The Problem isn’t E-Readers, it’s you…
So a few days ago [relative to when I’m actually typing this - it’ll actually be posted *checks calendar* eight days after] I typed up a few(!) thoughts regarding the whole e-reader ‘debate’.
I’d like to think it was nicely balanced, and presented my argument in a somewhat respectable way [Because said article isn’t ‘live’ yet, I can’t link it - just go back through my stream and you’ll find it]
Here’s what I actually wanted to type:
So you love your physical books, huh? And you think Kindle users [A somewhat ‘catch term’ to describe all e-readers, which no doubt Amazons marketing department are happy with] are ‘destroying’ the book industry.
That’s nice…
FUCK YOU, you pretentious, snobbish, elitist, cunt / dickhead.
So e-readers aren’t ‘real books’? By implication [sometimes not even implication - it’s outright stated] people who use said tech aren’t ‘real readers’.
Who the fuck are you, to decide what qualifies someone as a ‘real’ reader?
Do you people use mp3 players? Listen to your music on your computer / cellphone? Then you philistines should be sterilised, due to your lack of ‘respect’ to the music industry.
How about films? What - you watch films on discs? Or via LoveFilm / Netflix? Blasphemy! REAL films are shown on 35mm.
Those last two paragraphs are beyond absurd. However, the core argument within them, is no different to the ‘argument’ against e-readers, that’s presented by the majority of fuckwits here on Tumblr.
Can someone explain to me the difference in buying ‘digital’ books and e-books?
- E-Books generate less revenue for authors?
No, sorry. There are at least 5 authors - some pre-existing ‘mainstream’ authors, and a couple who couldn’t get book deals, who’ve cleared $1m worth of sales on Amazon alone, as a result of Kindle books - and that’s just Amazon. By the time the queue gets to this, you can likely add a couple more to that list [I’ve read reports that Michael Connelly is close to $1m worth of Kindle sales]. In terms of authors who don’t have a book deal - it’s even better! Amazon take a significantly lower ‘cut’ of the sale price, than publishers do. Get a best seller in the Kindle bookstore, and you’ll generate far more money, than if that book was put out via a publisher [though of course, publishers are able to generate interest in the book]
It’s also worth pointing out - and on this I’m talking from a UK perspective, that most E-Books are becoming MORE expensive than their print counterparts. This is due to three different factors [The first two for definite, the third is more implied.]
- Kindle books are subject to VAT.
- Publishers can force Amazon to sell books at a specific price, and not discount them.
- No doubt the ease at which people can pirate books has something todo with this. If I chose to, I could have 10,000 new and classic e-books, ready formatted for my Kindle, sitting on my computer in a few hours, simply by downloading and running two separate .torrent files.
- Physical books are ‘special’, and the whole ‘page turning’ crap?
Unless you’re reading something off an original Gutenberg print, I personally struggle to comprehend this. I would bet the majority of people who espouse this bullshit read regular mass market hardcovers [or paperbacks].
I’ll repeat that last bit again - mass market hardcovers [or paperbacks].
There’s NOTHING special about a mass market book. NOTHING. Now don’t get me wrong - I have nothing against mass market books, or ‘physical books’ for that matter [Shock fucking horror - a ‘Kindle fag’, as one comment described those of us who use the things, reading ‘physical books’], but lets not invest anything special into them.
Your mass market copy of Infinite Jest is no different to my Kindle version [A bad example perhaps, given that I actually own a physical copy of the book.] unless it’s signed by David Foster-Wallace.
As for the ‘smell’ - honestly, if the thing that immediately springs to mind when you think of a book, is the smell of a new book, or an old book. I think you might just need help.
Like I said in my ‘original’ post - there’s nothing wrong with having a preference. There’s also nothing wrong with celebrating the books you already own, and displaying them - There’s around 1000 DVDs / Blu-Rays on display to the immediate left of the desk I’m using to type up this rant. [the difference being, I don’t presume to judge people on how they watch films]. There’s also nothing wrong with deciding [even, to an extent, without trying one out] that e-readers aren’t for you.
But passing yourself off as a ‘higher class’ of reader, because you choose to read via print only, and using your tumblr streams as a platform to degrade people who chose to read via alternate methods.
THAT, is what annoys the living fuck out of me.
Ooh - and while we’re at it. How come I can always find 10+ examples of ‘Print lovers’ disparaging e-reader users, but none the other way round - You don’t tend to see Kindle [other e-readers available] users criticizing print readers - unless it’s todo with the various environmental arguments [Which is something I intend to look into when I’ve got some spare time, as I’m not sure I actually agree with that. Again - shock horror, a Kindle user who can perceive a potential negative with the device]
- - -
And bascially, I’m posting it, because my original post will likely have picked up a few ‘likes’. But I can guarantee that some fuckwit will have posted a ‘Fuck You Kindle’ post that’ll have 100s of ‘likes’.
Also, this way, you can’t acuse me of not exercising a certain degree of editorial restraint, on that original article.
-Michael.
