Does James Cameron Hold No Hope for Humanity?

Before I begin, I have to state that I thoroughly enjoyed James Cameron's "Avatar." Still there were some things about the movie that bothered me. I recently posted my thoughts on the 2D version versus the 3D version that you can read here.

Nothing's Changed in 300 Years?
I, for one, would like to believe that we would have come much farther than how Cameron depicts us in his film. The year is 2154, but the corporation that is mining for unobtainium on Pandora acts pretty much like those who built the railroad or mined or staked claims on land long since occupied by Native Americans.

Today, such abhorrent activity would be staunchly opposed and blocked by activists. I see this as us evolving our cultural ethics as a whole. If in 150 years we've regressed to acting like our ancestors who lived 150 years ago, our future looks truly bleak.

In 2154, I highly doubt that we would behave in the manner in which Cameron depicts. And don't even get me started on the Marine mentality that is portrayed in this movie.

Nothing's Changed in 150 Years?
Something I disliked even more was how Cameron's team spent not one ounce of energy in updating or "futurizing" the products of our culture, aside from some of the technologies:

• Clothes - Every item of clothing that the humans wear on Pandora is taken directly from our present day.
• Hair styles - Every haircut is typical of the characters they belong to as they exist today.
• Lingo - The military speak flat out ate at my every nerve. The lingo each generation of soldier uses changes. Any one of the lines that the marines in this movie spewed could be stripped out of any number of current military-based films.
• Attitudes - From the golfball-putting corporate lack of concern to the scientists berating the mercenaries' lack of intelligence, the same divisiveness that exists between these sectors is firmly in place in "Avatar."
• Technology - I'm not completely up-to-date on current military technologies, but most of the gear that the mercenaries don is taken straight out of our current military attire.

Cameron's Attempt to Avoid Alienation
One of the largest criticisms of sci-fi movies is how producers tend to don their characters in "futuristic" attire. The clothes come off as hoakey to most and often keep people from engaging the story.

The recently revisited "Battlestar Galactica" television series changed this long-running paradigm. At first, the way that so much of the attire and technologies matched those I could find in my own world held me back from appreciating the story. But, that's because I'm a major sci-fi fan who has come to expect producers to be more creative than that.

Over time, the lack of creativity on the BSG wardrobe department stopped bothering me, as the story drew me in. It also drew in many fans that wouldn't have existed, including a council of the United Nations. The lack of overly sci-fi elements like wardrobe, allowed the usually non-sci-fi set to more readily accept and appreciate the story.

Perhaps, James Cameron took a queue from the producers of BSG.

Avatar – 2D vs. 3D

Yesterday (6 February 2010), I finally broke down and spent the extra dollars and time to travel 3 towns over to watch the Real 3D version of James Cameron's "Avatar."

I thought that after two months in theaters that choosing to attend an 11:55 AM viewing would afford a relatively empty theater. Whenever a new hit movie comes out, I purposely avoid watching the film for a few weeks. Packed movie houses are no fun for me.

My sons and I arrived a full ½ hour early, only to step up to a long ticket line. After buying our tickets shortly before the show sold out, I surveyed the audience. Most of those in line and the audience did not look like the typical sci-fi going set.

I considered that the recently announced Oscar nominations were directly responsible for this resurgence in attendance. The confused look and desperate scrambling of the staff seemed to verify my suspicions.

As we walked into the theater, I was immediately discouraged to see that the only available seats were near the bottom. I considered asking for a refund and waiting another month but decided to tough it out.

With our Real 3D glasses in place, we were ready to see if the technology lived up to the hype.

Before I begin my review of the technology, two things:

• I already viewed the 2D version when it first came out. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I didn't find it really offered anything unique or revolutionary to the sci-fi genre. Overall, I thought the dialogue was downright cliché and that world and creatures of Pandora still looked too animated for me to completely suspend disbelief.
• I strongly believe that "Avatar" would have been all but ignored by the Academy had it not been produced by one of their darlings - James Cameron.

The First Ten Minutes Were the Most Painful
If I included the 3D movie trailers, this subheading should read "The First Fifteen Minutes." As I donned my glasses, my eyes went buggy. Instead of a clearly focused 3D experience, I felt immediate strain on my eyes and the images were in double vision around the periphery. It took about ten minutes into the movie before the double vision went away, but the eye strain remained.

