult comedy records. You couldn't play them over the air.

[sun surfer]

The computer was built in the 50's, marketed from the 70's, but didn't catch on until the 80's/90's. The internet was built up in the 60's and 70's but didn't catch on until the 90's/00's. Cell phones were released in the 80's but didn't catch on until the 90's/00's. (those dates are all quickly guesstimating by the way but regardless, the point is the same)

I think we're just in a lull before ebooks eventually take over. The calm before the storm. The questions really is, when will that storm be exactly? Next year? Five years away? 50?

“It was new and exciting,” says Cathryn Summerhayes, a literary agent at Curtis Brown. “But now they look so clunky and unhip, don’t they? I guess everyone wants a piece of trendy tech and, unfortunately, there aren’t trendy tech reading devices...

How my eyes rolled at 'clunky and unhip'. Spin doctor says what? Cathryn, being a literary agent and closely aligned with publishing companies, would of course want the narrative to be that ereaders are 'uncool', since the literary business world has this fear of ebooks eventually putting them all out of business.

[cfrizz]

Tech generally doesn't "Catch On" until the prices come down to what a good chunk of the population can afford or what they are willing to spend on what is essentially a luxury item.

[danskmacabre]

Yeah I remember "Steptoe and Son" when I was a teen in the late 70s and early 80s in Australia. I used to have a laugh with it.

It was shown on TV along with "On the Buses", "Love thy neighbour" and programs like that.
I believe the "Carry on" movies were played a lot in those days too.