How the Apple Tablet will Screw over Poor People
For the mildly rich and super-elitist only.
So, apparently, the amazing and most important company that was ever created by human beings is releasing the often rumored and much desired Apple Tablet! It is the Apple Tablet! It is made by Apple and, uh, it is a Tablet! I mean, think of it like the iPhone, but, you know, bigger and more 3Ging and, I don’t know, it floats and it will diagnose and cure strange STDs, I guess. I mean, what do you want from me?
I don’t care about the Apple Tablet, or the Nook, or the Kindle. Why, you ask? Why don’t I, Jarvis Slacks, the guy who buys USB drives based on looks rather than function, the guy who bought $100 dollar earbuds because they “Felt better”, the guy who will walk two miles just to buy Mass Effect 2, why don’t I care about the cool and futuristic ability to read my favorite novels, magazines and newspapers on a tablet like device just like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation? Why don’t I care about the future?
Because this part of the future is stupid. And we are hurting the majority of the world, not helping them. And I’ll explain exactly why that is after this short commercial break.
Ok, there are a few reasons why this leap into the new and exciting world of fucking “tablets” annoys me. The first reason is that Apple, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles are all trying to sell you something you do not, AT ALL, need. One of the key selling points for the Nook is that you can put a butt load of books on the device. Something like 1000. Yes. 1000 books. So, if I’m on the Metro and I feel like reading through “Lolita”, I can do that. Or, if I am on a long trip and I have this urgent need to finish up “Tale of Two Cities”, the future has let me have that. But that is simply a possibility, not a reality. No one, I will repeat this, no one needs to have 1000 books on your person. I don’t care who you are. The average educated person needs at least two weeks to read a novel and understand it. There is no shame in taking a month to finish one. Hell, I know people that spend six months on reading a novel because it is so good. The Tablets are trying to convince us that having a library in our pocket will make our lives better. It won’t. It will make it more pretentious.
Two, they are expensive. The Nook costs $259. The Kindle costs close to the same and, yes, the Apple Tablet will probably be $400 bucks. A paperback book costs $20 and you can drop it, throw it, step on it and even crap on it without it ever not working. Paperback books don’t take batteries, don’t get smudges and aren’t attractive to thieves. What’s that? These e-readers save the environment by saving trees? Well, yes, this is true. But let’s be honest. The environment is f-ed, no matter what we do. And burning books is still taboo, so it is a paper usage that I feel relatively comfortable with.
Third, we are forgetting about the poor people. All this talk about saving the middle class and we are forgetting about the bottom class, the guys who don’t have any cash. With all these e-readers and content on the web, we are marginalizing, actively marginalizing, the poor, the people who need to read the most. They might not want to read, but they might. We aren’t giving them the chance. A person without computer access can not read my blog. I am aware of this and it depresses me. Print, paper print, allows a varied readership, not just the privileged and educated. We forget this. And with the rise of the e-reader will come the rise of the online content, and with that comes the slow death throttle of print, which will result in a lower class unable to easily and affordably compete in an educational sense as well as a economic sense.
Now, if these Tablets have the ability to scan the area for life forms, then I might have to start thinking about pre-orders….
I’m an old guy, Jarvis, a book guy and former academic (19th Century Romantic Literature) and on whim, I made the switch to a Kindle. The reasons are on my blog at http://refugeefromreason.com/?p=778. The device is expensive and fortunately, I could afford it. It’s an extravagance, but I certainly don’t think that it has an impact presently on “poor people,” nor do I think it will in the future. Libraries remain available. I could certainly be far more prolix in this comment, however, my view is that there are far more critical issues facing the poor than eReaders.
Take care and keep up the good work.
Hmm, seems to me that your comparing of the iPad to an E-reader is a fallacy… apples/oranges, so the money argument goes out the window. Also, I agree with Refugee, if you want to talk about the poor, talk to the Gov’t. Apple is not a non-profit for a reason.
E-readers in general can help society as a whole though. it might seem pretentious to you to have 1000 books on you but why is it not pretentious to carry 1000 songs? instant access to any book is phenomenal. Imagine one day having *some* access to the library of congress? That would be awesome, dude.
What Would Guy Montag Do?
He’d Jump for joy i think.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for good old print, but I’ve got to say that physical books are just more attractive to me. Sure, they can only do one thing at once, but there’s just something about holding an actual book, turning actual pages. And there’s no way I’d take an iPad or a Kindle to the beach, to a pool, into a bathtub, or a lot of other places where it’s most enjoyable to read. So, paperbacks are fine with me. At least for now…
I agree with Erin. The pleasure of turning a page will always outweigh pushing a button for me. I also think that the transition from buying cd’s to buying mp3′s happened a lot faster than the transition for books vs. ebooks will. And there will always be libraries, glorious libraries!
Rachel, I thought that way. I’m probably older than you; and was a academic for many years. If you attend this link, http://refugeefromreason.com/?p=778, you’ll see why I enjoy it. I do use the library regularly, by the way. To me, the iTable looks quite remarkable, but I’ve long past the point of wanting the “newest toy,” a sign of age I suppose. A few years back, I pointed out to a friend that the clearest sign of aging in me was that I tossed out the Sharper Image catalog before opening it .
Keep going to the library. In most states, funding depends in part on book borrowing levels.
Alot of bloggers are not really happy with the new iPad.There was just too much hoopla over it and lots of people got turned off.Quite frankly, I for one see some of the cool potential of the gizmo. Third-party apps for working with tunes, games, newsprints and magazines and books, tons of neat stuff, but they failed to sell it very well (excluding the books). It smells rather undercooked