Space Scenes Weren't Any More Impressive
As Jake Sully emerges from stasis, a few drops of condensation coalesce before my eyes. The stasis chamber was quite a 3D extravaganza (but my eyes still hadn't fully acclimated to the glasses).

The camera then pans out to reveal the ship on which Jake is traveling and Pandora with all its accompanying planets and moons. This was my first moment of feeling letdown by the hype. The entire space scene lacked any extra depth. It looked exactly the same as the 2D version.

Errors Were More Obvious in 3D
There were several incidences when I noticed glaring errors in the 3D version that I hadn't noticed in the 2D version. Most obvious is when a character's hand will move straight through another object, like the floating seed pods or plants.

Also a bit too obvious was the absence of movement of some plant life when others moved. For example, as Jake and Netiriyi are talking while walking on one of those mammoth tree limbs, the leaves are blowing in the breeze. The ferns and other vegetation near their feet, however, stand still.

The Loss of Scale
When the Omiticayan shaman fails to successfully transfer Grace's soul into her avatar, Jake's avatar holds the deceased doctor's hand. The Na'vi are a giant people, so Grace's hand looks like a toddler's when Jake holds it. Later in the movie, Netiriyi holds Jake's human body and he reaches up to touch her face. The difference between their hand sizes reduces greatly, his hand looking only slightly smaller than hers.

The Errors Were Forgivable
The thing that makes Cameron's attempt at improving the 3D experience is that the technicians put much more effort into how much detail they provided. Unlike the 3D experience of yesteryear that favored obvious objects (like traveling bullets and pointing fingers), Cameron's team gave most all objects the 3D treatment.

The amount of effort involved to pull this off is intense and costly, so I can forgive Cameron for the minor technical errors.

The Little Things Were the Most Impressive
I had anticipated much more focus on the objects used in the battle scenes. On that front, I was mildly unimpressed. The little things, though, were the best. In particular, rain drops, ash from fires and the floating seed pods were by far the most realistic, the most 3D. Several times, I wanted to brush away the ash cinders.

Real 3D Is Just One Step Closer to True 3D
Overall, the Real 3D technology is an improvement to the red-and-blue 3D that preceded it. However, it still missed the mark for me.

The strain on my eyes was even more pronounced than when I watch a red-and-blue format. In fact, one day later, my eyes are still sore. My sons didn't report any such strain, though, so it might just be me.

When it comes down to it, I don't think I'll ever truly be impressed by 3D technology until it no longer requires the use of special lenses. Only when holographic technologies have been perfected will 3D movies come to fully satisfy me. Although Real 3D is a cool experience, it is merely one more step toward a True 3D experience.

Overall, I feel that the 3D version of "Avatar" is more of a ticket price-raising gimmick. I do not feel the same as all my friends who stated that something must be lost in the 2D version. When it comes down to it, a movie's story must drive you, not the technology used to present it.

Would I recommend the 3D version over the 2D version? Sure, why not? It will only be in theaters for so long, so why not check it out and see if it lives up to the hype for yourself?

Farewell, Bob Parlocha

My heart is pittering between ache and joy. JPR's Rhythm and News made a major switch in their programming. Deadheads in the State of Jefferson are likely to lament the loss of the Grateful Dead Hour with David Gans. Something tells me, though, they will be quite content to have Keller Williams' Keller's Cellar take its place. (I know I enjoy it.)

Far more devastating to me, however, is the loss of "Late Night Jazz with Bob Parlocha."

Bob's voice moved me through many a long night. He has been with me as long as I've lived in the Rogue Valley. I bottle fed both my sons listening to Bob.

Bob's custom JPR commercials marked the passing of every hour, letting me know how much time I had left that night with that killer jazz that sets the mood, paces my pulse, and drove whatever I was doing with each reedy sigh, with each snare whisper, with each wailing trumpet. I'll miss you, Bob.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On the flip side, there's no more Echoes with David DeLomberto either. This all means that the current show which airs for five hours and is followed by an hour of World Cafe with David Dye equals a dream come true. The closest thing to Open Air at night we're likely to ever get.

In the long term, I'd definitely say that JPR made the right choice. The fact is most people probably found the old schedule of 2 hours of Echoes followed by 4 hours of Late Night Jazz a little sleepy. In order to attract a greater and more sustainable listener base, it most likely behooved JPR to make this bold programming change.

