What is Digg?136 Comments
- Bhima, on 10/11/2007, -1/+64Holy *****!
That's depressing!
I wish I could have dug around in it for a while. - Rhino2, on 10/11/2007, -5/+55
I still buy a lot of books.. Somethings are better read on the internet (like digg, news articles, wiki, [search, etc] etc) - but some things are better in book format.
You can lay down with a book or take it outside... you can walk around with it, shouting out lines. You can read it in the bath tub or read it in your bed. You can read them for hours or just skim them for a bit.
Also I find that books are a lot easier on my eyes then comptuer screens.
I like books. I read mostly techinal books (about networks ironicly!), for school (college) and thigns like shakespere and "classics"...
But I think the books are slowing down. Lots of people like TV (personally I hate it) and lots of people have the internets now...
This guy didn't have to burn them though... he could of sold them on the Amazons. :( - mattxb, on 10/11/2007, -4/+53This article seems interesting from the description, hopefully they'll base a movie on it so I can find out who this guy is
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -6/+45"there are worse crimes than burning books. one is not reading them."
No there isn't. You have a choice to read or not read -- burning the book takes away that choice, forcing you to remain ignorant.
Besides, I've been to KC. Selling books in KC is a losing business plan -- better to sell weapons and gang colors. - marx2k, on 10/11/2007, -2/+38Your questions as to why he didn't donate the books is a great example of the subject of this article. NOT READING.
2nd paragraph - But wanting to thin out his collection, he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift shops, which said they were full. - alamandrax, on 10/11/2007, -1/+34Please rise for a minute of silence for the death of reason.
- supergirlest, on 10/11/2007, -8/+32what's really depressing is that these are books that no one was interested in taking or reading - and it's a used bookstore! the prices were half of cover or less - and the books in perfect condition! my fear is that no one is reading anymore. as joseph brodsky so eleqently said, "there are worse crimes than burning books. one is not reading them."
- abanana, on 10/11/2007, -3/+26As a resident of KC, this article saddens me to a great extent. For one, it portrays the city in a sad but accurate light. For another, the decline of reading is happening all across America and its consequences range from people with poor vocabularies to electing retarded presidents. Lastly, wtf i wish i knew he was gonna do this cause ida gone down there and bought some books.
- BrainInAJar, on 10/11/2007, -7/+30"the good old days" is a mythical time.
Reading hasn't declined, it's increased.
And besides, the difference between a pulp novel (I'm looking at you, Clancy) and ***** TV is pretty close to zero anyways, so who gives a damn if people aren't reading mindless drivel instead of watching it, either way nobody's enriched for the process
You /can/ get more complex storylines with the written word, generally. Usually you don't though - TheSak, on 10/11/2007, -6/+24My god, if he wanted to promote reading, why didn't he donate them to R.I.F. or another pro-literacy charity? Sounds like promotion to me, and it's clearly working because we're talking about him.
- Coffeedemon, on 10/11/2007, -24/+41"It's ironic that by burning books he's actually sending a really powerful message. I have a lot of respect for this guy."
I have none
If he is lamenting the "death of thought" why didn't he donate them all to local and non-local libraries where their content could be freely disseminated to anyone with a card. He'd rather hoard them and try to sell them and then cry when noone wants to buy them. - Karyyk, on 10/11/2007, -4/+20@ coffeedemon: Did you read the article? He tried to give the books to libraries and thrift shops and they wouldn't take them.
It's a sad statement to make, but unfortunately, one that needs to be made. I think I know maybe one other person that I've heard mention reading a book in the last year. There might be more, but if so, it's apparently not something that's spoken of. I don't read as much as I should or would like (so many things competing for time these days), but I still read. There's something oddly comforting about sitting back with an interesting book, a warm beverage and closing off the rest of the world for a bit. I guess it's something that requires an attention span... - Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16Two thoughts:
1) Well, that's one way of clearing out old unsellable shelf-warmers while...
