You've seen the films where the older professor attempts to seduce the naive student by removing a weathered tome of poetry from the bookshelf and says, "this was my copy of Rimbaud when I was in college. I hope you find the beauty in the words as I once did." And with a flourish, the professor inscribes, "Find the beauty" and hands it off. Thus, the game of seduction has begun.
So the professor could have a box full of poetry books and each term could put one out the window to age it and then scribble some notations in the margins like "Yes!" and "Love!" and "Professors make better lovers!"
But what about today? How does that dance of love begin with our new ereaders?
The professor says, "Let me see your iPad so I can send you a copy of my favorite book of poetry."
But that's where the similarity ends:
"Let me just open that app. And now I'll access the online store. I'm finding the book. Let me just sign into my account through PayPal. And I'm downloading the book. Now, let's open the app to transfer the book to your iPad and I'll agree to the terms of service stating that this is a gift since your iPad isn't registered to me and there can only be one copy on any device at a time. And I'm installing the security patch. And the transfer application. Now you need to agree on your iPad to allow me to access it to transfer the file. And now you agree to the terms and uncheck the security to receive the file. And I'm sending the file. And you have it. And now I'll delete the copy from my iPad. And there you are. I hope this helps you to find the beauty in your life."Not so sexy now.
