The End of the World as We Know it?

[Jack99]

Danny, it seems to me that the solution for you would be to get an iPad or similar tablet and download the articles when released. That way you can keep them even if you cancel your sub, and you can access them in Russia and in the US during a power outage.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nah- my solution is much less expensive. I don't subscribe to anything ephemeral. Period. (Except those required for business.)

Besides, 10 hours battery life isn't enough when dealing with a prolonged power outage, and an iPad (or netbook or laptop) would raise the same red tape issues as a smart phone. The last time I went to Russia, I took nothing electronic. At all.

Plus, I don't have any more computer-screen induced eyestrain.

 

[Scribble]

Whatever floats your boat man... But I think you're on a sinking ship.

The world is moving digital.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Whatever floats your boat man... But I think you're on a sinking ship.

The world is moving digital.

I know- but I doubt we'll ever go 100% "paperless" though, at least not in my lifetime. Too many issues to still work out, like rising energy costs and the prices, rarity and ecological impact of the materials used to make electronic devices.

 

[Scribble]

I know- but I doubt we'll ever go 100% "paperless" though, at least not in my lifetime. Too many issues to still work out, like rising energy costs and the prices, rarity and ecological impact of the materials used to make electronic devices.

Sure- just the more you rebel against it, well... the more I look at my dad who sits every night angrily watching the same reruns of law and order over and over again on his HD TV on the SD channel, because he can't figure out his newfangled cable box.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It has nothing to do with rebellion. It has to do with cost/benefit analysis and the way I live.

Purely digital consumer goods do not fit my lifestyle. I do not value them as highly as retailers do- I consider them inferior to the physical products they are being offered as substitutes for- so I will not pay what they ask. Nor will I steal them.

And I surely won't opt for a subscription-based model. EVER. I find those to be grossly overpriced.

Heck, I'm planning on getting an iPad eventually, but whatever eBooks I buy will be supplemental, not substitutions or replacements.

Besides, it's not as if I don't have a lot of other things to do with my time than spend it in front of my iTouch, iMac or what have you.

 

[Scribble]

It has nothing to do with rebellion.

Purely digital consumer goods do not fit my lifestyle. I do not value them as highly as retailers do- I consider them inferior to the physical products they are being offered as substitutes for- so I will not pay what they ask. Nor will I steal them. And I surely won't opt for a subscription-based model. EVER.

Heck, I'm planning on getting an iPad eventually, but whatever eBooks I buy will be supplemental, not substitutions or replacements.

Whatever the word for it, you seem to be against the digital trend, I don't care one way or the other what you do- just commenting that it reminds me of my dad. He wasn't anti technology- he just stopped following it.

Now he IS anti technology because it moved on, and he doesn't understand anything anymore, and as a result everything is constantly "broken."


p.s. I didn't mean rebellion as in up in arms marching on the streets rebellion... Just in the sense that you're bucking the digital trend, and even planning to "let WoTC know about it."

 

[Dannager]

I also don't care for the data plans. I can do a lot with my $30/month that will make me happier than spending it on that, especially over the projected span of my phone plan.

Speaking as someone with a smartphone and an uncapped data plan, I think this may be one of those situations where one doesn't quite understand the utility until they experience it firsthand. There's a tremendous amount of comfort for me, personally, knowing that I can be anywhere I might reasonably go, and still be able to access any information that I might desire. You have to judge for yourself whether or not $30 per month (or whatever) is a good value, but frankly I feel that's a pittance to pay for what I get out of it.

As for not paying for ephemeral things, ever, that's an uncharitable way of describing a subscription model. I realize that, for some people, subscriptions have a sort of intellectual ugliness to them, but understand that you already undoubtedly pay for a number of subscription services - all of your utilities (water, power, trash, gas, cable, internet, phone), a mortgage if you have one, car payments, newspaper, etc.

It might be time to reevaluate the idea that subscriptions are not acceptable because they can eventually end.

I know- but I doubt we'll ever go 100% "paperless" though, at least not in my lifetime. Too many issues to still work out, like rising energy costs and the prices, rarity and ecological impact of the materials used to make electronic devices.

It's timely and illustrative that you mention the rarity and ecological impact of the materials necessary to make modern devices. News just broke yesterday of the discovery of truly mindblowingly huge deposits of rare earth minerals in the Pacific that are apparently not that difficult to get at. To boot, these deposits contain far less (percentage-wise) of the radioactive elements that contribute to the environmental hazards of harvesting these minerals.

You can read the full Reuters article here.

 

[Scribble]

Speaking as someone with a smartphone and an uncapped data plan, I think this may be one of those situations where one doesn't quite understand the utility until they experience it firsthand. There's a tremendous amount of comfort for me, personally, knowing that I can be anywhere I might reasonably go, and still be able to access any information that I might desire. You have to judge for yourself whether or not $30 per month (or whatever) is a good value, but frankly I feel that's a pittance to pay for what I get out of it.

Man I completely agree with this. Before Smart Phone (BSP): I thought they were kind of neat, but no way would I pay that much for a data plan. Wife thought they were a true waste of money.

After Smart Phone (ASP): Can't imagine life without it anymore. For instance just knowing that my wife has a constant navigational aid in her pocket at all times is worth the data plan to me already!

 

[Dannager]

Man I completely agree with this. Before Smart Phone (BSP): I thought they were kind of neat, but no way would I pay that much for a data plan. Wife thought they were a true waste of money.

After Smart Phone (ASP): Can't imagine life without it anymore. For instance just knowing that my wife has a constant navigational aid in her pocket at all times is worth the data plan to me already!

Right. I picked up a smartphone at the beginning of last summer, and immediately moved to an unfamiliar major metropolitan area (D.C.). I spent three months there, and thanks to the smartphone I was never lost. I always new exactly where I was, and exactly how to get where I needed to be.