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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
I must say I've been feeling a little sad about something lately.
I went into an actual brick and mortar shop last week that I'd not been into for quite some time. It use to sell many magic books. Now, it contains only two small shelves of rather beat-up "new" books. By "new" I mean: not sold before. They used to have many. The titles were common, and not of much interest to one who reads as voraciously as I - having read all of them a long while ago. The owner told me that books were dead sales these days, and as I heard these words, I looked over noting several large cabinets brimming with videos. The sight of such a mountainous collection of discs (many of which, were a one-trick pony) reminded me of all the times I'd seen "magicians" performing routines from Ammar's ETM series, using his exact patter more often than not. Clones. They're everywhere. I went home empty-handed and sad that there would be no new tome to scour over a nice pot of hot coffee until the wee hours of the morning. No smell of a new spine, and freshly printed paper, and even worse - nothing new on the horizon either. After staring at the floor for a movie or two, coffee in hand, I concluded one thing: I should probably get to a church and become a christian or something, because it sure feels like the world is coming to an end or something! I have many friends with University degrees who can't even add 7 and 8 together without either: A) A calculator. B) The calculator on their mobile phone. C) Their laptop or home computer. Then we have spelling. Just so everyone knows, here they are: they're, there, their. It seems like nobody even knows the difference between these and in which contexts they are used and applied. I can understand not being able to spell (ok, I lied - I actually don't) but please, I've seen resumes where (not WEAR) folks were (again, not WEAR) too lazy to even use "spell-check". All of this, and you can't even find anyone to have a conversation with now that you've got no new book to absorb. And why is that, you ask? Because they're all too busy texting each other with their ***ized english, shoddy spelling, and chat slang. Go figure. I fear for the species, I really do. Anyways, what I'm trying to say here is: I REALLY MISS BOOKS. Rant: OFF. Cheers. |
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mdspark Special user 784 Posts |
You summed it up nicely. I feel your pain.
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Rennie Inner circle I think I have about 1826 Posts |
Do I ever side with what you are saying. My big fear is all the "classics" of magic are being turned into "E" books, which I have a real problem trying to accept..
There is nothing like the feel of a hardcover classic in your hand, they even have a "classic" smell to them.. "LONG LIVE THE CLASSICS" Rennie
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve it is not.......
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volto Special user 603 Posts |
To play devil's advocate for a moment; books in electronically searchable form are an excellent research tool. Once I got above a couple of bookshelves' worth of magic books, it became hard to remember exactly where a given reference was. Harry Lorayne's excellent index in Tarbell 7 aside, indexes in magic books - where they exist - are generally terrible. So I've bought several of the books I have in physical form in electronic form, just to be able to search them conveniently.
I think the learned pig project and lybrary are excellent resources in this respect. Of course, I only bring this up because I have so many magic books and journals I can no longer remember what's in them. So I guess you're preaching to the choir. A younger friend of mine was showing me his shiny new ebook reader. He gleefully demonstrated to me that it has a display that looks like paper, a battery that lasts for months and it can store bookmarks. I pointed out to him that these innovations weren't exactly improvements on "Book version 1.0", which has a display that actually is paper, doesn't need batteries and is also capable of storing bookmarks. "Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be 'too clever by half.' The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters." -John Major |
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Harry Lorayne 1926 - 2023 New York City 8558 Posts |
J.Warrens: Boy, do I agree with you! One disagreement - there are, at least IS, a new book on the horizon - my LORAYNE: THE CLASSIC COLLECTION, VOL. 3. Do you already have Volumes 1 and 2? You can check 'em out, plus other books, on my magic website - the one with the word "magic" in it, under this post. Best - HL.
[email]harrylorayne@earthlink.net[/email]
http://www.harrylorayne.com http://www.harryloraynemagic.com |
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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
I don't have any problems with ebooks, though I prefer physical copies. They are definitely nice to throw on your laptop if you have to go away for a business trip etc; and they take up very little space.
My post was pertaining more to the fact that literacy in general, is falling by the wayside. At least you're still reading when viewing ebooks. I've noticed a trend where videos are not helping originality due to a lack of visualization on the viewer's end. You can almost always tell when a guy has learned an effect he's performing from Ammar's ETM series as the patter is identical. My other point was regarding the fact that there is very little in the way of new titles being released today because the demand is down and the market for videos is so massive. What books are being released are usually (but not always) not that great either. Hope that helps clear things up a bit Cheers. |
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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
Sorry for the double-post - Harry's response appeared while typing up my last post.
Harry: I have almost all of your books, including "Personal Collection" which is one my favourites. I think I'm only missing the "Classic Collection" titles. I will more than likely purchase all 3 from you when the third volume is released - that will keep me busy for a while ! Nice to see I'm not the only one feeling this way. Cheers. |
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Harry Lorayne 1926 - 2023 New York City 8558 Posts |
J.Warrens: You should, as should all who are interested, send me your email address - send it to my personal email address (first one listed under this post, with the word "earthlink") and I'll put it on my email mailing list. Then, you will automatically receive an email (Attachment) of the full-page ad for Volume 3 of The Classic Collection. Best - HARRY L.
[email]harrylorayne@earthlink.net[/email]
http://www.harrylorayne.com http://www.harryloraynemagic.com |
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volto Special user 603 Posts |
J.Warrens - I entirely agree with everything you said. A lot. :o)
My post was just to make an additional argument in favor of ebooks as a research tool. On originality - “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” -Melville You'll notice that's a quote. :o) |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Although I agree almost completely that the alleged disapperance of the "real" book is somewhat tragic, consider this: an e-book requires a literate reader to be of any value.
