The Futility of E-books, or Why Amazon Doesn't Care about You or Your Kindle Account

This story really boiled my blood. A man named Ryan was locked out of his Kindle account in October, an account that he had amassed over $1000 in e-books with and had a reasonable expectation of access to. No one can tell him why he is unable to access his account, and no one can tell him if he will ever get access back. It sickens me to think that this man has pumped so mush money into Amazon only to have some sort of computer glitch ruin his personal library. The final line of his email to Amazon regarding the situation really sums it up.

"If this is what the ebook revolution looks like, I'll buy the written history in paperback."

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Books as Art: Extrordinary Paper Crafting (Part 1)

 

 Today we are presenting the first installment of some awesome crafts and sculpture made from books. I wish  could papercraft like this.

Awesome Sea-themed scene

More photos after the jump

I've got the Books, Now what about the Tools?

So you've gone through all those old books, carefully weeded through the ones you want to keep and the ones you want to craft. Next step is to get your tools ready. I have compiled a list of all the different tools you will need to get started with most basic crafts.

Books for Crafting and Where to get Them

So you've got your X-acto blades and craft glue ready to start some awesome crafts? Oh wait, no books? That's ok, this post will give you some insight on the best sources for books you intend on using just for crafting purposes.

What Types of Books are Ideal for Crafting?

The most difficult part of book-crafting is deciding what types of books should be salvaged and which books should be turned into crafts. You don't want to cut into a first edition Faulkner, and you don't want to get halfway into a craft before realizing that you have a book with the wrong sort of structure for the craft you are attempting. In this post you will learn what the best types of books are for crafting in general as well as specific types of crafts.

Wow, Real Book Art still Exists! Introducing the St. John's Bible

For the first time in over 500 years, a new version of the Bible has come out written completely by hand. Utilizing the skills of a team of scribes, St. John's University commissioned the work in 1998, and the book was completed in early May of this year.

 The book is to be bound in seven volumes, has 1,150 pages and the calligraphy was done using 130 year old ink applied with goose, turkey, and swan feathers.

Who says the old ways are dead?

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Where has the Beauty of Bookbinding Gone? Exploring Gauffered Edges

In a previous post I talked about finding some beautifully bound books in University of the Pacific's library that had some beautiful designs stamped onto the edges of their pages.

A little bit of digging provided some insight into the rarely seen practice. The technique is called gauffered edges, and was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries before falling out of fashion.

More pictures and history of gauffered edges after the jump.

A Sad Day in Publishing: E-books outselling print books

Okay, so this information is several months old, but I just read an article from The New York Times that declared that E-books are now outselling print books on marketplace website Amazon. If it's news to me, it may be news to you. Here's the article for reference.

Is this an inevitability of a changing industry? Or is it a sign of our very culture being decimated?

With all Borders stores closed down by now, and smaller bookstores disappearing daily, is it only a matter of time before we no longer see print books for sale brand new?

Remember this the next time you download an e-book: Books were once how we measured knowledge; they became a source of revolution. When the government can control the internet, when the corporations are controlled by the government, how long until e-books are spewing out the same "revised" versions of history we see in North Korea?

Okay, done with my conspiracy theory rant for today.