Thursday Take Off: Kindles- to buy or not to buy?

I am disheartened by the move away from physical books to the popularization of digitalized books.  As an aspiring  writer who grew up in the rise of the digital age, books (real books) are among the few items that force me to pry myself away from the glow of the computer screen.  As everything else is moving toward the digital world, I am reluctant to join in on the digital world of novels.

With that said, I understand that there are positives and negatives to every decision.  Hence, the big question for the modern college student–to kindle or not to kindle?

What are the pros and cons to purchasing a kindle?

Pros

1. Convenience: Having a kindle is like having an ipod.  The invention of the ipod pushed the walkman out of popular use.  Rather than carry a case of CD’s around, an ipod allows music lovers to carry their music library in one compact way.  The kindle would work in the same way; rather than carry a bunch of books, the kindle allows you to carry your literary library in one device.

2. Accessibility: Rather than wait for the bookstore to open, you can search and purchase a multitude of titles from your fingertips.  Instant digital access to books is extremely valuable for students who may not have time to go to the bookstore.

Cons

1. Unreliable: A kindle, like every other electronic device, is not guaranteed to last.  A physical book will never be lost in  the case of a digital death.  How many times have you lost your music library because your laptop malfunctioned?  Personally, I have lost my music library twice.

2. Changes the reading experience: While we read many articles, blogs, stories, news on line, digitalizing books seems to be one of the last few steps in digitalizing our entire literary world.  I believe there is something magical about physically turning a page–a connection with words that could not be simulated with a kindle.

3. Accessibility: Not everyone will have the means to purchase a kindle.  The beautiful thing about books is the fact that there is an entire public system of libraries that allows people to borrow books for free.  There is no such system associated with the kindle.  While a kindle makes it easy to purchase a book from your home, it does not offer a solution for public access to knowledge.

To kindle or not to kindle?  You tell me.

An interviewer once asked author Ray Bradbury: “What do you think of e-books and Amazon’s Kindle?”

To which Bradbury answered: “Those aren’t books.  You can’t hold a computer in your hand like you can a book.  A computer does not smell.  There are two perfumes to books.  If a book is new, it smells great.  If a book is old, it smells even better.  It smells like ancient Egypt.  A books has got to smell.  You have to hold it in your hands and pray to it.  You put it in your pocket and you walk with it.  And it stays with you forever.  But the computer doesn’t do that for you.  I’m sorry.”

OR

Post Submitted By: Layhannara Tep

Short Essay: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen: How Malcolm Gladwell’s Trio Explains the Law of the Few

An essay in response to The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

In the book The Tipping Point, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell discusses “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point” or what he likes to call the tipping point.  In Chapter 2, Gladwell introduces “The Law of the Few”, which states that “the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.”  According to Gladwell, it is because of these peculiar people that we have experienced successful social epidemics such as the rise in popularity of Hush Puppies—TOMS might be a more relevant trend—and even the rise of Colonial America against the British during the late 1700s.  He calls such people connectors, mavens, and salesmen.

Connectors, mavens, and salesmen are unique in that they possess certain qualities and characteristics that are difficult to find in the general population.  In this chapter, Gladwell first describes connectors, or “people with a special gift for bringing the world together.”  Connectors essentially have many connections and are part social networks that consist of well over one hundred people.  However, it’s not helpful at all to a connector if those one hundred people belonged to the same area of interest or expertise.  Instead a connector is a jack-of-all-trades type who has connections in all sorts of places, such as business, movies, politics, science, etc.  Mavens are different in that they are the “information specialists”.  Their extensive accumulation of knowledge, especially that of the marketplace, helps connect us with new information.  They begin “word-of-mouth” epidemics because they cannot help but share the knowledge they possess.  Gladwell then introduces the salesmen, or the “persuaders”.  Salesmen, simply put, sell the idea or product.  A salesman possesses charismatic qualities that make it very hard for his or her audience to walk away unconvinced.  Put these three together and one has the recipe for flawless marketing.

For the most part, Malcolm Gladwell’s logic makes sense.  If a person aims to fuel a new fashion trend or to grab attention for a new website, he or she should target a specific audience.  That audience should include the person’s most influential friends because we can assume that their credibility as a connector, maven, or salesmen will help grab the attention of their numerous connections.  By doing so, the potential social epidemic will most likely reach a tipping point.  But do these connectors, mavens, and salesmen exist?

They probably do, but it would be difficult to believe that the success of all social epidemics should be attributed solely to this distinctive trio.  Take, for instance, YouTube channels.  Having a successful YouTube channel or video stems from a variety of factors ranging from “word-of-mouth” advertising to just getting featured on YouTube’s homepage.  With that said, the popularity of one’s YouTube channel is not exclusively due to the YouTuber’s friendship with a connector or a maven or a salesman.  Many times, the success of a video or channel is due to the YouTuber’s innovation.  For example, in July 2006, YouTube sensation Michelle Phan began filming and producing tutorials and reviews on make-up and since then has accumulated over 1.2 million subscribers and over 65 million channel views.  Michelle was a pioneer in her field—cosmetics—and provided viewers videos that no one else had produced before.  Typing the words “make-up” into YouTube’s search engine led viewers to her videos specifically because there were little others out there.  Perhaps connectors, mavens, or salesmen helped her along the way, but rarely do you ever come across someone spewing information about make-up (a maven) or persuading you to watch a specific YouTube channel (a salesman).  Michelle’s YouTube channel’s tipping point probably came about on its own accord.

 

 

However, Gladwell’s Law of the Few would in no way hurt a person or a company’s marketing goals.  Being a pioneer in a certain area or field gets you only so far, after all, and economists and business leaders have already founded a similar idea: the 80-20 rule.  Therefore, Chapter 2 of Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point provides valuable insight into how one may succeed or fail at marketing.  It also forces readers to reassess and examine their own social networks and ask who among their friends are connectors, mavens, and salesmen.  None would truly describe myself to be honest, though with age and experience, it is very much probable that anyone can claim one, two, or all of those titles.

Post submitted by: Crystal Maranan

American Cultural Literacy: “A house divided against itself cannot stand”

“A house divided against itself cannot stand”

IDIOM

Everyone involved must unify and function together or it will not work out.

Daily Word: incinerate

incinerate
–verb
destroy (something, esp. waste material) by burning : such garbage must be incinerated at the hospital.

SYNONYMS: burn, reduce to ashes, consume by fire, carbonize