Technology

When An Author’s Autograph is Worth Nothing

This entry was posted in Books Technology on by

Just why the hell would anyone stand in line for not an autograph:

Author Margaret Atwood has grown weary of the traveling that comes with promotional book tours. Such tours are grueling, and her experience with delivery drivers who hold out an electronic device for a signature gave her an idea: maybe there was a way to create a system whereby she could sign a book from a distance.
She teamed with Matthew Gibson and several others to produce the device, naming the firm Unotchit pronounced “you no touch it.” The device was given its first-ever public demonstration on Sunday, and despite technical glitches that had to be overcome, they managed to get the device working.

This gives a whole new meaning to autographed first edition and no enhancement in value: either emotional or financial.
I’ve been to a few book signings over the years and enjoyed hearing authors read from their work and discuss related issues with the audience. This would be ok via teleconferencing which probably will be standard once holographic/virtual presence technology becomes the norm.

There is no way, though, that mechanical scribbling is an acceptable stand in for the author’s in the flesh signature.

Of Dell and Dopes

This entry was posted in Economics Humor Marketing Technology on by

I apologize in advance if you saw this absolutely hilarious and ever so been there, done that take down of Dell Tech Support last week in the NYT. I missed it, just read it and must share:

Preparatory Work
So it has happened: you have fired up your Dell PC, and – nothing. Or the dreaded “cannot find boot drive” or something like that. Now you are forced into the unenviable position of having to call Dell Off-shore Hardware Support. Look at it as a journey, one on which you will be tested, much like Job or Arthur Dent. You will descend into the ninth circle, but with the proper preparation, tools and attitude, you will return, a better person for it.

Enjoy the rest!

If you are a Dell owner who ever had a problem you’ve probably talked to a DOPE. Remember, if they had not been absorbed by Dell they would probably be quite nice, intelligent and helpful folks.

A Lot Of Chatter Going On?

This entry was posted in Blogging Technology on by

Dave Sifry of Technorati published Part I of his latest State of the Blogosphere series. Some data points:

  • Technorati now tracks over 27.2 Million blogs
  • The blogosphere is doubling in size every 5 and a half months
  • It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
  • On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
  • 13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
  • Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day, about 50,000 per hour

My, do we chatter a lot.

The End of the ‘Best Of’ Discs?

This entry was posted in Economics Information Internet Music Technology on by

Ann Althouse asks the vital question:

Should we care if iTunes is killing the marking for “best of” music collections?

My immediate response I don’t care if best of collections fade into history. I don’t buy them.
Let’s, though, take this as a serious question and read the linked article. We need only read part way down the first page to see that Ann’s question distorts the article which posits a hypothetical question:

What if fans who might have paid for a full album of “the very best” of an established act instead choose to pay substantially less and simply buy the very, very best song?

And, after discussing various aspects of the question they get to this:

In many instances, however, record executives say online sales do not appear to be hurting their best sellers.

It appears that for, at least the folks with a substantive set of work, the best ofs will be successful for some time more. And, if a one/two hit wonder’s best of sales plummet to zero, well, great! This is as it should be and the saved money will be spent on something else.

Creative destruction in action.