Locals Don't Always Know Best

"Best" is one of those loaded words. It gets thrown around by most in advertising and the media as if it has a tangible and measurable value. The truth is that "best" is nothing more than a word used to define an individual's preference.

Somehow, I recently started to receive newsletters from a "local" publication. In one of these newsletters, the publisher detailed an encounter he and his wife had with some tourists. As they sat eating outside a recently opened sushi joint, some tourists walked by and stopped to ask if the food was any good. The publisher's wife gave them a "meh" response.

The publisher was surprised that his wife would give them this response. She, rightfully, felt no shame over the response. It was, after all, her opinion (even though she said, "What? I wouldn't want to lie to them). Yet, somehow from his wife's response, he made an incredulous leap in logic: The scenario proved that locals know best.

Do Locals Know Best?
When it comes to little known gems of entertainment, recreation and even dining, yes!

In fact, some locals know better than others. Even locals could learn more by talking with their neighbors. You never know what jewel you have yet to discover right in your backyard.

When it comes to dining, however, locals most definitely do not know best. They only know what they like. Take the publisher's wife. I got to know her well enough at one time to know she would never presume to know "best," just what she personally considers best.

Having been raised in the Bay Area, she was privy to a whole bevy of authentic ethnic cuisine. For her, the bar was set higher than most locals around here. I remember her consistently saying that the Rogue Valley doesn't really have many good restaurants at all, and when it comes to any type of Pan-Asian fare, there's nothing worth shouting about.

In essence, no restaurant in town would get much more than an okay rating from her. So, as those tourists walked on to find a different and better restaurant, they did so based on one woman's opinion, not on a local's opinion. After all, her rating of the restaurant was based on her experience of restaurants that are hundreds of miles away.

Sometimes the Locals' Best Are Traditions
While on vacation and seeing family in Alaska a couple summers ago, we had a final breakfast out at a place in Eagle River. I believe it was called "The North Slope." This restaurant had a cool feel to it, especially the fun gold-rush facades they put up on the outside of the building.

My family members were a bit hesitant to go to the restaurant, but decided that we should have the experience at least. It was, after all, the local's favorite.

While waiting for our food, my family members explained how they used to have breakfast there almost every Sunday. Then ownership switched hands and things started to go down hill. In fact, they hadn't eaten there in almost a year. But, the restaurant was viewed as a must-eat for tradition sake.

After receiving our bountiful meals, I could see why they stopped eating there. The gravy was tasteless and had the consistency of paste. The pancakes weren't cooked all the way through. The toast was hard as a rock, and the eggs were slimy, like something found in a Vegas breakfast that goes for 99 cents.

So in the case of The North Slope restaurant, locals certainly didn't know best. They just treated it as best because it was traditional to go to that particular restaurant.

When It Comes to Locals, Ask the Right Questions
Just because someone is local, it doesn't mean they know your tastes. Asking a local if a restaurant is any good only opens the door for the local's opinion. Instead of "is the food any good here," ask these questions:

• Is the food prepared to order, or do they pre-make most of their dishes?
• How's the value?
• What's the quality of the food? Is it traditional or mainstream?
• How long did you have to wait for your food?
• What's your favorite dish here?
• What would you recommend?
• How attentive/friendly are the servers?
  

And if you receive a negative review from the local, ask them why they're eating there. This may require talking to the local a little more and teasing out their tastes.

If the local explains that they don't like, for example, that the sushi is made with white rice and they prefer it with brown rice when you prefer your sushi with white, then you know that the local's opinion doesn't match your own.

You could also ask the local if they can recommend a better place to eat.

If the local starts telling you how much they like such and such restaurant because of the cous-cous and arugula salad they serve and you detest that type of food, then you know that that local's advice can be ignored.

After all, your idea of best may be on the complete opposite end of the quality spectrum than the local your asking.

Decembrists to Receive Award for Most Pretentious Band of 2009

With their recent concept album "Hazards of Love" flying off virtual shelves, Portland-based band The Decemberists are quickly on their way to mainstream heights.

