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Voices Soft, Words Inviting: Going Digital Won’t Be the Death of Print

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My books :)

“And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting…

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die…”
- Les Misérables

I love books.

I blog about them and I think words are these powerful objects that make the world turn around and around.

When I blogged about the e-book being the death of print, a little piece of me died inside. When I tweeted and tweeted about how amazing the new Nook from Barnes & Noble was looking, a little bit more of me died inside and then I read “Beyond Borders: The Future Of Bookselling” and I felt like I got a little bit of my own back.

I concur; I support; I most certainly agree – shopping for books is like shopping for a good husband or that snug fitting dress to make the opposite sex’s jaw drop. It takes time, patience, concentration and yes, you’ll know it when [Read more...]

December 3, 2009

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

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Arlen Specter By DJ Whelan. All Rights Reserved 2009.

By: Rachel Steinman, guest blogger

I do not have to remind anyone that Senator Arlen Specter changed his party affiliation after decades of being a proud cardholding member of the GOP.
There have been speculation on why Specter would change, especially now that he has single handily gave the Democrats an overwhelming majority in almost every branch of the United States government.
Some have argued that he did not like what the Grand Old Party was turning into, while others saw it as his ticket towards reelection.
While an entire blog (probably even a thesis) can be used to explain the reasoning of why, we have to look at the big picture:

  • Democrats own our federal government.

From the leader of the free world to both chambers of Congress is consumed with Democrats.
It has been a very long time since the Democrats had this kind of control in the government.
John Stewart on the Daily Show remarked that this was the first time of complete and total domination of Democrats since President Jimmy Carter.
He also added the punch line that we saw how well that worked out.
Democrats can prevent filibusters in Senate, control the agenda in the House, and basically do whatever they want.
Now with a Supreme Court justice David Souter stepping down from court, President Barack Obama has almost free reign to put any left-leaning judge on the bench without criticism from an opposing party.
Now for the Democrats to maintain power they need to be able to work together.
Since the inauguration Congressional Democrats have argued that they are not just following Obama’s orders and sometimes have argued vocally against the President.
The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats need to work together and make sure that they do not abuse their power.
The American people did not like the corruption and the lies they were told by the Republican majority, Democrats do not follow in their footsteps!

–

Rachel Steinman is currently a International Relations and History major, with a minor in Art History, at the University of Florida. She is the 2009-10 UF Model United Nations president and she hopes to enter law school in fall 2009.  

Copyright © 2009 SashaHalima PR. All rights reserved.

May 20, 2009

Casual Luxury or Affordable Casual?

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Photo Belong To ீ ๑ Adam. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

By: Anuradha Pandey, guest blogger

A recent New York Times article, “Losing Its Cool at the Mall,” reports on how Abercrombie and Fitch, the popular young adult clothing store, has not been faring very well in the difficult economy.
In the last decade or so, rampant consumerism has meant that teenagers and young adults were more likely to buy clothing based on how fashionable it was rather than how affordable.
However, A&F has so far refused to offer deep discounts like Aeropostale and American Eagle have been offering and as a result its sales dropped 29% in March compared to one year ago.
Hollister Co., an A&F subsidiary that carries a lot of the same styles of clothing for a 10-15% lower price, has not seen a net increase in sales but continues to do better than A&F stores.
Teenagers seem to be spending less on clothes these days because their parents have less disposable income.
College students have also been forgoing spending on clothing for necessities like computers, books, school supplies, etc.
In the last few months, the University of Florida’s unofficial newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, has reported that more and more students are shopping at thrift and vintage stores as well as stores like Target, which this demographic has usually avoided.
Luxury items and high-end clothing labels have generally not been doing very well even among the very rich, and it seems that even those with money to spend have been using the recession as an excuse to cut back, possibly permanently.

Photo2 Belong To ீ ๑ Adam. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

It is obviously difficult to say what the effect of the economic crisis will be on the retail and fashion industries, but it is safe to say that no recession in the last fifty years has had this great an effect on consumer habits.
More and more teenagers and young adults are moving away from expensive brand name clothing.
Companies like A&F were built on the premise that if marketed correctly, young adults would be willing to spend $80 on a pair of frayed and torn jeans because it would be seen as a luxury item.
The pressure to fit in at high schools has also been another important reason for the often ridiculous amounts of money teenagers have spent on clothing in the last twenty years.
As teenagers’ preferences change and as they realize that the labels on clothing are relatively unimportant, the retail landscape will probably change for the long term.
It is difficult to say if young adults’ new spending habits are here to stay, but my guess is that this recession will alter people’s mindsets for at least three or four decades.
The concept of “sign value” comes to mind — a term coined by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard who theorized that in the current consumer society commodities are valued in terms of their symbolic value rather than functional or real economic value in terms of worth.
This is why we are willing to spend $80 on a pair of jeans even the cost to produce it was a fraction of that amount: we see things in terms of their social value.
More simply, we value things based on how other people will see our purchases.

–

Anuradha Pandey is a graduate student at the University of Florida. She has a B.A. in History, Religion and a minor in French from UF. Currently, she is a candidate for an M.A. in British Imperial History and hopes to pursue a PhD in the same field. In her spare time she is a political junkie.

Copyright © 2009 SashaHalima PR. All rights reserved.

May 1, 2009

Barack Obama: a 100-day report card

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Stock from Obama for America. All rights Reserved 2008-2009.

Today’s the day.

It has been 100 days since President Barack Obama took office.

So how is he doing?

According to a recent Gallup poll, the US President has a 65-percent approval rating, the highest 100-day approval since President Reagan.

