Is the Kindle Ruining Cultural Snobbishness?
27. Apr, 2009 | by Jane |
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According to the New York Times, individuals can no longer display their eruditeness by the cover of the book they pretend to read on the subway if the Kindle takes over. The Kindle or Sony is discreet and anonymous with only the reader knowing exactly what she is reading. Because of this, people can no longer make snap judgments about whether the reader is worth knowing based on the book jacket. This is a cause for concern, I guess.
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Maybe they can get a fake cover that looks uber-important for Kindle?
oh, how terrible. snort.
I was thinking about buying a very handsome leather ones with a celtic knot design. I wonder about boutique covers with replaceable paper inserts. The publisher could give the eBook purchaser the opportunity to download a copy of the cover so the reader can keep his or her lit cred. Of course the reader could be reading anything at all inside the cover.
And people not being able to judge me based on the cover of the book I’m reading is bad how? :)
I know I’m tired of people looking at a book cover and assuming that…
1. I’m dumb because I’m reading a romance
2. I somehow don’t know any better
3. I just need to be more informed and read what they feel is “enlightening and will improve my mind”
It’s kind of funny when they don’t take the time to find out that I’m university student completing my third year of a nursing degree and am on the Dean’s list.
Now people won’t know I’m a frustrated housewife with one glance? Damn. Maybe I can get a t-shirt.
And how am I going to know who to be impressed by? Sad, really.
Far from it! It allows snobs to hide their lowbrow reading tastes from the strangers whose approval they seek. ;)
Snort.
Yeah, and I’m OK with that.
It’s not enough that your Kindle says, “I dropped $300 bucks on this thing and if it I drop it, I’m screwed for $300, plus the full price of the books that I will never have a chance to re-read.”
That’s pretty erudite, IMHO.
I can’t afford an ebook reader. So people can look at the covers of the books I read, and not just sneer at the mantitty, but also look down on my impoverishment! ;)
I actually like seeing what people are reading on the subway, so from an observational/voyeuristic point of view, it’s a bummer.
@Gemma ha ha ha. so those readers who read paper romance books are double degenerates? or doubly degenerate?
A new business for an entrepreneur?
Disposable stickers for your Kindle or Sony with pictures and titles like:
Dickens, The Complete Works, Ha-Ha
or
Tolstoy, With A Forward By Nora Roberts
or
Fu@k Off Tree Killer
or
What Do You Care What I’m Reading?
or maybe
Not Sharing The Man-Titty Picture
Japan sells paper book covers with whatever book you buy for this very reason. You can be a mild-mannered businessman sitting on the subway and nobody will ever know you’re reading housewife romance manga.
It’s not really that much of a deal.
@Sin: Actually they don’t sell the plain paper book covers. They are free if you ask when you pay for books. Wrapping is considered saabisu.