2) ...getting free publicity. - Coffeedemon, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10What about poor villages in foreign countries where people are trying to learn to read? Agencies trying to raise literacy? Underfunded schools "at home"?
He didn't look hard enough.
An international development program in partnership with my school that was stationed in Zambia took all of our old text books that the bookstore wouldn't buy back when I was in University. The people there didn't care that it wasn't the latest and greatest thing - they just wanted to learn. - LuciferChaos, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8There are many programs across the country that accept book donations that they send to prisoners. I know - from personal experience - that many prisoners would love to have had the opportunity to read many of the books that this man claimed he couldn't get rid of. One example of a Books To Prisoners program that I was fortunate enough to have received books from while I was in prison:
http://www.books2prisoners.org/ - miriclaire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Talk about cutting off ones nose to spite ones face! That's downright stupid!
- odettelh, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9As much as I wish I lived closer to KC so I could have gone through his collection, I greatly respect his efforts and what he's trying to say. I completely agree. If I said on here that when I moved I had 17 boxes of books, most people would say that's ridiculous. I have friends who moved and just threw their books away rather than deal with them. Here in St. Louis, there are only 3 bookstores worth going to: all the rest were forced out of business by dropping customers and the bigger stores like B&N and Borders. I just don't see as many people reading as I used to.
For example, I always, always have a book with me. I get bored and I read. I almost invariably get interrupted by ignorant and annoying people with some variation of the phrase "why you readin' girl?" like I'm doing something shameful. It's a disgrace that I should even have that reaction. I think I'm done with my rant now, but I hope that people listen to what he's saying and don't just concentrate on his method of delivery. - noahhoward, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Well damn, that was retarded of him. Hopefully he checked to make sure they were all worthless and in bulk print.
- cloakeddagger, on 10/11/2007, -7/+13i'm not sure what the case is in america, but just because old school print books may be selling less doesn't mean that we are thinking any less... we just have many more choices (including right here on the internet)
the information i read is up to date... thank you very much. - Leomarth, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Samuel Clemmons said "Never confuse motion for action." You could adapt it to say "Never confuse words for thought."
- Jams, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7"Where one burns books, one will soon burn people." - Heinrich Heine
(It also reminds me of the Ray Bradbury book "Fahrenheit 451" ) - brstilson, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Try to get people to read books by............burning all the books?
Makes sense to me. - PharmaPhool, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Recycle. Just sayin.
- LesterKing, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7What's more depressing is that there are "Highlights" for the people who haven't got time to read the 300 word article about people not caring to read books.
- michaelinnotts, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Blah di blah blah. People read more today than ever before; one merely has to look at print runs to figure that out. It's not society's fault that his $2 Jude Deveraux and Danielle Steele novles aren't selling.
- orientis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5We're winning the war! The sky is green! Reading has increased!
LALALA - Pic0, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5to get people to read, we should burn books.
great idea - Arkavus, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5@patnolan
That's only if you decide to stroll around Wyandotte. :P
And while I agree everyone should have a choice to read and people shouldn't burn books theres little doubt in my mind that these books wouldn't have been bought for a very very long time, if ever. Schools should really focus on reading more. Its an important thing to enjoy doing and so many kids end up hating it because they either aren't good at it or haven't read enough to really appreciate a good book. Plus, its not cool to read anymore. :P - odettelh, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6But what if you don't know what you're looking for and just want to browse around? The internet is all well and good for a lot of things, but you don't get any better than an old musty bookstore with strange gems lying around in odd corners.
- thomas, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The only thing this will do is pollute the air.
- insovietrussia, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Well it's not as if TV has caused some kind of new social revolution, it's been around for the best part of what... 60-70 years?
Personally I spend more time online these days, but less time watching TV. My time reading however has probably increased. - Ecowarrior, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6What, you think that he READ THE ***** ARTICLE?
