The future: music, film, print

I wish I were as cogent a thinker and as eloquent a writer as Walt Crawford. His most recent post is called Five years on. In it he offers his opinion (with which wholeheartedly agree) about the future of music, film, and the various print products of today.

It is worth reading.

One night -- Two #FAIL

Last night I came home from work. The gas utility company (Entergy) which has now dug up part of the parking in front of the house twice, for a week or more each time, since May, had filled in the hole. I heated some left-overs in the microwave. Then I went to do some cleaning. Now, in New Orleans, the house is raised above the ground, and the hot (and cold) water pipes run under the house with no insulation. To get hot water, you have to let it run a bit. Well, it ran, and did not get hot. It ran some more, still not hot. So, I checked the water heater (outside, in a little shed attached, and sitting on a slab), and tried to re-light it. It would not light. On a whim, I tried the (gas) stove. It does not light. Called the utility. About 90 minutes later someone shows up, looks at the meter -- ours is off, our next door neighbor's is on [we live in a "shotgun double," aka a duplex]. Why? He doesn't know. He tests the stove and lights the water heater.

Meanwhile, I tweet it. It shows up as a status update in Facebook. First time it happens to me. I tweet that. I got some suggestions, tweaked the settings, and it happens again. (But not any of the RT messages or @ messages!) This morning I find the answer.

So, #FAIL to Entergy, and #FAIL to Facebook (again).

Nicholson Baker, on my side?

A longtime library gad-fly, Nicholson Baker has an article in the August 3, 2009 issue of The New Yorker. It is about his experiences with the Kindle.

I guess, this is sort of a continuation of the attitude which earned him my personal disdain from back in the mid-1990s. He started with his blasting libraries for getting rid of card catalogs [abstract only...go to your paper copy (grin) of The New Yorker for April 4, 1994 - page 64 - or register on the site.] He followed it up with an "exposé" of the then new San Francisco Public Library. In the latter he found that [no, I was not shocked] that there were more books listed in the card catalog than in the online catalog. Apparently, he never thought about those books which never return, and when most libraries automated, they barcoded/entered items from the shelf rather than from the usually inaccurate shelf list.

Well, back to the present....He gives the Kindle a fair shot. He notes a number of shortcomings, some are technological (grayness of the screen, only one typeface available) and other are part of a bigger issue for libraries (and consumers) like the digital rights management issues. (Kindle books can be read only on the Kindle you used to purchase the book.) He even tested the reader function (I guess he got an early one), and the new Kindle DX. In spite of my prior issues with Mr. Baker, I think he has provided an interesting perspective here.

My friend and fellow netizen Michael Sauers has a much more succinct comment today also.

Censorship and ALA program in Chicago

It really annoys me when folks who have absolutely no clue about how the American Library Association operates, leap to conclusions, and mis-state what happened.

My issues start with the Annoyed Librarian (who at least professes to be a librarian and an ALA member at an academic institution). The good thing about AL, is that he/she actually states most of the facts fairly correctly. And he/she is correct that "I doubt the ALA or the ALA Council will have much to say about this." But for the reason he/she is wrong.

First, this was a program organized and sponsored by a Round Table. Round Tables (as units within ALA) are among the looser of the kinds of units. They have no ability to speak for the organization, and at best can get ALA Council to act by getting the Round Table Councilor (or another of their members) to bring it up.

Second, the main reason why Council did not act is that there was nothing to do! What can you do if you invite a panel of people, and suddenly all but one quit! You no longer have a panel! (A panel of one?) What to do? I think the Round Table did the right thing and canceled the program.

The charges by folks like Steven Emerson are ridiculous. An ALA unit (part of a professional organization) is supposed to replace a panel discussion with a presentation by a single individual? I think not!

Then there is Dan Kleinman who runs a web site and blog alleging to be "Safe Libraries" but who has been on a long campaign against freedom of speech in public libraries. In his blog, he shows his complete lack of understanding about conferences and how they are organized by challenging "the ALA to include Robert Spencer in next year's panel."

[Side note: In the library world you can usually tell when someone does not like or understand ALA because it is "the ALA" rather than just "ALA" for me it is a red flag -- almost every time!]

What is most interesting is that the speaker who did not cancel has written a much more even handed treatment of the incident. While Robert Spencer does not explicitly accuse ALA of censorship, he does take a little jab. It seems that he is more interested in being heard than in denigrating an organization which actually invited him to speak.

Milestones

This one is personal. If you don't care, this is time to move along.

I chatted with my eldest son tonight because it is his 29th birthday. I guess I am feeling old. Along with my younger son's 25th (on the same day as this blog's 4th anniversary), it sure seems that time is flying by.

On the other hand, it was great to see a bunch of blogger friends at the Blog Salon in Chicago this year.

A simple reflection after an "adult beverage."