Saw this scene reenacted last night crossing Bedford on 7th in Williamsburg. I looked up and was struck by the sight of easily over a dozen hipsters lined up on either side of the street, heads down texting.
It was one of those spit-take audible guffaws that came out too quickly to stifle. #cellphones
It's actually part of a series of 4 that are definitely worth tracking down if you're a fan. I think all together they comprise Acme Novelty Library 18.5 #cellphones
God damn he's a master of color use! I was introduced to his work in my last year of Design school, and I can honestly say no other artist (alive or dead) has had a affect on my work like his has... He's a modern master of the comic medium, and takes the medium to a whole new level... I hope to some day be able to portray in a single page what he does in one panel.
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Edited by MIKERIOSISAWHORE.COM at 10/27/09 5:03 PM
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I remember my last halloween at home how some parents drove their children door to door to go trick or treating. Of course, this was in Fairbanks, AK and it was about 0 deg Fahrenheit that day, but it was still lame. #cellphones
@farcedude: Well at least you guys still went trick-or-treating instead of just staying at home because you don't celebrate pagan holidays. #cellphones
aww come on... we all know that you get more candy if everyone rushes the door at once and makes it look like there is no one else coming up to the door... screw that waiting in line crap........... #cellphones
@OMFG! Horny Manatees!: They are ignoring their parents who are panicking that their children are 5 feet away from them and calling to make sure they are okay.
@Maori_Yelir: No, no, the parents are looking at their child-locator apps on their iPhones, so they can track the gps location of their children's Disney phones. You can never be too careful with your kids, you know. Heaven forbid they should get scared or frightened by anything on Halloween. #cellphones
@farcedude: Ha. Screw that mess. When I have kids, I'm going to scare the crap out of them so bad they're going to end up resenting me for it in their old age. #cellphones
I never tested a Kindle, so I can't really tell.. but it sounds like maybe after some interactions it will become a pretty good replacement.
When a device is completely useless and noone sees a future to it, there's no need to write 6300 words to bash it.
Anyways, as usual, I think the iPhone/iPod comparison is out of context.
We had large screen cellphones for that before, and even small laptops/tablets.
iPhones and iPods have several problems which is why devices like Kindle or other digital books where developed, including: small screen, eye straining with backlit screen, sunlight unfriendly, among others.
I'm not confortable reading books even on my 32 inch screen, I imagine the torture trying to read something on an iPhone.
But what can I say? I'm one of those oldschool guys who likes to turn pages, open a new book for the first time, go through the pages carelessly... and it's not only for books, but for comics too.
Even when the whole thing is backwards. Like, I loved reading Perry Bible Fellowship comics on the net, but it was an even better experience when I bought the book... dunno how to explain it.
Oh, and nothing replaces my Calvin and Hobbes complete collection! :P
@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: For what it's worth, I've read nearly 50 books between my old Palm and new iPhone. (And one of those books was the Bible!)
Here's some tips on making it an enjoyable experience. Use an eBook reader that lets you increase the font size and has auto-scrolling. If you read at night before bed make the background color dark gray and the font color light gray. This reduces eye strain. I prop my phone on a pillow so it stands on it's own. (Just like a real book my arm get's tired from holding the phone.) Turn on auto scroll at a good pace and drift away.
One thing my wife does, she loads an audio book and the same eBook on her iPhone. Then she can listen and read at the same time. This is too slow for me though so I can't do it.
As you pointed out, I do miss the illustrations. And I miss examining the book covers. And I miss having a bookshelf full of evidence that I'm a learned man. :(
This is like an arcade operator in the 80's saying that the Nintendo Entertainment System is crap because it's missing the elegance of large coin-op machines. Maybe he genuinely thinks that's true, but that doesn't mean his opinion is relevant to the masses who don't stand to profit from believing it.
This guy is coming from a history in an industry that is past its prime and that is currently threatened by new devices like the Kindle. Of course he's going to think that the traditional versions are better, he'd be a total hypocrite if he didn't. Bottom line is that you can't take this guy's opinion at face value.