- tcquad, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4@supergirlest
I blame rampant book piracy for his decreased sales. - orientis, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7ah coffeedemon, you just owned yourself completely then.
Oh and abanana : Wayne said next time he will get a permit. He said he envisions monthly bonfires until his supply -- estimated at 20,000 books -- is exhausted.
In the pic you can see kids going through the books. Get on down there! And pick me up some old school sci-fi! - korvan504521, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4i enjoy browsing used book stores. you can often find many great novels within, especially if its not a chain bookstore.
- EvaMonkey01, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5My God, this has made me almost physically sick.
How can someone burn something as beautiful as a book, an object consisting of nothing more then a few pieces of paper that can be used to expand ones imagination... I'm disgusted.
He could have sold them on Ebay or Amazon, like someone said before me.
The world has gone mad. - Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Frankly I don't think I've ever found anything of interest by randomly browsing a bookstore. I HAVE found many a book by searching Amazon for keywords, though.
But perhaps that's just me and my fringe interests - I'm interested in science, and there are hardly ever any science books worth a damn in your average bookstore. For old books, however, Amazon is useless; then I turn to online antiquariats like www.eurobuch.com. - SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3And there are high schools in California that allow SMS abbreviations in English papers.
We're doomed. - kmpr326, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Pretty soon it's going to be "Let's destroy creativity and educational material to protest lack of creativity and education!"
- willowreed, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Yeah I wish I could have spent some time rooting around in his collection. I read for pleasure, I read for knowledge. I *hate* reading e-books. I spend time on the computer for convenience but for real hard-core research, I go to books.
Unfortunately, I am the only person I know that actually knows where the research dept actually is in the city's library.
I love going through the old volumes of newspaper indexes....books that are at least as old as 1910, and beyond. Imagine getting to touch history.
I think that guy (if he wanted to) could have set up shop on the internet. There are TONS of people looking for various old books, new books, etc. Half.com/amazon/abe books, there are so many out there where he could have at least advertised his books.
For people like me....
aughhh what is this world coming to? its the DUMBING DOWN of our American society.
And stupid people really tick me off!
Wils - tsbardella, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3warmth, cooking, pyromania, any of those are good excuses. Also "there are no book lovers in foxholes"
- VinceNoir, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Bravo! As much as I love computer technology and electronic devices, I come from a totally different mindset than most:
Computers != business tools
Instead...
Computers = art and science tools
And...
Electronics != gadgets
Instead...
Electronics = mental and communication augmentation devices
I was lucky enough to have been raised in one of America's rare liberal cities during America's rare liberal time period: the 70s. Because of that, I was raised with the idea that thinking is one of our most powerful abilities and that it must be indulged in constantly and cherished. When I had questions about how things worked, my folks took me to the well stocked library to find the answer. And although the volumes in the library weren't the newest, they tended to be the best. As an example... when I was six I wanted to know how television worked. My main motivation was to build one since my parents said I couldn't have one in my room. They knew that my quest was Quixotic, but they also knew that my interest could lead me to learning about some important things. I was lucky in that the library stocked these books from the 1950s "Boy's First Book of Electronics" all the way through the fifth book. They also had a bunch of Sam's schematics of televisions dating back to the 50s through sets built five years earlier.
Because of this quest, I learned how to read electronic schematics and signal flow. This knowledge helped me in later years and still helps me today, because I was able to build and modify electronic devices. I got my first soldering iron at age 8. :) This basis taught me about how all electrical and electronic devices work, from the simplest flashlight to the most complex computer or digital audio device. Knowing these things allowed me to really judge the value of these devices and hence be able to avoid the pitfalls that most "geeks" today seem to fall victim to. The PDA is a great example. There are far too many geeks who think they need a PDA. But a PDA is not a science or art tool, it's a business tool and therefore useless to all but a few special geeks who are lucky enough to have a hybrid personality. I was almost tempted by the early Compaq PDAs, especially when I found out I could run Linux on them. But... the lack of a decent interface (hardware wise) and piddling small CPU and RAM/Storage indicated to me that these devices are not yet useful to someone like me.
