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I'm back at work, having taken yesterday off as a vacation day, largely so I could do the normal Saturday work (laundry, bills, grocery) in a less-rushed manner. I don't really enjoy grocery shopping, but it's much less of a pain on a weekday - no crowds and usually faster checkout people.
Update - Guns in the Military
So, I mentioned that in the 1990s, the surface US Navy got away from armed watchstanders in port. I am reliably informed that, after 9/11, they re-armed selected watchstanders. Again, though - militaries respond to perceived threats. If the threat is accidental discharge, they lock up the weapons. If the threat is surprise attack, they hand them out.
Free Stuff in Publishing
Also as mentioned previously, a certain crank on the Internet has responded to John Scalzi's winning a Hugo. Much of the crankishness has a sour grapes feel to it (said crank did run for SFWA President), but some of the response has been on sales of e-books.
The crank's latest ebook "sold" 10% as many copies as Scalzi's latest. I put "sold" in quotes because the definition I am using for "sold" is "somebody actually paid money for the book." The crank then goes on to argue that the ~20,000 free downloads of their book prove that conventional publishing is dead.
Well, no, not really. First, one can't run a business on giving stuff away. One either charges, sells advertising, or some combination thereof. If you're not doing that, you're not running a business. You're running a charity or a hobby. Second, how many people who download free content actually read it? In the current market, there are hundreds of thousands of people getting e-readers every day. They will suck down a whole lot of free stuff, most of which they won't read, and then eventually start buying.
Sales = "people actually parting with money." Anything else is just whistling Dixie.
Update - Guns in the Military
So, I mentioned that in the 1990s, the surface US Navy got away from armed watchstanders in port. I am reliably informed that, after 9/11, they re-armed selected watchstanders. Again, though - militaries respond to perceived threats. If the threat is accidental discharge, they lock up the weapons. If the threat is surprise attack, they hand them out.
Free Stuff in Publishing
Also as mentioned previously, a certain crank on the Internet has responded to John Scalzi's winning a Hugo. Much of the crankishness has a sour grapes feel to it (said crank did run for SFWA President), but some of the response has been on sales of e-books.
The crank's latest ebook "sold" 10% as many copies as Scalzi's latest. I put "sold" in quotes because the definition I am using for "sold" is "somebody actually paid money for the book." The crank then goes on to argue that the ~20,000 free downloads of their book prove that conventional publishing is dead.
Well, no, not really. First, one can't run a business on giving stuff away. One either charges, sells advertising, or some combination thereof. If you're not doing that, you're not running a business. You're running a charity or a hobby. Second, how many people who download free content actually read it? In the current market, there are hundreds of thousands of people getting e-readers every day. They will suck down a whole lot of free stuff, most of which they won't read, and then eventually start buying.
Sales = "people actually parting with money." Anything else is just whistling Dixie.