There are a lot of pluses to e-books. For example, I no longer have to maintain a taxable backlog of hardcopy books. Instead, if someone orders one of my sets of lecture notes, I can give them a choice. I can print out a copy, take it to the post office and mail it, or I can send them an e-book. The e-book costs them less and arrives instantly. For me, it's pure profit, and I don't have to get off my duff and mail it. There are a lot of books that are not available in any other form. For example, about 20 years ago, I translated a group of books by Lubor Fiedler for a magic dealer. He decided not to print them, because the perceived market just wasn't there. A couple of months ago, Lybrary.com bought the rights to them from the dealer, and is now offering them as e-books. The e-book has also made many otherwise unobtainable books available to anyone who wants them. Granted, with a library of more than 4000 books, I still prefer a hard copy. And there are many positive things to be said about the physical book. But the book replaced the scroll, except in some specialized forms, such as Torah scrolls. The scroll replaced the stylus and clay tablet. I don't know if the kindle will ever completely replace the book. You still need batteries to operate a kindle. The real enemy to books is not the e-book. It's the DVD.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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markmiller Special user 731 Posts |
And with rampant illegal file sharing the magic dvd is headed to oblivion since creators are having a harder and harder time making ends meet with them.
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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
@ Volto: That's a great quote!
"The real enemy to books is not the e-book. It's the DVD." - Bill Palmer. Absolutely! Great post Bill. BTW, great job on both of the Borodin books, which are most treasured in my library. Thanks for helping bring those into fruition for us, Bill. @ markmiller: Yup. Here's hoping that this helps bring a new resurgence in book publishing. Cheers. |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-23 12:28, markmiller wrote: You say that as if it were a bad thing. I reviewed a number of DVD's for MUM over the past few years. There is so much cr@p on the market that it's not even worth thinking about sometimes. The production values, especially concerning the audio of DVD's, are almost nil in many cases. There are some exceptions of course. I know that when Steve Brooks puts out a DVD, it's not a matter of days of development. It's a matter of months. And the material is already solid before the DVD even gets into the planning stage. There was a DVD produced here in Houston by a fellow who was a youngish "card man." He put out a one trick DVD of a trick that was so far above his head that he had to get someone else to do the trick on the DVD. That's not good at all. So many DVD's come out with pilfered material and uncredited material that I finally have given up. @ JWarrens. Thanks for the kind words about the Borodin books.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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markmiller Special user 731 Posts |
I agree Bill. You mention one-trick DVDs, best I've seen in the last few years Confessions of a Needle Swallower, put out by Bob Kohler.
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
The Cups and Balls Museum also houses a collection of routines, both in print and on DVD's. Some of these have excellent production values. Some don't. I remember when VHS tapes were just coming out. We would purchase these tapes from various companies. The best, production-wise, were the ones from Stevens, L&L and A-1. I remember purchasing some from Tannen's that were evidently reproduced from second or third generation masters. You would look at coins on a close-up mat, and the only way you could tell what denomination the coins were was by the color of the blob.
It's all part of a trend towards "fast food magic." The mage wants to write a book -- so he writes a book. He runs it through a spell checker. He misses half of the typos. He sells it as an e-book. Or he sends it off to Lulu and has it printed. There is no oversight. There are no suggestions as to layout and graphics. It comes out as junk. There are people who actually get paid to edit and produce books. It used to take at least six months for a book to get from the first draft to the final copy. Everything had to pass the proofreaders and the editorial board. The same is true of DVD's. A kid gets an "HD camcorder" which he pays a whopping $175 for. He gets someone to hold it for him and push the buttons. He uses the built in microphone. Then he puts out a DVD. The acoustics are horrible, and the material is equally bad. They don't even have a script. I remember one DVD that I purchased from its perpetrator at a lecture. It had a cups and balls routine that used ONLY three cups and three balls. One of the statements on the DVD was that the three ball routine was very unusual, but that he had heard about some old guy who had done a three ball routine some time in the past. What ignorance! He could have at least taken the time to ask who that might have been. It was Ken Brooke. (not the kid, but the guy with the three ball routine.) With the rapid communication we have about every possible magic subject, there is no possible reason for anyone to put out that kind of stupidity on a DVD.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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volto Special user 603 Posts |
"I remember one DVD that I purchased from its perpetrator at a lecture."
That made me laugh out loud. Excellent. |
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magicfish Inner circle 7006 Posts |
Jeff Pinsky is a magic shop owner and demonstrater in toronto, canada. His shop is called The Browsers Den of Magic. It is a wonderful bricks and mortar magic shop with a huge collection of books for sale. He does quite well with them while other dealers have all but abandoned their book sections. He has faith in book sales as do I. Of course I cannot speak for him, I think its a good idea for dealers to not only keep their books, but showcase them! DVD's are on the way out, I believe books will last forever. Have no fear J. Warrens.
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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
Howdy.
I'm actually very familiar with Browser's Den in T.O. as I lived there for a few years during the early 90's. I'm glad to hear that they're still doing well. I spent most of my time hanging out with Herb Morrissey, as Browser's was still considered "new" back then and Morrissey's was more convenient for me to get to. I have attended a few of Browser's auctions in the past. I remember getting a Kennedy Kinetic Crystal for about 50 bucks at one of them. Anyways, thanks for the support brother! Cheers. |
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magicfish Inner circle 7006 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-27 02:32, J.Warrens wrote: Funny, I was a Morrissey guy my whole life. I used to watch the store while Herb went and grabbed us subs and Cokes. Herb used to have a good book selection in those days, now there are almost none. |
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J.Warrens Inner circle Canada 1098 Posts |
Haha hilarious! I used to watch the store for him too! Although he was always headed downstairs.....lol.
Cheers. |
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