Many factors have spurred them onto such widespread acceptance, but the Society for True Talent has dealt a potentially devastating blow to the band. The STT recently released their list of nominations for various awards they give out at the end of June of each year. Topping the "Most Pretentious" list is none other than The Decemberists.

The Chairman for the STT says, "There a whole ton of reasons we nominated them for this award. Most namely is the way they try to craft their lyrics in ways that would really only appeal to Brit Lit college majors."

The title track to "Hazards of Love" contains perhaps the most notable example of how The Decemberists write these type of hyped up lyrics. Take this line for example:

The prettiest whistles won't wrestle, the thistles undone

"The whole idea of this maiden in green tromping through the woods seeking her true love is best left to Arthurian Legend," says an anonymous member of the nomination board.

Other reasons cited by the STT point more to their attitude than their musical ability. Here are some of the reasons submitted by nominee members:

• "Colin Meloy sings in that asynine pop-punk voice made popular back in the 1990s by Green Day. That pseudo-British accent just grates on me, and let's face it, British doesn't equal classier these days."
• "They're from Portland, Oregon, but their lyrics reflect an obvious pining to have come from Portland, Maine. Classic of bands who feel like the town that made them popular is a sh--hole."
• "They dress like a bunch of hipster doofuses."

To date, The Decembrists have received the most nominations for "Most Pretentious Band of 2009." That doesn't mean they have the award all tied up. There's still two months to go before the nomination period closes.

A Fair & Balanced Pro-Mac Article &mdash Finally!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know I have no great love of all things Apple.

I've used both Windows and Mac operating systems. At one time, Mac was about the only thing I used. My experience in both worlds is enough to know what I like and don't like. Macs certainly have some good things about them; the look of the OSX, in particular, is very pretty and fun. But it takes more than looks to impress me.

Now, in comparison to the disaster that is Windows Vista, Macs are much more appealing. But, I'd still choose my XP OS over a Mac OS any day of the week. Why? It meets my needs so much better than a Mac.

And that's the beauty of the article the folks at Smashing Magazine recently published:

Five Reasons Why Designers Developers are Switching to Mac

Not only do they point out why Macs are great, they also point out what make them not-so-great. Here are some of the points they raise that illustrate my frustration with those who indefatigably hold Macs up on a pedestal.

• No second mouse button (I hate, hate, hate that Macs don't come with a right click button. It's special order. I know they want simplicity, but what's more simple? Clicking the right click button or holding CTRL while clicking the single click button?)
  
• "When pressured to explain why they prefer OSX, Mac users often rest on qualifiable and subjective arguments such as 'it feels intuitive' or 'I enjoy using it more' or even 'I can’t explain why I like it better, I just do.' The Windows user, when presented with these arguments, usually rolls his or her eyes and continues on their way." (This is me, the eye roller.)
• "If you are on a Mac, at least for the next few more years, you can pretty much rest assured your days of worrying about virus and spyware scans are a thing of the past." (Note the "at least for the next few more years." The less the gap in percentage of Mac vs. Windows users, the more likely Macs will no longer be so safe. I've been predicting this for a couple years now. Don't be surprised if in a few years, a whole batch of unsuspecting Apple products are hit hard by some dubious hacker.)
• "OS X is more opinionated than other platforms. It’s more difficult to customize its look and feel, there’s no easy way to get it to run on anything but Apple hardware, and OS X can be very particular about the way certain things are done." (So much for how "intuitive" or personal the system can be. According to the article, you can configure your Mac as you want, but it takes a lot of work to do so, far more than Linux or Windows.)
• "Apple notebooks are free of stickers, screws, vents, buttons, switches, and graphics." (Sorry, but this an extremely weak argument for why Macs are better. Any stickers or logos on my Dell never distract me, ever! If that kind of stuff distracts you, you might want to see a shrink, or at least learn a little focus for crying out loud.)
• "For those of you who value a product that gives you many choices, Apple is going to fall short. It is often pointed out that upgrading a Mac is easy: 'Just throw it away and buy a new one.'" (This falls into another point they make that says if you like to build your own PC, Apple will not do for you. I've upgraded every computer I've ever owned and it's so simple to do. Try to do that with a Mac.)
• Macs are expensive. (When it comes down to hardware, there is little to nothing that gives Macs an edge over any Windows-operating PC. Apple has merely refused to offer a competitive rate for their products because it would slim their profits too much. [And they call Bill Gates an evil capitalist.] This only feeds the image I have of Apple products as "elitist." I equate someone who has only basic computing needs buying a Mac to the person who buys $120 running shoes when a $40 pair would do just as well.)
  

