Questions?
Firstly - Hello!
Secondly - This [like seemingly everything I’ve ever written since learning to write], is a wee-bit long-winded. But it’s worth persevering through, if you’re wondering who exactly I am, and why I re-blogged / replied to a post of yours
Back in 2010 I borrowed a Kindle [for a little bit] from a fellow patient whilst in hospital. And immediately realised that it’d be quite useful to me, as someone who had a fair few books, DVDs and Blu-Rays - and not enough wall space.
So I treated myself to one. After just under a week I wrote up a little review [which you can read over on my personal tumblr stream - more on the reason why that’s ‘there’ and this is ‘here’ later] about the device, and some potential problems I could foresee with the industry.
Over the last six months, as I’ve used my Kindle more and more, and become more familiar with some of the quirks the device has - I’ve become interested in other peoples opinions on the device [and to a lesser extent, devices such as the Nook, the Kobo etc, etc].
So I did what seemed natural - I searched for ‘Kindle’ on Tumblr, and added it as a Tag, so that it’d let me know when people posts ‘tagged’ with the word Kindle, were posted.
To say it’s been an eye opener, would be an understatement.
Firstly - there are definitely some mis-conceptions ‘out there’ about how these devices work on a technical level. People claiming that the device[s] ‘damage your eyes’. Or that ‘They break easily’.
Then there are people who claim that Kindles [Remember folks - other e-readers are available] are directly responsible for the demise of their ‘favourite bookstore’ - particularly, it seems Borders. The state of the economy didn’t cause Borders to go into administration, nor shoddy mis-management and bad business practice - nope, according to a quite eye-opening number of people, it was all the fault of Amazons’ Kindle.
Those first two, to an extent I can understand. Though I’ll state right from the get-go - if you’re gonna ‘slag off’ e-readers - please take 30 seconds to look up the technical specifications [Hint: Kindles won’t damage your eyesight, as unlike netbooks / cellphones and computer monitors, they don’t use backlit LCD Panels. They use e-ink, a digital facsimile of paper]
However - that’s not the real motivation for starting this tumblr stream. Unfortunately, as well as people who aren’t familiar with the technical details of these devices, and a mis-understanding of the business market…
I’ve seen people call Kindle users ‘C——’, and get 50 ‘Likes’ on their post. I’ve seen people claim ‘Kindle Fa— should be shot’ and get 30 Likes.
I’ve seen people - either by implication, or by stating out outright, claim that ‘Kindle users’ [A somewhat umbrella term for all e-book readers] aren’t ‘real’ booklovers, because they don’t read ‘real’ books. According to these people, you’re only a ‘real’ booklover, if you read physical books [Basically - the argument film snobs used when home video became available, and before that the same argument with regards Vinyl ‘vs’ Cassettes].
I’ve seen the same annoying Ray Bradbury quote [which as outlined a couple of paragraphs ago, is technically inaccurate] use that as a starting point to unleash a stream of vitriol that, if it were applied to a persons gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity etc, etc would shock most people…
And get 100 ‘Likes’ on their post.
Firstly - with regards Ray Bradbury. I commend the guy for his efforts to ensure libraries are given an appropriate level of funding. And, while I have’t read his complete back catalogue, I’ve certainly liked all his books.
But the guy - whether due to his age, or his approach to life, is a complete Luddite. He ‘hates’ Cellphones. Back in 2007, if memory serves, he also rallied aginst Television. And the Internet. And thinks there are ‘too many machines in the world.’
So please - Don’t use Ray Bradbury as the ‘Poster Boy’ for you Kindle hate. Especially not on the Internet. Use him instead, as a champion of libraries.
Now, that slight detour dealt with - onto the point of this tumblr stream. Having read comments along the lines of those outlined a few paragraphs back, naturally [at least for me] I started replying to them.
Jump forward a few months later, and after finishing up a 4000+ word reply to a single paragraph of ‘abuse’, I realised that it’d probably be best if I separated my ‘e-reader’ content from my personal blog, as it wasn’t really fair on my ‘followers’ to keep reading Mikes battle against the Tumblr idiots.
Hence, The Kindle Monologues was created. I’m hoping to ‘officially’ ‘go live’ by July, but before then, certain posts will be appearing. Which brings me, to your question…
‘Why did you reblog / reply to my post’
In short - because I found it interesting. Don’t think for one second that I’m personally attacking you, or your opinions, because I replied / reblogged your post. For the most part, I’ll simply be presenting my opinion, on certain topics / issues that are raised with regards e-books.
-Michael.
