The End of the World as We Know it?

[Crazy Jerome]

No, it isn't, but the upside is that if it's right in front of you, then it's accessible. There's little that's more frustrating than having your electronic device in front of you, and yet not being able to access what you need.

... as in I can get to the Wizards site, but it doesn't acknowledge my log-in.

I'd say the real benefit of dead-tree (or any "technology" that has been around as long as it has) is that the problems are fairly well-understood by the normal user.

This is why my post answered Dannager's last objection, even though she thinks we haven't understood what she is saying. There are always ways to get statistically good enough backups, if you fully understand what can go wrong, and are willing to spend the time and effort.

For example, Danny's motherboard failure. I've had strange things like that happen at very inopportune times, too. So if you've got the paper that is going to make you rich for life, you can:

1. Write in long hand while you type - redundant copies.
2. Print it every time you save, to give you a fallback.
3. Do typical data backups and store them in other places.
4. Arrange for a typing service to be on call to retype it if you have last minute issues.
5. Finish it early and leave multiple copies in the hands of trusted sources.

And so on, and so on.

People are generally lousy at risk analysis. When it is personal and/or in a realm of technology you don't understand fully, even people (like me) that know people are lousy at risk analysis, and try to compensate, and aren't drunk, and are usually cool-headed--still make some bad decisions.

Dead tree is more reliable not because it is inherently more reliable (it isn't, in a lot of ways) but because people understand the fault lines. Fred knows that if he loans a book to Joe, he might not get it back. So he only loans things that he can replace easily enough (with "easily enough" being whatever criteria Fred has, and he probably knows that well, too). He doesn't loan Joe his first edition Charles Dickens "Bleak House"--and then when Joe sheepishly admits 2 years later that he gave it to a girl-friend to impress her--try to defenestrate Joe from his split level ranch, fall out with Joe into the rose bushes, and spend all night in the emergency room.

 

[Scribble]

There's a lot of truth in what you say, and of course one's experiences may vary.

Yeah man- I'm not trying to say your experience/opinion is invalid in any way- just personally I find the online benefits to be more then the drawbacks.

 

[Imaro]

I think one of the other disadvantages of digital media, at least as it stands now, is the cost and care of the hardware that is necessary to access it. So it's not just loosing the data it's also the very real possibility that the hardware used to access said data can also be lost, destroyed, stolen, etc... and the user increases the chances of this with more casual usage.

I might be pretty miffed if someone spills some soda on my $20 copy of HotFL or even my $40 copy of Pathfinder... and yes I or they may have to pay $20 or $40 to replace it. However I am going to be way more mad if that soda were spilled on my $500+ I-pad or $700 laptop with my digital copy of HotFL (among other things) on it, and it ends up costing both of us alot more money.

 

[Scribble]

I think we can go back and forth for a long time listing pros and cons for any format because the truth really is there are benefits and drawbacks to everything.

Nothing is universally flawless, nothing is universally flawed...

Except maybe like getting all books done in cuneiform... that would pretty much just all around suck. (Now watch the pro-cuneiform crowd get all uppity...)

For me- digital has a ton of positives... especially when it comes to stuff I

1. Have to make use of a lot (copy pasting stuff, searching for stuff, etc...)

2. Generally need to carry a lot. I would much rather carry a like 2 pound device that holds 15 different source books, then have to actually lug those 15 source books to and from games. (Even if that means being a little more careful that no one spills or gets gamer gunk all over them.)

 

[Dannager]

This is why my post answered Dannager's last objection, even though she thinks we haven't understood what she is saying.

Excellent post, though I'm really curious as to where that particular gender assumption came from.

 

[Dannager]

I think one of the other disadvantages of digital media, at least as it stands now, is the cost and care of the hardware that is necessary to access it. So it's not just loosing the data it's also the very real possibility that the hardware used to access said data can also be lost, destroyed, stolen, etc... and the user increases the chances of this with more casual usage.

The hardware necessary to access this stuff is... wait for it...

A computer.

You have one.

You will always have one.

You could own exactly zero ebooks, and you would still always have one.

If your only computer is destroyed, you will eventually get it replaced, whether or not you have ebooks that need to be read, because it's a computer.

This argument is like saying, "Yeah, man, but in order to keep physical books I need, like, a house. And wow, those things are a hassle to replace if they burn to the ground. I think I'll keep all my books on my computer so that I can avoid this trouble."

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Excellent post, though I'm really curious as to where that particular gender assumption came from.

You corrected someone else in a recent post, with a "she", and I thought you were referring to yourself. But you know what Daffy Duck says about "pronoun trouble". My apologies. Would you like to shoot me now, or wait until you get home?

 

[Scribble]

Crazy Jerome likes Dannager and wants to have allll his/her babies!!!

 

[Imaro]

The hardware necessary to access this stuff is... wait for it...

A computer.

You have one.

You will always have one.

You could own exactly zero ebooks, and you would still always have one.

If your only computer is destroyed, you will eventually get it replaced, whether or not you have ebooks that need to be read, because it's a computer.

This argument is like saying, "Yeah, man, but in order to keep physical books I need, like, a house. And wow, those things are a hassle to replace if they burn to the ground. I think I'll keep all my books on my computer so that I can avoid this trouble."

Did you read the part about how casual use... as in taking it to a table with soda, beers, cheetos and over excited gamers... increases the likelihood of something happening to said device (Scribble got my point, even though he didn't agree with it... not sure why you didn't)? If you did I don't see how you came up with this as a response.

 

[Scribble]

Did you read the part about how casual use... as in taking it to a table with soda, beers, cheetos and over excited gamers... increases the likelihood of something happening to said device (Scribble got my point, even though he didn't agree with it... not sure why you didn't)? If you did I don't see how you came up with this as a response.

I think he was a little overzealous in how he said it, but I kind of agree with the basic point- that becuse it exists in the "ether" digital media is a little more persistent even then physical media.

Even if the device we currently use to view it is destroyed, it still exists for you to pull it up in other ways.

It kind of highlights the argument actually... the most sensitive part of the whole thing is the physical part.

It's like Skynet in T3 when it uploaded itself to the net. They might blow up Cyberdine but Skynet lives on.

Can't really say that about a book- since once you spill red mt dew all over it, it's kind of toast.