Margaret Atwood's nwe invention

Any comments?

http://tinyurl.com/qjpse

Morpheus wrote:
Any comments?

http://tinyurl.com/qjpse

I get my books signed as mementos of meeting the author in person, and
for that intangible whatever that comes from owning a book that you know
was once in the hands of its author. The prospect of a webcam interface
& a robot-signed book doesn't thrill me much. I also think it would be
a good idea if such signatures were always followed by a
"robot-arm-signed" disclaimer, included as part of the device's normal
routine.

Having said that, of course, who the hell do I think I'm kidding? If
the opportunity arose, I'd still get some books by my favorite authors
signed like this--for the experience, for the interesting addition to
the collection, and for the conversation value. And you know that
sooner rather than later SF writers & fans, in particular, are going to
be all over this.


--Jon Meyers

Like Jon, I value the signing of books as a "personal connection to the
writer, silly and wishy-washy as that sounds. Indeed, the whole idea of
collecting first editions as opposed to good new versions is also rather
silly on any logical basis.

The same can be said for stamps, coins (what is "intrinsic value" if you
cannot eat it??), Barbie dolls and all the rest of things that people
collect - including one fellow who collected used oil rags.

Which is really better - a real Reubens or a digitally enhanced and
recreated image done to make the original look as it did upon being painted?
How many paintings have bee retouched; how may first signed editions are
forgeries. Sure, I have provenance for many of mine, but certainly not
all. Heck, I even have all of J.T. LeRoy, ARC, first HC and SC signed. By
whom? Some are even left-handed, according to JT (in "in" joke between us).

But then, any car in mechanically sound condition will get you form
Vancouver to Montreal. Ford, VW, Rolls. Even a few years old. Save for a
few, they will take the same time.

Heck, we humans have been doing these silly things for years, and for reason
that I cannot understand, we still do.

So to me personally, does it matter? Really, I suppose the answer is rather
like right now - only if I know. Crazy as it sounds, I would not wish to
have such a signed copy, but damn - if I bought one without knowing
(especially at a garage sale), I would be damn pleased...

At a Value Village some time ago, I found a signed copy of a Peter Ustinov
book, one of the short story collections. The inscription challenged me, so
I looked up the former owner and yes, she had some interaction with him and
gave a certain lecture. to me, that made the book far more interesting than
a "flat signed" copy. It was real, it had a story. But flat signed is all
the rage, it seems. And that can be too often an pen machine - do we really
believe that X signed all those copies of his/her latest book that are sold
in every branch of a chain store, even remaindered? We buy the myth, the
fantasy. As long as we believe it, it has value to us. Convince more to
believe, it has more value to many.

That's collecting...

Willow


"Jon Meyers" wrote in message
...
Morpheus wrote:
Any comments?

http://tinyurl.com/qjpse

I get my books signed as mementos of meeting the author in person, and
for that intangible whatever that comes from owning a book that you know
was once in the hands of its author. The prospect of a webcam interface
& a robot-signed book doesn't thrill me much. I also think it would be
a good idea if such signatures were always followed by a
"robot-arm-signed" disclaimer, included as part of the device's normal
routine.

Having said that, of course, who the hell do I think I'm kidding? If
the opportunity arose, I'd still get some books by my favorite authors
signed like this--for the experience, for the interesting addition to
the collection, and for the conversation value. And you know that
sooner rather than later SF writers & fans, in particular, are going to
be all over this.


--Jon Meyers

"Willow Arune" wrote in
news:ZAuNf.84836$B94.82459@pd7tw3no:

Like Jon, I value the signing of books as a "personal connection to
the writer, silly and wishy-washy as that sounds. Indeed, the whole
idea of collecting first editions as opposed to good new versions is
also rather silly on any logical basis.

The same can be said for stamps, coins (what is "intrinsic value" if
you cannot eat it??), Barbie dolls and all the rest of things that
people collect - including one fellow who collected used oil rags.

Which is really better - a real Reubens or a digitally enhanced and
recreated image done to make the original look as it did upon being
painted? How many paintings have bee retouched; how may first signed
editions are forgeries. Sure, I have provenance for many of mine, but
certainly not all. Heck, I even have all of J.T. LeRoy, ARC, first
HC and SC signed. By whom? Some are even left-handed, according to
JT (in "in" joke between us).

But then, any car in mechanically sound condition will get you form
Vancouver to Montreal. Ford, VW, Rolls. Even a few years old. Save
for a few, they will take the same time.

Heck, we humans have been doing these silly things for years, and for
reason that I cannot understand, we still do.

So to me personally, does it matter? Really, I suppose the answer is
rather like right now - only if I know. Crazy as it sounds, I would
not wish to have such a signed copy, but damn - if I bought one
without knowing (especially at a garage sale), I would be damn
pleased...

At a Value Village some time ago, I found a signed copy of a Peter
Ustinov book, one of the short story collections. The inscription
challenged me, so I looked up the former owner and yes, she had some
interaction with him and gave a certain lecture. to me, that made the
book far more interesting than a "flat signed" copy. It was real, it
had a story. But flat signed is all the rage, it seems. And that can
be too often an pen machine - do we really believe that X signed all
those copies of his/her latest book that are sold in every branch of a
chain store, even remaindered? We buy the myth, the fantasy. As long
as we believe it, it has value to us. Convince more to believe, it
has more value to many.

That's collecting...

Willow


"Jon Meyers" wrote in message
...
Morpheus wrote:
Any comments?

http://tinyurl.com/qjpse

I get my books signed as mementos of meeting the author in person,
and for that intangible whatever that comes from owning a book that
you know was once in the hands of its author. The prospect of a
webcam interface & a robot-signed book doesn't thrill me much. I
also think it would be a good idea if such signatures were always
followed by a "robot-arm-signed" disclaimer, included as part of the
device's normal routine.

Having said that, of course, who the hell do I think I'm kidding? If
the opportunity arose, I'd still get some books by my favorite
authors signed like this--for the experience, for the interesting
addition to the collection, and for the conversation value. And you
know that sooner rather than later SF writers & fans, in particular,
are going to be all over this.


--Jon Meyers



I am of several minds about this.

This would be an unique inscription.The signature would produce the same
degree of writer's cramp.as a real signature. Thus, it would hover
between real and fake. At the moment, I am inclined to go with
"virtual" inscription. The result of a "Virtual Book Tour". As stated,
the DVD would be necessary to establish provenance. With or with out the
disclaimer, it would be important to establish the number of such
inscriptions. It then would possible the books could become collectable
in some sort of bizarre way.

Without the numbers, you could go into your neighhborhood Barnes & Noble
and look at racks (similar to key chains in Las Vegas) and choose
inscriptions for - Michael, Jennifer, Christopher, Jessica, Matthew,
Ashley et.c.(Chosen from the top three male and female names in the U.S.
in 1984 per Social Security.)

John Dunning managed to establish this with his anti-signature "Fickle
Finger" imprints. "Let's see, the thumb is inexpensive - The "fickle
finger' is rare but expensive - I'll go with the ring finger."

Without the disclaimer, It would be reasonable to ask Ms. Atwood to add
"signed in person" or depending on your view of her work "signed in the
flesh" when meeting her face to face. Arduous - yes, but she asked for
it.

This is a area that cries for reductio ad absurdum. I hope my small
contribution will be graciously accepted

"Morpheus" wrote in message
.. .

Any comments?

News reports from Guelph, Ont., say the gadget
failed to work as designed. It appears the inventors
kept on improving it, at the cost of reliabity. Miss
Atwood handled the failure with polite aplomb, as
we might have expected.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)