Useless Conversation

[ghost]

The internet. It's not the problem.

Within 10-15 years we will probably see digital loaners that you can get from the local "libraries" over the internet.  There will be no need for the physical body of a library.  So maybe it's not the "problem", but how we deal with it may be problematic-  for instance, what do you do with people who are employed by libraries?  

Taking tin foil hat off now.  

On a lighter note, you might want to avoid wearing your Lady Gaga meat dress for Halloween.

[Lantyssa]

I love meat.  I've carved up animals.  That is a little disturbing though.  Very creative on the part of the tailor (butcher?) to use skirt steaks.

[ghost]

Yeah.  It's goddamn creepy.  That's actual meat.

[Paelos]

She should wear that to a Celebrity Roast 

I apologize.

[Sky]

Within 10-15 years we will probably see digital loaners that you can get from the local "libraries" over the internet.  There will be no need for the physical body of a library.  

Again. Usage is up, not down. Technology is only a threat to libraries in the mind of technophiles.

[ghost]

Again. Usage is up, not down.

Meaning usage of the library facilities? 

[Nebu]

Again. Usage is up, not down. Technology is only a threat to libraries in the mind of technophiles.

Interesting.  As a researcher, I used to spend several hours a day in the library on campus.  After thinking about it, I realized that I haven't been to my campus library building in over 3 years.  While I know that my situation is very different from the usage at the public library, I can envision how campus libraries will be moving away from the services that they used to provide to become more of a storage facility for old materials.

[Yegolev]

You can't rub a digital copy of a book in your ass crack and re-shelve it for some poor jerk to pick up later.

[Nebu]

You can't rub a digital copy of a book in your ass crack and re-shelve it for some poor jerk to pick up later.

True, but you can rub your ass on someone's Kindle!

[Yegolev]

Seriously, though, electronic indexing, searching and retrieval are great if you are looking for some information.  Libraries have their appeal but the internet was invented for a reason.

[Nebu]

The sad reality is that in the modern age, non-fiction is almost out of date by the time it makes it to the shelf.  Libraries are going to become a facility for history, art, and literature.  Which is a fine and noble function. 

I guess you could say that "Science has left the building."

[Chimpy]

The same people that want science in general to leave the building of society are probably the same people who are making sky think about joining the border patrol.

[ghost]

The same people that want science in general to leave the building of society are probably the same people who are making sky think about joining the border patrol.

I'm not sure you're talking about the same thing as Nebu.

[Minvaren]

The sad reality is that in the modern age, non-fiction is almost out of date by the time it makes it to the shelf.  Libraries are going to become a facility for history, art, and literature.  Which is a fine and noble function. 

I guess you could say that "Science has left the building."

Thanks, I'd been looking for a good place to post a link to this article.

[Nebu]

For the record, I feel that libraries are a necessary and good thing for society.  I was just pointing out that their role is changing (as Sky well knows).

[ghost]

Libraries are a huge boon for society and I hope they don't get pinched even more than they already are.  I'm also a big fan of physical books, not the nook or PDF versions.  There's something about having a book in your hand that just isn't matched by the digital version.

What you are describing, Nebu, is something that happened about 5-10 years ago for the academic libraries-  most of the new literature went online and libraries stopped stocking a lot of journals.  I suspect that will happen for other books too, probably much more rapidly than I would like.  If there's no physical books, the library will have to seriously adapt its role or cease to exist.  This is something that the publishing industry is already contending with, and in many ways is failing. 

[Cyrrex]

I've been reading exclusively on my iPhone for the better part of the last six months.  I was sceptical that I'd be okay with getting away with from actual paper books, but I have to say now that I actually prefer the digital method.  There are so many advantages to this format (and obvious disadvantages, but I think they are outweighted).  I'd wager that the generations behind us will have no trouble at all adapting to exclusively digital content and that actual bound paper books will go the way of the dinosaur.

[Sky]

Because your iphone is free to use, right? Or are we all middle class or better in this utopian technological wonderland?

Library usage is up. On every statistic we collect.

[Cyrrex]

I don't doubt your statistics...but ultimately, money makes the world go round.  People, middle class or otherwise, are crazy for their smart phones.  Every new generation is more technically savvy than the one before it.  I just think it is the inevitable conclusion.  Not necessarily a good one, mind you.  I think it would be a damn shame, and yes, it will negatively impact those people who need it the most.

