The Times Are Changin’
Just another sign that the times are changing. I have plenty of books. But today my wife needed to stop at Pier One to search for her drapes. She dropped me off at the book store.
I walked in, looking only for a magazine, I swear! I already own a 4 star biography of Madison. It is three back in my queue. So, no need to buy The Quartet. I sent the photo of the cover to my Jefferson lover friends, Joe and David, as he wasn’t included in The Quartet.
BUT, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson is different. A modern (as opposed to classic) science fiction “end of the world” novel. I picked it up. It is $35! Even with 10% discount, too much! Who could resist? So, I photographed the cover and looked it up in Amazon. $15.95.
Soon I owned, it via a “one click order” to my Kindle. Turns out it was two clicks, as I was given the option for $3.95 to have unabridged audio-narration. Ten minutes later we are listening to a riveting story, beginning with the explosion of the earth’s moon! I won’t spoil it with any more detail, but it was a quick two hour drive home.
I stayed awake and alert. On the way to our destination, it was a streamed T.E.D. talk podcast on the importance of oral histories, and Diane Rheem, CNN, and sports on Sirius Radio. Not one minute was commercial radio, which I am snobbish enough to say is a cultural wasteland. It won’t be long since we won’t need “real-time” radio except for news and sports.
Is Nancy (my wife) pleased with this development? I hope so. You can ask her. We try to collaborate and negotiate our listening and viewing habits, although science fiction is a stretch. I am glad I found Insterstellar. Now I have found an author in the tradition of the classic authors, with “cyber” insights.
Of course, I also have The Teaching Company, Lynda.com, and Udemy.com courses and YouTube tutorials. The knowledge and the wisdom of the world is instantly available! Google, Wikipedia, Siri, Garmin Girl., technology, literature, philosophy, history, biography, science and……………..there are still 30 books on the bedside tab. So much to learn, and so little time! jbh
This post was written by Burton Hunter