Slog - Comments on Two Completely Unrelated Bits of Book News

Comment by Sam M.

Sam M. — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:13:26 -0800

Yes, such a great idea that it's been on Blackberry phones for some time. I have a pal who has used one to comb pawn shops and resell rare/OOP goods on his online shop for years.

Comment by Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:14:56 -0800

other phones have had programs that do the same thing for quite a while now.

Comment by android

android — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:16:03 -0800

If you could scan the barcode, then it must mean that you already have the book in your hand. So why would you want to know the location of a nearby retail store? So you can buy two copies? It sounded cool at first, but it seems an unnecessary, if somewhat novel app.

Comment by --MC

--MC — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:18:43 -0800

Dear lord, please let Washington's state book be something with dignity, and not one of Tom Robbins' post-hippie pieces of hazerai.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:21:30 -0800

@3, the purpose is to see what the book is selling for, to see if you can make a profit on it. Dedicated gizmos doing this have been around for years. You'll see them in places like the Library sale.

Comment by Jaye

Jaye — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:23:49 -0800

I kind of like the G1...or at least Android. The bar scanner idea is to find cheaper products, and I've been seeing lots of developers claiming to work on e-readers. Developers can start posting their work in the Android Market Monday.

As per state book, something by Sherman Alexie, I personally like Reservation Blues

Comment by Paul Constant

Paul Constant — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:24:54 -0800

I didn't know Blackberries had them. Consider me chastened. And Fnarf: presumably for the average person, the idea is to read reviews of the book that aren't just blurbs.

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:31:06 -0800

Sherman Alexie wouldn't be a bad choice. Raymond Carver pretty well captures a lot of people's experience in Washington as well (sadly, for them), but he's technically not a native.

The Gphone bar code reader is one of the coolest apps going IMO. Works for (price) comparison shopping on almost anything.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:32:44 -0800

Ah, that makes sense too. And of course most valuable books don't have barcodes. Still, "bookhunter" is pretty much my dream job, so let me have my fantasy.

Comment by violet_dagrinder

violet_dagrinder — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:35:52 -0800

@3:

What I will do with it, now that I know it exists, is use it to add books to my amazon wish list to keep track of them, and then go home later and and log into spl.org and place holds on them. I currently have to do this manually. A barcode scanning app will be GREAT. :D

Comment by N

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:41:06 -0800

Please, Paul, stop calling it the "Gphone." Please.

Comment by COMTE

COMTE — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:42:42 -0800

What, nobody wants to nominate "The Egg And I"?

Although, personally, I'd go with "Another Roadside Attraction"...

Comment by Q*bert H. Humphrey

Q*bert H. Humphrey — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:52:57 -0800

It's a great candidate for the Washington state book because the cover has got some of both Eastern and Western Washington. In the foreground is a man who built a global business giant in Western Washington, and in the background is what looks like nearly every road in Eastern Washington.

Comment by bd

bd — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:34:20 -0800

Nomination, Washington State Book: Jack Cady, The Off Season

Comment by android

android — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:35:33 -0800

I can understand the barcode reader for booksellers, but for most average people, it seems a lot easier to just go to amazon's website and enter the book title. I have no idea how easy it is to use the android phone web browser though. I like the fact that the app exists though. I want a google phone.

Comment by daytrpr

daytrpr — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:24:01 -0800

I vote for Tim Egan's The Good Rain.

Comment by josh b

josh b — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:38:23 -0800

wrong. it should be Snowcrash, you fuckers.

Comment by An Andy

An Andy — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:56:10 -0800

It's a great idea, but the Japanese do it better with the QR code.

Comment by some fucking guy

some fucking guy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:39:00 -0800

Microserfs