This reviewer obviously isn't an avid reader. You can't read more than a few pages on something like an iphone/itouch before you have to go see your optometrist. The quality of reading on an e-ink reader is damn near the same as a book, but you don't have to worry about holding back 400 pages around the spine to read the words closest to it, you can carry tens of thousands of books with you, at less than a pound and don't really have to worry about killing your battery.
You also have the ability to have every one of your books have the same font and size. For people who read a it can take a little while to start a new book that is completely different. I'm not a fan of the kindle, but the sony readers paired with calibre can't be beat. If you know where to look, just about every book ever printed is readily available.
All the sony readers need is an integrated dictionary and some would argue they could use wireless, but I don't need that.
@CharlesCleopatra: I'm old enough to need reading glasses and I read books on my Palm Tungsten E2 all the time. Of course, I get those free from the Gutenberg Project or Mobipocket. I can change the font size if I need to. Why pay the big bucks for a gizmo that only does one thing?
"I did an experiment. I found the Common Reader reprint edition of "Love Conquers All" and read the very same wasp passage. I laughed: ha-ha. Then I went back to the Kindle 2 and read the wasp passage again. No laugh. Of course, by then I’d read the passage three times, and it wasn’t that funny anymore. But the point is that it wasn’t funny the first time I came to it, when it was enscreened on the Kindle. Monotype Caecilia was grim and Calvinist; it had a way of reducing everything to arbitrary heaps of words."
Okay, so the font made it unfunny? Wow. That's some top-notch device reviewing right there.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I like books, but ultimately books are a means to an end; they're data storage. To fetishize them as the be all, end all, method of data storage is stupid. As is this article, since the screen I'm reading it on lacks the three dimensionality of a page printed with manually typeset plates and presses, thus transforming it into a jumble of random letters.
The DRM kept me away from the kindle, but recent circumstances made me overcome my objections to the kindle and give it a try.
As others have said, the kindle isn't perfect. It certainly is still a version 1 device. I will also admit it feels weird to use a kindle and iPhone (and netbook, what have you...) as these devices should all be the same thing. Eventually, they will be.
For now, though, the e-ink display technology (and related battery life) is unique to e-readers and the kindle. It is just silly to waste energy staring at a fixed screen. Even sillier is the pulping of trees and associated environmental cost of producing, shipping and returning books.
I do like the kindle, though. Books are cheaper than hardcovers, you don't have to pay for shipping, and you get your book instantly.
The kindle weighs less than most books and is certainly thinner. I can keep many books with me at all times. I read more. I never have to worry about bookmarks. Everyone I've shown the kindle to has been impressed.
I can hold and turn pages on the kindle with one hand, freeing my other hand for a beer or greasy popcorn.
The search feature is more useful than I was expecting, I can back up and find initial references to keep track of a complex story or characters.
I'm finding I'm using the dictionary quite a bit. I'm used to guessing what a word means by the context, but now it is so convenient to get a precise definition, I'm doing that instead.
"is solution to people who want a digital version of their books? Buy an iPhone or iPod touch."? you can't be serious. Kindle is far from perfect, but reading books on iphone is a nightmare. It's no solution at all. Sure..some insane apple fans will bleed their eyes out gladly just to get the "privilege" of reading on their beloved devices, but other people? No way in hell. Not even on Apple tablet. What Amazon has achieved is to sell idea of ebooks to normal book readers, something Apple never would be capable.
Reading newspapers on iphone? Sure, might be better than Kindle. But books? Don't make me laugh
Urk... My terrible urge to reply to the troll-ish comments already posted is doing battle with my desire to not legitimize said comments by replying to them and thus having "comment approved by FredicvsMaximvs" appear under them. Who will win? Only the Shadow knows...