At any rate, I don't mean to comment on the survival probabilities of libraries in general - I'll take your word for it.  I am more referring to the move to digital content. 

[Rasix]

Why the hell would you want to read a book on your iphone?

[Cyrrex]

I know, right?  That's what I thought at first.  Turns out I prefer it.  Key benefits:

- Just got done with a book?  Bam, I just ordered a new one and can read it immediately. 
- I'm one of those people who can read something on a small screen and never get eye strain or otherwise tired of staring at it.  And if I had problems with the small text (which I don't), I can dramatically increase the font.
- Interactivity.  Don't know what a word means?  Highlight it and google instantly comes up with dictionary definition.
- Easier to hold than a book.  I'm surprised at how much a benefit this really is.
- Very, very portable.  I'm at work and just took a shit.  Read three pages.  When I'm carting the kids around doing whatever, I find myself in situations where I can just whip it out and read a few pages.  I always have it with me, and I can have tons of books in it.

[Samwise]

Am I to understand that owning an iPhone has improved your eyesight?  If so, that's yet another feature that they left out of the iPod Touch for no good reason.

(edit) Every time someone rattles off a list of the benefits of doing something on an iThing instead of with one of the other available options, the only one that sounds really plausible as a benefit is "it's easier to take into the crapper."  I think Apple needs to be playing up that angle in their marketing.

[Cyrrex]

Did I imply that it improved my eyesight?  I actually don't have good eyesight...I just don't have an issue with anything up close, nor does the backlight seem to give me any eye strain.  Years of video gaming, I assume.  Which probably gave me bad eyesight.

And yeah, ultimately, the ability to take it to the crapper (or other similar situations) is the real selling point here.

[Rasix]

You're killing me, Smalls.

[Samwise]

Did I imply that it improved my eyesight?  I actually don't have good eyesight...I just don't have an issue with anything up close, nor does the backlight seem to give me any eye strain.  Years of video gaming, I assume.  Which probably gave me bad eyesight.

You listed this as a "benefit":

I'm one of those people who can read something on a small screen and never get eye strain or otherwise tired of staring at it.

and I'm nitpicking because that's not really a benefit unless books do give you eyestrain that is somehow relieved by staring at small backlit screens.  

[Yegolev]

Because your iphone is free to use, right? Or are we all middle class or better in this utopian technological wonderland?

I am reading a physical copy of The Two Towers, but I didn't borrow it.  Is that what you mean?

On the academic/professional end, I don't ever read a real book to find what I need.  The most old-school that I get is searching a PDF.  I also maintain a subscription to Safari so I can read (and search) pretty much any book I need in electronic format.  Per Nebu's point, physical copies of IT books end up being landfill in short order.  You're not some sort of Republican, are you?

[Yegolev]

You're killing me, Smalls.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X8MUY6/ref=asc_df_B002X8MUY61232267?tag=stylefeeder-20&creative=395261&creativeASIN=B002X8MUY6&linkCode=asn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aPJYrFLStg

[ghost]

The book has been around for a very, very long time.  I don't think it's going to go completely away simply for the fact that there are people like me that love to have a fat library in their house. 

[HaemishM]

Why the hell would you want to read a book on your iphone?

Same reason I read them on my Blackberry. Convenience and portability. I've been reading books on my Blackberry since I got the thing 2 years ago and I love it. I'd like a better e-reader, but the budget for that went bye-bye when I bought the Xbox.

[Cheddar]

Libraries opened my horizons as a child and are a God send.  As a kid from a lower income family until my mid teens it was the only way I could really broaden my horizons.  In a way it was like the internet of its day!

Minus the pr0n.  This generation is screwed.

[Merusk]

Because your iphone is free to use, right? Or are we all middle class or better in this utopian technological wonderland?

Library usage is up. On every statistic we collect.

The poor don't matter.  They've been literate and aware of their humanity too long as it is.

[MuffinMan]

Barbara Billingsley and Tom Bosley both dying within the same week. Really? Fuck. Mr. C almost deserves his own celebrity death thread but I guess I'll just cry in this one. 

[Sky]

Spooky. We watched an episode of Happy Days the night he died. After hearing the news, I asked her when the last time she watched Happy Days. Same as me: in original production.

[Chimpy]

YOU KILLED HIM!

Can you watch something with someone no body likes next?

[Ironwood]

Parliamentary Question Time ?