Comments on: Whew! FTC apparently NOT policing INDEPENDENT blogs that run book reviews

By: Danny Bloom

Danny Bloom — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:36:41 +0000

Raja99, yes, Paul Verghaegen, a novelist in Atlanta at Georgia Tech Uni, orignally from Belgium, very very sharp guy, see his blog too.

http://verhaeghen.blogspot.com/2009/10/were-all-luddites-again.html

– danny

see this too, from me, for HUMOR: re KINDLING as a verb:

and my HOGWASH statement here: serious:

http://zippy1300.blogspot.com/2009/10/hogwash-statement-by-danny-bloom.html

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kindle

By: Raja99

Raja99 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:09:08 +0000

“…literature is going the way of the opera.”

Danny, that’s a great quote! Can you tell us who said that (so I can give proper credit)?

By: Danny Bloom

Danny Bloom — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:48:04 +0000

re books and literature, a certain someone who writes novels,, tells me in email and on his blog:

“Interesting too is the premise that reading should serve some purpose (fostering critical thinking was mentioned; indeed, an increase in logical-mathematical ability is often observed after absorbing Dan Brown’s magical offerings; a lifetime of reading DeLillo has left me with quite amazing powers of deduction and abstraction). We read — those of us who do — because we enjoy. That’s all. Again, whatever the medium. If you don’t enjoy, you surf away. Simple as that. And now we simply have more doohickeys, moving images and sound and all, that allow such surfing, so that those who don’t enjoy reading lengthy exposes or narratives don’t have to. They were just pretending anyway, or else long lost to Harlan Coben. Is there anything tangible to suggest that prolonged exposure to Henry James makes one, well, a better human? (Whatever that may be?)

To conjecture, I would be surprised if literature is going the way of the dodo. What I do predict (not a hard prediction to make, methinks) is that literature is going the way of the opera. That process started long before computers and kindles landed in every lap. Bombing Bezos’s hardware factories — or Sony’s, or Nintendo’s — won’t do a thing for humankind. Would it?

Relax. It’s called change. We humans have survived change for about a million years now. And if we don’t, well what of it?”

By: Brad Vertrees

Brad Vertrees — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:15:35 +0000

I agree with Paula above. I sometimes write book reviews and then add a link to the book using my Amazon affiliate account. For all the work I put into my blog, I make pennies (if that) for my efforts. Hopefully the FTC realizes they have a lot bigger fish to fry. Sounds like their on the right track though.

By: Paula B.

Paula B. — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:23:47 +0000

Considering how little most bloggers (and podcasters like me) make from affiliate sales, the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. And even if they/we were to resell the review copies they/we get (which I don’t do), again, a lot of work for very little money.

So I’m encouraged by this latest info coming out of the FTC. Seems like they’re trying to keep things in perspective.