tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post6483145712785750156..comments2024-02-23T03:28:33.435-05:00Comments on Culture Industry: "Do I have to buy the book?"Mark Scrogginshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01431113440875342809noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-7650445804671399042011-09-08T21:33:48.900-04:002011-09-08T21:33:48.900-04:00I don't read but about half the books I buy an...I don't read but about half the books I buy any more. Maybe not that many. I'm not as conscientious as you, Mark. But I haven't considered getting a Kindle, etc. What, render my bookcases obsolete?<br /><br />I'm not sure readers have ever been especially aware of the networks that produce the books (now the PDF’s), but you're absolutely right that free downloads change our experience of media and therefore of text. These are the sorts of reflections we need as we keep trying to figure what the hell’s happening to us. We haven't deciphered most of the effects of the computer revolution yet. We're all still too gee-whiz and it hasn't been around long enough to give us any perspective. The effects of having so many texts at our figurative fingertips remain to be mapped.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-69357936171406302012011-08-08T20:29:01.468-04:002011-08-08T20:29:01.468-04:00On re-reading, I worry that my last comment might ...On re-reading, I worry that my last comment might have been taken as an attack. I hope it was clear that both modes of bibliophilia bear characteristic virtues and vices. Most authors and booksellers depend on purchasers for their livelihood, and most productive scholars and critics aren't shy about annotating. More subtly, my devaluation of ownership tends to separate me from living communities of readers and writers -- I'm <i>less</i> likely to read something I've bought (since no one is waiting on me to return it), and therefore more likely to let (for example) my knowledge of contemporary small press poetry slip out of date.Ray Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15998321016748928251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-48243728636714146402011-08-04T09:32:16.149-04:002011-08-04T09:32:16.149-04:00I see your point, and Ruskin's, but I guess I&...I see your point, and Ruskin's, but I guess I've always been too dependent on libraries to use precisely those terms. I do feel pressure to read (or decide not to read) a book and return it as quickly as possible, but that's a matter of scarcity rather than price per se. (And yes, that pressure lessens with free downloads.)<br /><br />Perhaps as a consequence, I don't underline or annotate books and instead take notes on my own damned paper. (I do search them a lot, though, which is where electronic versions shine.) And I've sorely resented requirements to buy expensive books which I'd never want to read again. Instead, for me, one of the nicest things about owning a physical book (rather than licensed e-book) is being able to lend it -- again a question of scarcity.Ray Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15998321016748928251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11295909.post-42620613945754121132011-08-03T16:04:18.852-04:002011-08-03T16:04:18.852-04:00I've adapted the e-mentality to my reading hab...I've adapted the e-mentality to my reading habits - as follows:<br /><br />If I'm interested in a book, and it's available in an e-format, I'll buy the e-format and read it.<br /><br />If I really enjoy it, or find it potentially useful to return to, I'll purchase the hardback (if available) version to include in my tangible library.<br /><br />This benefits me in that it saves bookcase space for those books I enjoy re-reading or find useful in my studies. It benefits the authors by netting them two purchases if their work is - in my very amateurish opinion - worth my time and effort.jc64https://www.blogger.com/profile/12529977820039557723noreply@blogger.com