And my favorite quote that sums up my feeling toward the Mac vs. PC debate:

"Mac is certainly not an option for every user, but it is definitely an option worth considering"

Anymore, it all comes down to a matter of personal preference.

Of course, I've highlighted only the negative points about Macs here. That's just because I'm so not-Mac-friendly. If you are considering switching to a Mac, you should definitely read Smashing Mag's article and see if a Mac truly is for you. They offer some compelling points.

One final point I'd like to add, thanks to Microsoft's affordable systems many people in the world are computing - no matter what the OS. Had Apple cornered the market years ago and maintained their high rates, computing would most likely remain the domain of the elite.

Kudos to Smashing Magazine (an obvious pro-Mac design group) for presenting the most balanced review of "Why go Mac" that I've ever read.

200 Gather to Play "Oye Como Va"

What: Second Annual Ashland Schools Combined Band Concert
Who: Ashland Middle School, Ashland High School, Southern Oregon University bands
When: 7:30 PM 12 February 2009
Where: SOU Music Hall

Over 200 musicians gathered to play a HUGE band version of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va." Most of you probably know the Santana's version better, but there was something particularly magical about this performance.

During the concert, the Ashland Middle School, Ashland High School and Southern Oregon University bands took turns playing solo and with each other.

The Ashland Middle School band always impresses the audience. Here are a group of seventh and eighth grade kids who can effectively lull us with a rendition of "Wildflowers" then follow it up with a roaring "Phantom of Dark Hollow."

As the Ashland High School band joined AMS , the high school teacher conducted an ambitious piece of the fun off-tempo "Contraption." With less than 45 minutes of practice, they pulled off the piece nicely.

This reporter admits to a bias toward the AMS band, so I just brush past the technically correct, but not as thrilling SOU performance. Their rendetion of "From the Delta" started out sounding reminiscent of the 40's big band jazz, but eventually faded off into a more classical music sound by the "Spiritual" segment began.

The most thrilling part of the concert came as an encore. The program already broadcast the song choice as "Oye Como Va" to be performed by all three schools at once. As each band grouped up in various combinations throughout the concert, it was obvious that not all the musicians from all three schools were going to fit on the stage.

Suddenly, those of us in the less acoustic lower section of seating were treated to something truly special. All the trombones, French horns, and trumpets lined the center aisle behind us. As they blasted out the song from both front and back, the notes of wind, brass and percussion clashed and laced above our heads. It was a one-of-a-kind experience.

Three notes of trivia:

• The Ashland High School band teacher said that they were pretty sure "Oye Como Va" has never been performed by this big of a band before.
  
• Two fellows in there early 60's joined the bands, especially spiffed up in their tuxes. Both stood next to my 'bone playin' older son, and one told him that he was at the concert where Santana first performed "Oye Como Va."
• Somewhat related, the trombone player in Santana's "Smooth" (feat. Rob Thomas) is an Ashland High School graduate.

You can listen to the full song here.

Searchme.com Assessment — Addendum Stacks

In my assessment of searchme.com's use as a search engine, I completely overlooked one of the most innovative aspects of their site... Stacks!

Instead of trying to explain what stacks are and how to use them, I refer you to their information page about stacks. Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to watch the video. To check out the stack info page, click here.

Here's the "Rogue Writers" stack I created while testing out the stack feature.

Searchme

Maximize stack view

Also, a bit thanks to the folks at Searchme.com for taking note of my assessment.

Searchme.com Assessment — Part IV Conclusion

The following is the fourth and final part of my searchme.com assessment, a distinctly different search engine.

As someone with the right hard/software, I absolutely love searchme.com. The presentation of screenshots, embedded videos, and images in a rolodex style makes for a truly unique searching experience.

