E-Books and Libraries? A [Mostly] Good Idea

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Loyal reader Dave pointed out this news item about the Sony reader being used for library books: People who have one of the readers and a library card will be able to "check out" a copy of the book and read it on their device. He wonders what I think about it.

My reaction: Great idea! Libraries are feeling the hit from the financial crisis. Indeed, they're being hit with a double whammy: Their own budgets are being cut (because, for example, sales and property taxes used to fund libraries are down) even as the public flocks to libraries in record numbers (because they're checking books and dvds instead of buying them).

So my guess is that this would allow libraries to provide a service at a low cost.

My question is this: at what point will e-books be inexpensive enough so that people will buy them instead of "borrowing" them from a library? As a writer, I hope that sweet spot shows up sooner rather than later: I only earn money from books when someone buys them. The more books people buy, the more money I earn. A library purchase, of course, is a one-time event: the library buys the book, and thousands read it for free.

Don't get me wrong: I'm a serious fan and supporter of libraries. Have been all my life.

But I gotta say that the British system sounds good to me: writers there earn a bit of money every time someone checks out their books.

BUT: the best part of this news item is that Sony would also partner with Google and make its collection of digitized books available as well. That's GREAT news. As it stands now, the agreement Google has hammered out will provide for access to that digital collection at only one computer terminal per library. Not good. Not good at all. (I'm simplifying part of a very complex agreement, but that's the gist of the relevant part of it.)

So: Sony, have at it. If this actually pans out, I'd even (finally) spend money on one of these e-readers, if only so I could get access to the Google books.

The Politics of Food and the Historian's Work: When the Twain Shall Meet, Part 1 (*1)

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Part One --- Part Two --- Part Three  This three-part rumination is prompted by a comment from Tim Beauchamp, who blogs at Open Fermenter and who I follow on Twitter. (He provides excellent Twitter content, by the way. None of this “I’m at the grocery store now” crap from him!) For some reason, today he complimented me in a tweet and ended with:

She may be the Upton Sinclair Jr. of today. (*2)

I was touched by his sweet words in the rest of his tweet (modesty prevents me from including those), but --- I gotta say something about the “Upton Sinclair” business. (Tim, this is NOT an attack on you. No way, no how.) He inadvertently hit a nerve. And proved a point that I’ve been wanting to comment on:

That the current “food fight” has become so heated, so contentious that people assume that because I’m writing about meat, I must have an agenda.

So, Tim, thanks for prompting me to get busy writing a blog series that I’d been putting off. (The next beer’s on me.)

I’ve mentioned before, I’m writing a history of meat in modern America (c. 1870-1990). I spend most of my days digging through primary materials, hunting for information, trying to figure out “what happened” and then writing about what I learn.

But as part of my research, I’m also learning as much as I can about current agricultural issues, our existing food system, government food policies, and the like. That’s been an eye-opener. I had no idea how politicized these topics were.

Sure, I knew there were recurrent debates over, for example, farm subsidies. Over food tariffs and export quotes. Yes, I knew about the conflict unfolding here in the midwest over land use: Should large feedlots be allowed to exist? What kinds of controls ought to regulate their wastes? How can we reconcile the rights of homeowners with farmers?

I was, however, more-or-less oblivious to the other food fight: The one between the nation’s food producers --- farmers and manufacturers --- and the people who want to dismantle the existing food production system and replace it with one that is more “sustainable” (preferably more “organic”). (*3)

Next: My "agenda" __________

*1: No pun intended. Honest.

*2: Upton Sinclair was a committed socialist whose intent with The Jungle was the reveal the misery of factory working conditions. As he himself said (and I'm paraphrasing), he aimed for the nation's heart and accidentally hit its stomach.

*3: More accurately: I wasn't completely oblivious to the issues or the debate, but I sure didn't know how, um, heated it had become.

In the Kitchen: End of the Month "Mexican" Mess

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Tonight in the kitchen: It's the end of the month, so food's running low in our house. Translation: time to rummage through the cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer to see what I can find. 'Cause I'm sure as hell not going to the grocery store. Here's what I found tonight:

  • can of black beans
  • a lovely summer squash (a friend brought some over the other day)
  • a half jar of salsa
  • red onion
  • a couple of slightly desiccated green peppers
  • garlic
  • some decobbed corn (out of the freezer)
  • some corn tortillas (also in the freezer) and some flour tortillas

I cut quartered the squash horizontally and then sliced those pieces. Minced a quarter cup or so of the red onion. Minced a clove of garlic. Chopped the green pepper. Drained and rinsed the can of beans.

Heated some oil (canola in this case) in a deepish pan. Added the squash and cooked it for six or seven minutes. Added the green pepper; cooked that a few minutes. Ditto the onion. Ditto the garlic. Added the beans, salsa, and corn. Cooked it over medium-low heat for about fifteen  minutes.

Turned the heat off. Covered it; let it sit. In another pan, I heated more oil (maybe a half inch or so in the ten-inch pan). Let it get hot.

While it heated, I cut the tortillas into wedges. When the oil was hot, I added three or four of the wedges at a time. It only takes a few seconds to cook them, so pay heed. T

hat's it. We had dinner tonight; we'll eat the rest of it Friday night. NOTE: Frying tortillas is no big deal, and certainly cheaper (and better tasting) than buying them.

There's only one "trick" to it: the oil must be hot. By hot, I mean turn the heat up high and let the pan sit on the heat for six to seven minutes. Yes, six to seven minutes. That's using gas. Electric might be faster. But test a wedge before you start loading the pan. The wedge should sizzle instantly and it should only take about fifteen seconds to cook. Then use your tongs to flip it to the other side. Cook for about five seconds.

The oil is HOT. You don't want small kids or babies anywhere near it. Okay?

Enjoy!

Drive-by Posting No. 387

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Not really. I mean, yes, this is a drive-by posting. But it's not number 387.

I'm still off on my fishing expedition (ie, writing the new book). (WHY do I keep referring to it in terms of fishing? I've never been fishing in my life.)

Anyway --- slow blogging will continue until such time as I've broken the kneecaps of the current chapter. And waded through the 79 books and 300 articles and all the primary research for this chapter. This would be SO much easier if I didn't have to, ya know, do research. If I could just make up some random facts. But it is what it is, and I'm going back to it now.

By the way: what the hell happened to summer? One minute it was here; the next minute the trees are turning yellow. Sigh.