Book Huffers Are Alive and Well

[walkitout]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/katy-guest-ive-read-the-future-and-it-doesnt-work-or-smell-nice-7813385.html

h/t Nate at the Digital Reader, who has a nice spoof of the post.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/06/02/ive-read-the-past-and-it-hurts/

I would like to make a couples of observations.

(1) Of course you have to charge the electronic device when it arrives in the mail, altho the last several I received from two separate companies, names starting with 'A' were mostly charged on arrival, I always plug them in as part of the unpackaging process.

(2) Anyone who has been on a plane in the last many years knows you have to turn off electronic devices during take-off and landing (and I feel a little bad about this, having been a rabid comp.risks reader back in the day and thus contributing to this rule) -- and if you read on moving vehicles (Which I Do Not, because no one likes vomiting or being around someone who is), you have to bring non-powered material for this period.

(3) What's perverted about reading erotica?

I hadn't seen an instance of Book Huffery in a while, and I sort of missed making fun of it. However, I feel sort of bad making fun of Ms. Guest's opinion piece, because it's obvious the Book Huffers are feeling very defensive and being coerced into trying the transition. On the other hand, she gratuitously picked on morris dancing, so not _that_ sorry.

Comments

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

"Morris dancing and incest" is an old joke, surely? I've heard it mainly from pro-morris folks myself.

I don't actually see what is so funny about liking the smell of books, any more than, say, the excitement of seeing someone special's handwriting on a letter. It's a perfectly real thing in the world. I admit the rest of the article is pretty dumb.

had not known that joke

[walkitout]

Thank you!

I had not thought the books-smell-nice thing funny (either in the so-cute sense or the wtf sense) either, until I saw it over and over and over again in articles explaining why ebooks would never replace pbooks. I used to find that sort of thing daily for over a year -- but it's definitely faded. When I realized the smell-of-books was a more common touchpoint in articles against ebooks than the feel-of-books, I remarked (repeatedly) on it to R., who I believe came up with the book huffing phrase, which we mostly use between ourselves. Seeing it in a title was just a little too much for me to resist.

A marketting oportunity

[rolandgo.livejournal.com]

How would one go about finding a fragrance designer?
It seems like book scent would be an ideal Kindle & Nook
accessory. Maybe you could integrate it with the cover
accessory; opening the cover would dispense a combination
of paper dust & old print shop solvents.

Re: A marketting oportunity

[walkitout]

Ha! I would never have thought of that. That's hilarious.