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Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

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Rcvd yr msg. Cnt ndrstnd t.

March 21, 2011 /

I received this message this morning: “Got bk lft fdbk tks” – and I don’t know what to think.

Texting

All thumbs? Buy a vowel.

Oh, I decyphered the line, all right. I’m decent at word puzzles, and this one certainly isn’t a head-knocker.

I’m confused as to what was saved by leaving out the vowels. Time? Maybe five or six seconds. Effort? How many calories are really expended by the thumb-pressing? (I’m assuming the email came by way of a smart-phone keypad.)

OMG!

Right away, it made me think of the Miller Light commercial, in which a man is seen texting in front of the bartender, who gives him a choice. He punctuates his answers with “smiley face” and “LOL…” – to which she responds, “when you learn to talk like a grownup, come back and I’ll give you a Miller Light.”

LOL…

“Got book left feedback. Thanks.”

I typed it, and it took less than three seconds. (I got nervous and had to start over.)

This takes just a little longer: “I got the book and left feedback. Thanks.” The phones all have full-keypads now, don’t they? Even with the tiny keys and my aging thumbs, I can complete words and sentences quickly.

Nt a prblm.

If speed isn’t the issue, the only alternative is vowel discrimination, and I don’t want to get started on that one.

===
Tulsa Metro News online.

eBook topples hardback. Surprise?

March 18, 2011 /

Once again, my wise and beautiful daughter has captured the essense of forecasting. This time, in a single sentence.

eBook

eBook sales surge for January

“Dad,” she said, pointing at the shelves of books, “do you think people will still want these?”

In hindsight, I can answer, “Some of them.”

Another milestone in publishing, revealed when the post-holiday sales totals were released. eBook sales, those downloads intended for Kindles, Nooks, and other electronic reading devices, out-sold hardbacks for the month of January.

Part of that was brought about by new owners, who had received the digital devices as a gift, and needed something to try it out with.

The Association of American Publishers says the eBook sales more than doubled from the previous year, while sales of hardback books dropped by some six million. Mass market paperbacks, the ones sold at the checkout counters, dropped even further from 56.4 million to 39 million – said to be caused by the dimming eyes of baby boomers who bought larger print books instead.

There will be a day, I’m certain, that lower prices of digital readers and the deaths of paper-book lovers will render printed volumes to something akin to novelties, much like eight-track tapes or vinyl records.

I contend, however, that – so long as there remain authors with egos – there will be a proud place on the bookshelf for a printed copy of a just-published work.

===

Inlandia Press has Tulsa metro news online.

What soda? Diet Coke bubbles up.

March 17, 2011 /

It was bound to happen.

Diet Coke

Movin' on up. Diet Coke.

My wife delighted in pointing out that I found it impossible to drive past a QuikTrip store without stopping for a bottle of Diet Coke. Hey. I had a thirst.

I don’t do that so much anymore, but it’s mostly because I don’t have so many children-related driving expeditions.

My soft drink conversion came during the early days of dieting, a lifelong battle that saw me switch from regular sugar-based drinks to low calorie counterparts. Pepsi had been my carbonated choice, but Diet Pepsi? Sorry, could not do that.

I never liked Coke. At a young age, I had already become such a connoisseur of soda that I could rattle off the subtle differences in half a dozen brands. Diet Coke lost the harsh and stinging quality of its sugary predecessor.

The low-cal version has overtaken Pepsi as the #2 selling soft drink. The official numbers are expected out Thursday, but indications are that Pepsi has lost its easy chair among the nation’s couch potatoes.

Proud as I am to be a difference-maker, there are other factors that led to the change. Soft drink sales are down overall (I told you I didn’t drive as much), and the sales of various other beverages cut back the Pepsi market share, along with that of top-selling Coke. Number one just didn’t lose as much.

So, raise your can of Red Bull and celebrate, and let the sodas battle for top-ranking drink. It’s a soda fountain of youth.

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