Site Screenshots Rock!
In particular, I enjoy seeing screenshots of sites before I visit them. This is a feature I’ve always wanted in a search engine. How often have you Googled a site, the details seem right, but when you visit the site, it’s crap or spam? The downside I see to this feature is that the screenshots work best for sites with less-frequent updates. Blogs might not serve up the most accurate screenshots. Which raises my next concern…

Blogs Rank Low
Very few, if any blogs appear in searchme.com’s results. Perhaps this is part of their approval policy. Blogs change so frequently that their authority is questionable. Google used to prefer static pages, taking the tack that sites that have been around for awhile with no updates and are linked to constitute authoritative sites. Whatever the case, bloggers of all types will probably not run to promote searchme.com, as we are the ugly stepchildren.

Questionable Ethics of Site Reviews
As mentioned in my first post, searchme.com employs a human-review process for all sites submitted to their list of available sites. Although I like that this removes the possibility of bots tricking the system, this raises some ethical concerns for me:

1. What are the criteria for “quality”?
You can spot spam and scams easily enough, but what about sites that offer quality information that is chockfull of typos. A curmudgeon would oust it immediately. But just because an author offers info written in text message format doesn’t mean the info is wrong or not quality. Then there’s the web design aspect. Do all the sites accepted by searchme.com have to adhere to a modern design, dumping any pages created with, say, the lackluster GeoCities software?

2. Where does this leave “adult” sites?
This question has plagued every search engine or social network since they became popular. Filters help in the acceptance of adult sites that don’t violate the more intensely illegal forms of pornography like pedophilia or bestiality sites. But, what of those sites that walk the line? Who makes the call?

3. Do the “giants” automatically get ranked higher?
I know that searchme.com is just getting started. Of course, they would opt to fill their search results with images from the ever-popular Flickr, YouTube, and Wikipedia. But, will searchme.com create an algorithm that produces organic search results that account for other sites besides the giants?

Overall, I give searchme.com highest marks and look forward to seeing how they progress over the next couple years. Check them out!

Searchme.com Assessment — Part III Image Search

The following is Part III of my searchme.com assessment, a distinctly different search engine.

Users of mid-1990’s computers or those on phone modems might not appreciate the presentation of images on searchme.com, but it’s pretty awesome. You get a browsing experience not unlike that of an iPhone.

The images are stacked in previous and next word in a fashion that resembles a rolodex. Depending on your screen resolution, you can go straight to the fifth picture to come.

Information related to each image is much more accessible to the layperson than Google. When you want to read the information, you can hover over the bottom portion of the image and an info block will rise to the occasion… literally. I didn’t try out the different screen resolution, so I can’t attest for the larger character version.

Instead of numbers, searchme uses a scale. I wonder if this will turn out to be such a good idea for once they become huge. They do, however, review all sites submitted. So unlike Google, they’ve taken a Mahalo.com approach of using humans to review sites.

The only downside with searchme.com image search is that nearly all the images are from flickr.com. The shots are great, but I want more sources. They do state that they’re just getting started, so I’m sure it will get better over time.

Check out the searchme.com Image Search tool and let me know what you think.

Searchme.com Assessment — Part II Video Search

The following is Part II of my searchme.com assessment, a distinctly different search engine.

Without ever having to visit the site where the video is hosted, you can watch the videos you are searching for right from searchme.com’s rolodex style display. The site is set to automatically play each video as you click on it.

If you don’t like that arrangement, you can set the “preferences” to just display the static screenshot. This way of displaying videos really rocks, but would probably infuriate those with older software that is easily bogged down by multimedia.

The only downside right now is that every video I saw was from YouTube. Although the leader, YouTube is definitely not the only video sharing site out there. Give searchme.com some time though, they’re just getting started.

Check out searchme.com’s video search, then let me know what you think.

Searchme.com Assessment - Part I Web Search

The following is Part I of my searchme.com assessment, a distinctly different search engine.

searchme.com is definitely an amazing way to search the web. Anyone using an old dial-up modem or some software from the Nineties might not have a good time with this search engine, but the presentation is awesome.

Instead of a list of links, you get a pretty nice size shot of the website. No more wondering what you’ll get when you hit the link — you see the site!

Each word of your search query is circled in its own color. When you move your cursor, the info pops up from the bottom of the block.

As for the results details… well, talk about “distinctly different.” searchme.com clearly states the source and the topic (ex. City of Los Angeles, California – Sunset Blvd), the first few lines of the page’s content, and lastly, the URL.

This is truly a new web search experience, that I think I might just like. Check out searchme.com and let me know what you think.