Not to mention that the new Associated Press GfK poll shows that 48-percent of Americans believe the United States is moving in the right direction. Granted 48-percent doesn’t sound that all that much, right? It is less than half of the country’s population.

But considering what those numbers were in 2004 — it is a big deal.

A very big deal.

So big a deal in fact, take a look at what the Huffington Post described at what would have been a recap of John McCain’s first 100 days had he won.

As amusing as it is, mulling over the-would-have-been of Sarah Palin’s fight with the tabloids over “Bristol Palin’s engagement to Levi Johnston [making] OctoMomseem publicity-shy,” or “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [branding McCain as] ‘President McCheap’” over a his original economic stimulus package proposal of $420 billion, it all strikes eerily too close to home.

But the McCain-Palin ticket did not win the election, the Obama-Biden did.

So just how well are they doing?

According to the BBC, he is doing rather well:

  • cutting torture off at its knees
  • closing Gitmo
  • working with Russia to seek a new arms control treaty in order to work towards his goal of a nuclear weapon free world
  • initiating to have our US troops out of Iraq by the end of May 2010
  • etc.

But President Obama is not perfect. The charisma, glamour and swaggeraside, there has been a whirlwind of policy making, legislation brewing and Obama’s team has been shoved into crisis management mode so often that one begins to wonder if David Plouffe should start confidence-rebuilding workshops. There has been, however, one issue that just hasn’t reared it’s head…just yet. Race. The Obama camp has been relatively quiet about it. Keeping his to his word that

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

Yesterday, was the birthday of Saddam Hussein and that era of the history of the United States seems to be flying out the door as swiftly as it entered.

By informally greeting Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas, President Obama accidentally created a best-seller out of a book that has been on the shelves for over 30-years.

That says quite a bit about just how much we the people stalk his every step.

I cannot recall the sales of Ford trucks of Bud beers increasing in sales during the last presidency.

While at the Summit, Obama also asked for the re-entry of Cuba as a CARICOM nation begging the question, “would these events signify a change in the engagement of the US with the Cuban government and other entities in South America?”

Let me be clear, I’m not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction.

Well, it is quite possible, considering that Cuban-Americans are now able to visit their loved ones on the island nation.

The winds of change are blowing and I feel the urge to listen to Bob Dylan.

Stock from Obama camp. All Rights Reserved 2008-2009.

It may be Day 100, but there is no rest for he who is cleaning up the work of the wicked.

Swine Flu, more stress tests analysis, the Chrysler deadline this week, GM possibly filing Chapter 11 and more health care debates are swimming up the Beltway like hungry great white sharks gleeful over the smell of blood.

A friend of mine told me,

“It was once said that a black man would be president “when pigs fly” indeed 100 days into Obama’s presidency, Swine flu.”

What will be, will be. C’est la vie.


–

Sasha H. Muradali is the owner of SashaHalimaPR and the Little Pink Book.

Copyright © 2009 SashaHalima PR. All rights reserved.

April 29, 2009

Death of the Publishing House

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Browse Inside this bookRead for FREE

I recently started reading the works of Paulo Coelho and I fell in love with The Alchemist. I even posted it as a status update on my Facebook and my Twitter. Less than two weeks later, a free eBook was advertised to me via my Facebook account (as I am one of those who rate the ADs broadcast to me, therefore, my FB ADs usually don’t vex me by  killing my sidebars).

Skeptical and cynical, I clicked it anyway, hoping it was telling me the truth. The literary geek inside of me was more than excited to get a free book to read by my new favorite author. After visiting the link to the Harper Collins website,  I started wondering about the future of print books in their entirety. With a  failing print newspaper industry, are  publishing houses and print books the next in line to fall beneath the storm of digital publishing?

I don’t see the change affecting authors as much as those who work in the houses themselves.
If people stop purchasing hard copy prints, what will happen to those employees? That would mean more lay-offs, more pay cuts and more cut-backs in an already hard-hitting recession. Everyone would feel the change, from the CEO to the janitor. Though, I do think the janitor would be more likely to get axed.

Honestly, the only good I can see coming out of this situation would be cheaper textbooks for university students ($200+ USD a book? Geeesh!). That is, of course, unless the likes of McGraw-Hill and friends plan to gauge every penny out of students online as well. Nevertheless, I simply cannot picture world without hard copy books.

There is something about the sweet smell of freshly printed literature, the feel of the crisp pages begging to give you a paper cut and the slick, smooth finish of a book’s cover. Holding one of these precious artifacts enables our senses to delve into new worlds and experience each adventure by turning the page. It is pure, hardcore , delicious literary porn.

Paulo Coelho has infamously endorsed free copies of his books, reasoning that everyone should be give the opportunity to read. I completely agree with this. Especially, since I have watched the price of books escalate over the past few years. A few cents here and a few cents there, has amounted to more than a few dollars everywhere.

And with rising literary prices, came the emergence of eTrade sites like Paperback Swap. Paperback Swap allows its members to swap their books free of charge, except shipping costs, to one another. They have even opened sister sites: CD Swap and DVD Swap.

However, freedom of information aside, there is just something special about flipping through a novel, a newspaper and a magazine. I am not quite sure I am ready to give up that magical experience on a whim for convenience.

If we have to give that up, what is next?

Chips in our brain to broadcast the radio to our ears, while changing the station with a remote control?

I would rather not, thanks.

—

Sasha H. Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ and SashaHalimaPR.

 

Copyright © 2009 . All Rights Reserved.SashaHalima PR

 

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April 24, 2009