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News & ArtsWednesday, June 3, 2009
Books Meeting With the Machine
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Over at Edward Champion's blog, Sherman Alexie did a little interview about the Kindle, which he referred to as "elitist" and has been taking shit for ever since:
And I don’t think I’m so crazy to worry that large corporations may not have my best interests in mind when they are offering me deals. I guess this is the thing that amazes me most. I am taking a very tiny stand against many large corporations. I am asking what I think are serious, tough questions and all sorts of people are vilifying me for it. When it comes to this, many people are taking the side of massive corporations over one writer trying to get answers. They’re treating me like I’m Goliath. It reminds me of the way people think of professional athletes and their salaries. All sorts of middle-class folks agree with the billionaire owners of sports teams that the millionaire players make too much money.
Well, Galleycat reports that Alexie has agreed to meet with Amazon:
I'm on Amazon's list of most-requested authors whose fiction is not available electronically, so now, thanks to the beautiful emails I received, I will do my best to enter the meeting with an open mind. And I definitely promise that I will not beat up anybody at Amazon or Kindle.
I can't wait to hear how this goes.
2
I guess this is what to expect from someone who thought that the fact that he really, really liked the Sonics was somehow relevant to a court case between the team and their landlord.
If you think that whose side one takes in a dispute should be determine which side is the bigger corporation, that says something about your critical thinking skills.
If you think that whose side one takes in a dispute should be determine which side is the bigger corporation, that says something about your critical thinking skills.
4
Just because Amazon makes money when you put your books on Kindle doesn't mean it doesn't benefit you as well. It benefits both parties. Corporations benefiting from something doesn't always mean you're being fucked in the ass.
7
I don't dislike the Kindle, but I doubt I will buy one because I am uncomfortable with the umbilical cord to Amazon. Once that is cut, I will reconsider a purchase.
8
Alexie's recent Young Adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was published by Little, Brown, which is part of Hachette and thence the Lagardère conglomerate, which is a huge corporation (they also own part of EADS, which is Airbus, sort of).
9
Wow. I thought this guy was brighter than this. He's against Amazon and the kindle because it is "elitist". Doesn't he understand the publishing companies are fighting with Amazon because they want to keep charging $26 for a book even if the printing/distribution costs go to nil?
E-books will get cheaper and better as all technology does and if books get cheaper and easier to acquire as a result isn't that a good thing?
Yes it is true that Amazon is keeping the Kindle tied to it's bookstore and that is generally less than ideal (although I don't buy books online anywhere else). But otherwise the kindle is great.
E-books will get cheaper and better as all technology does and if books get cheaper and easier to acquire as a result isn't that a good thing?
Yes it is true that Amazon is keeping the Kindle tied to it's bookstore and that is generally less than ideal (although I don't buy books online anywhere else). But otherwise the kindle is great.
10
@9, where have I heard this "printing and distribution costs go to nil" argument before? Who says it's cheaper to maintain a nationwide wireless network operational than it is to print and ship some books? It SEEMS like it might, but I can remember when they said the same thing about ATMs -- "they don't have to pay tellers anymore", just keep millions of complex computers running.
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