Lucinda Williams — Country Meets California

I've always loved Lucinda Williams. There's something about the sound of her voice that scratches me in just the right places. Until listening to her song "Righteously" I was unable to put my finger on her style.

She certainly has a strong rock-and-blues sound, with just enough country twang to spice the sound but not bog it down. Yet there's something else swimming around in her voice that I just couldn't peg.
Then it struck me like a spaghetti bowl of log-jammed cars. California! More precisely, the Valley Girl sound. There's a slight sassiness and confidence you only get from the girls of Orange County rolling around in Lucinda's delivery.

If you love Lucinda for her assumed southern roots, no worries. She was born in Louisiana.

For those of you unfamiliar with Lucinda Williams, here's the song that made me draw the Country/California connection:

Righteously, Lucinda Wiliams (Audio Only) — YouTube

Review of the Amazon Kindle

Amazon offers a wireless reader device that they call the Amazon Kindle. This device can download books from Amazon and newspapers/ magazines for reading in under a minute. It weighs a mere 10.3 ounces, which is less than most paperbacks. Supposedly, it has a screen that looks like paper, instead of a computer monitor. It sells for $359.

Now, for the controversy...

The Self-publishing Conspiracy
Earlier this year, Amazon decided to only allow self-published books that use their self-publishing / print-on-demand service, BookSurge, to be sold on the site. (Click here to "sign" a petition to block this move by Amazon.) This, of course, was a major blow to the huge variety of self-publishing services out there. After learning about their reading device, I'm now certain that the Kindle may have had some heavy influence on the decision. It may be less malevolent than appears on the surface though.

Maybe Amazon was more concerned that all the digital books they offer are compatible with the Kindle. You don't have this assurance when using multiple third-party offerings. Yet, I can't shake the suspicion that Amazon's decision is much more profit-oriented. After all, the average price they tout for books is "as little as $9.95." If you've ever shopped for books on Amazon, you know that this price is bit higher than the much lower average.

A Boost to Newspaper Sales?
On the news front, though, perhaps the Kindle may just revive the newsprint industry. The Kindle can subscribe to major newspapers, having your "paper delivered before you wake." In theory, this could prove a major shot in the arm for the newsprint industry, which continues to report plummeting profits, subscriptions, and ad sales. Certainly, material costs are removed with going digital, but news sites without RSS feeds and pay-to-read fees have witnessed drops in their readership also.

So, although this might work in theory, the fact is that people consume their news much differently these days. Those likely to subscribe to "The New York Times" already are not likely to flock to a digital reader, and those who are even remotely tech savvy know how to get their news for free.

Wikipedia Reigns Supreme
And for all you Wikipedia haters out there, the Kindle promises "free wireless connection to Wikipedia." Do you need the controversial nature of this spelled out? Due to the nature of how Wikipedia knowledge is established, via user-contributions, this is sure to stab at the heart of the academic or literati who have dubbed the fluid online encyclopedia "Crapapedia."

I won't debate the qualities and pitfalls of Wikipedia here, but the fact that the world's largest bookseller has included Wikipedia as THE source of reference material is sure to receive some heavy criticism.

The Kindle's Lack-Luster Look
Okay, I'm not sure how well the look of this device will go over with hardcore readers. Despite Amazon's claim that the screen has the look of paper, it is still one flat screen with no pages to fiddle with. It looks like little more than a PalmPilot or Blackberry.

Based on the video that I saw of it in action, the Kindle has chosen to display everything in black and white. Hey, Amazon! It takes more than displaying something monochromatically or choosing to use Times New Roman to make something appear more like printed material. Newspapers don't print in black-and-white because they prefer it; they print black-and-white because of cost. Give the pages some color, for crying out loud. I could, however, see how Trekkies would love this device.

How I Rate the Kindle
Without having used the Kindle, I can't speak first hand for its functionality. However, based on the video I watched, the Kindle is destined never to take off fully. It fails in gapping the tactile difference between printed books and digital ones. The pricing is not competitive with standard Amazon book prices. The lack of color is an unnecessary limitation on a device with so much more potential.

Looking from the outside-in, I give the Kindle a mere 2 out of 5 stars.

Some Questions for Kindle Users

• Have you used the Kindle?
• If so, how would you rate it?
• What merits have I neglected to see in this potentially progressive tool?