So in the long run, the encouragement of my thinking turned me into what most businesses must despise: a thinking producer (as opposed to a non-thinking consumer). I have no desire to buy nor am I easily persuaded to buy every "must have" gadget out there. To me, many of the devices that business folks lust after are far too primitive to be of any interest. I think cell phones are generally stupidly designed and suck. I tend to have no interest at all in prefab computer systems or services provided by companies that others might feel they can't live without. Examples:
-I host my own domains
-I host my own mail
-I host my own web servers
-I provide my own VPN to myself my friends and family
-I provide VoIP for myself, my friends and family (over the VPN)
-I have been using a "media center" PC in some fashion since 1995 (complete with wireless KB/Mouse, full multimedia capability and PVR functionality as well as streaming)
And I've done all of the above without using prepackaged commercial software. It's all been done with Free/Open software. Note that I'm also not a coder. I merely compile, install, configure and then customize or glue applications together with scripts, in order to gain these kinds of functionality. This is all possible thanks to the fact that I can read and think clearly.
I personally feel that thinking and being proud of intelligence need some PR badly today. There's been far too much PR encouraging people to take pride in ignorance. Whether it's celebrities and pop stars wearing their idiocy on their sleeves, or it's simply brainwashing by propagandistic agencies like Fox news. They have all had far too much influence over the American public. People take far too much pride in their ignorance. The time has come to put this to a stop. The time has come to end prideful and willful ignorance. The time has come to tell corporate America that not everyone wants to be an idiot slave to their products and services. It's bad for the economy of the masses. - YossarianDent, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7"Reading hasn't declined, it's increased."
Where are you getting your information? The article cited a study which found that pleasure reading among adults has dropped around 10% in the past 20 years - do you have proof to the contrary? - Enfenestrate, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3He's going to be swamped with calls from people wanting to get their hands on his books now.
There's plenty of people reading these days, just not books from his store.His business slowing is not necessarily representative of the world as a whole. Hell, if I was anywhere near there I'd go check his place out. It's funny that burning his stock, and getting national attention for it, is fantastic exposure, probably the best advertising he could ever hope to get. Too bad he won't have anything left to sell soon. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3He sure showed them...
- Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5Bookstores?
Amazon, baby. Amazon. At least for new books. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@marx2k
He didn't try hard enough. I run the book sale at my local library and we will take any books in quantities under 50,000.
Also, many charities will pay to have your books shipped to New Orleans to replace books destroyed by Katrina. - Bahimiron, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I know Prospero Books, if not necessarily the owner. It's yet another small bookstore that is basically being crushed by the big chains.
Which is where his problem really lies. As much as he might say that America is ditching the written word, the numbers argue. Every year Borders and Barnes and Noble do bigger business. Sure, some of that has to do with the addition of coffee bars and DVD areas, but at the end of the day the bottom line for a Barnes and Noble is selling books.
I currently live in a suburb of Boston and I can walk to a local bookstore called Brookline Booksmith. The store is just about two blocks away from Barnes and Noble. And I'll be honest, if both places have a book I won't, I'm probably going to hit Barnes and Noble. I have a 10% discount going in there. If it's a major book, I might get another 30% on top of that. Heck, if I go online I can add another 10% by using my almost useless X-Box Live Diamond Card. - silverchrysalis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3we had a similar experience at one point in time. we moved and tried to clear out some books we had (regretting it now!) our library wouldn't take good titles that it didn't have, no one wanted them. we wound up donating them to a homeschool foundation, but it was sad.
still, burning them seems rather asinine and counter-productive - jcarrion1976, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5I vote for the donation method. Burning is just a waste. There are plenty of private schools that would take book donations in a heart beat. These schools survive off of parent tuition and donations, not governtment welfare.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 136 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is