10/27/09
It was one of those spit-take audible guffaws that came out too quickly to stifle. #cellphones
10/27/09
10/27/09
[laughingsquid.com]
It's actually part of a series of 4 that are definitely worth tracking down if you're a fan. I think all together they comprise Acme Novelty Library 18.5 #cellphones
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might i introduce you to the GREAT PUMPKIN..........? #cellphones
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07/27/09
When a device is completely useless and noone sees a future to it, there's no need to write 6300 words to bash it.
Anyways, as usual, I think the iPhone/iPod comparison is out of context.
We had large screen cellphones for that before, and even small laptops/tablets.
iPhones and iPods have several problems which is why devices like Kindle or other digital books where developed, including: small screen, eye straining with backlit screen, sunlight unfriendly, among others.
I'm not confortable reading books even on my 32 inch screen, I imagine the torture trying to read something on an iPhone.
But what can I say? I'm one of those oldschool guys who likes to turn pages, open a new book for the first time, go through the pages carelessly... and it's not only for books, but for comics too.
Even when the whole thing is backwards. Like, I loved reading Perry Bible Fellowship comics on the net, but it was an even better experience when I bought the book... dunno how to explain it.
Oh, and nothing replaces my Calvin and Hobbes complete collection! :P
07/27/09
Here's some tips on making it an enjoyable experience. Use an eBook reader that lets you increase the font size and has auto-scrolling. If you read at night before bed make the background color dark gray and the font color light gray. This reduces eye strain. I prop my phone on a pillow so it stands on it's own. (Just like a real book my arm get's tired from holding the phone.) Turn on auto scroll at a good pace and drift away.
One thing my wife does, she loads an audio book and the same eBook on her iPhone. Then she can listen and read at the same time. This is too slow for me though so I can't do it.
As you pointed out, I do miss the illustrations. And I miss examining the book covers. And I miss having a bookshelf full of evidence that I'm a learned man. :(
07/27/09
This guy is coming from a history in an industry that is past its prime and that is currently threatened by new devices like the Kindle. Of course he's going to think that the traditional versions are better, he'd be a total hypocrite if he didn't. Bottom line is that you can't take this guy's opinion at face value.
07/27/09
You also have the ability to have every one of your books have the same font and size. For people who read a it can take a little while to start a new book that is completely different. I'm not a fan of the kindle, but the sony readers paired with calibre can't be beat. If you know where to look, just about every book ever printed is readily available.
All the sony readers need is an integrated dictionary and some would argue they could use wireless, but I don't need that.
07/27/09
07/27/09
Okay, so the font made it unfunny? Wow. That's some top-notch device reviewing right there.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I like books, but ultimately books are a means to an end; they're data storage. To fetishize them as the be all, end all, method of data storage is stupid. As is this article, since the screen I'm reading it on lacks the three dimensionality of a page printed with manually typeset plates and presses, thus transforming it into a jumble of random letters.
07/27/09
As others have said, the kindle isn't perfect. It certainly is still a version 1 device. I will also admit it feels weird to use a kindle and iPhone (and netbook, what have you...) as these devices should all be the same thing. Eventually, they will be.
For now, though, the e-ink display technology (and related battery life) is unique to e-readers and the kindle. It is just silly to waste energy staring at a fixed screen. Even sillier is the pulping of trees and associated environmental cost of producing, shipping and returning books.
I do like the kindle, though. Books are cheaper than hardcovers, you don't have to pay for shipping, and you get your book instantly.
The kindle weighs less than most books and is certainly thinner. I can keep many books with me at all times. I read more. I never have to worry about bookmarks. Everyone I've shown the kindle to has been impressed.
I can hold and turn pages on the kindle with one hand, freeing my other hand for a beer or greasy popcorn.
The search feature is more useful than I was expecting, I can back up and find initial references to keep track of a complex story or characters.
I'm finding I'm using the dictionary quite a bit. I'm used to guessing what a word means by the context, but now it is so convenient to get a precise definition, I'm doing that instead.
07/27/09
Reading newspapers on iphone? Sure, might be better than Kindle. But books? Don't make me laugh
07/27/09