Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Who will win the Ebook wars?

Oh my God, Apple has sold a gazillion iPads; what will Amazon do to increase Kindle sales? The Nook is for sale at Best Buy.

I DO NOT FUCKING CARE. I probably care more about which hair style Kate Gosselin wears on Dancing with the Stars (I believe it's the 'Betty Hutton').

Oprah, their peers, ego and infomercials influence library borrowers. I don't care how fast the ebook market is expanding, the ratio is still about 6 to 1 on people using our computers versus those using wifi with their portable devices.

People still need libraries to help them find jobs.
People still need libraries to help them learn to read.
People still need libraries to help them expand their intellectual, philosophical and emotional horizons.
People still need libraries to help them save money.
People still need libraries to help them function and cope and imagine and everything else that people need that they can't get from just sitting around at home.

I will care about the ebook wars when my library hangs the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED sign across all that other stuff. Which means, I think, never.

(...actually, after thinking about it, the ration of portable device users would be greater since that one user stays connected while 3 or 4 or 5 or more library computer users come and go... so chisenbop that, math nerds.)