The Manifesto on the Manifesto

Greetings, comrade. The purpose of this Manifesto of Manifestos is to educate the working class about the importance - and dangers - of the mass media industry. Originally published before any of its contents made sense, the revived Manifesto now preaches to an audience that understands terms such as "television," "Internet," and "passive consumerism." Each section of the Work relates a tale, musing, or observation organized into numbered groups, each with a more-or-less self-descriptive title. These sections generally begin with a reference to a lost tome, generally thought to be Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, Boston, MA. Copyright 2011). So, read on, my citizens, and hear the stories of a society increasingly dependent on cheesy Communist references.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

2.) The Manifesto on the Rising Cost of Words

"To oppose chains, many [independent bookstores] have formed regional or statewide groups to plan survival tactics."

But wait. Yes, books are awesome, and yes, they can take you to places and times that you’re not very likely to go to – like the 60s – but I want to point something out from the last post. The fact that four books cost me seventy dollars. And those weren’t even expensive books. They were in the normal book price range of between fifteen and seventeen dollars, plus tax. Four average-priced books cost me more than twice what I can buy a GameCube plus accessories for at GameStop. That’s not right. Yes, you can generally buy eBooks for less than a physical copy, but how do you sign an eBook? If you honestly don’t know, I’ll tell you. You can’t. It’s not possible. Not unless you take a pen to the screen, which wouldn’t be a lot of fun for reading any other book. The rising cost of print material has gone beyond annoying. Can you imaging telling someone from the 1930s that you can’t believe you paid two dollars for a used hardcover at a library book sale? He’ll think you’re saying you paid way too much. No. You paid next to nothing. It’s. Not. Fair. I am beginning to see why some people don’t read. Maybe I can market illiteracy as the new money-saver. “Hey, I skipped school, and now I make infinitely more than I spend on reading material.” That’ll show em’. Manifesto, OUT.


Media has converged here.


(Photo: Bill Gates after he bought the Codex Leicester, the most expensive book ever sold. Courtesy of http://www.worldinterestingfacts.com/lifestyle/the-most-expensive-book-ever-sold-codex-leicester.html)

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2 comments:

  1. Xavier YesSeptember 27, 2010 at 3:53 PM

    By the way, that's a picture of Bill Gates after he purchased the Codex Leicester for $30.8 million - making Da Vinci's most famous notebook the most expensive book ever sold. All right, so he beats my $70 purchases by a few bucks.

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  2. UnknownOctober 2, 2010 at 3:37 PM

    I love the energy at your blog here, Xavier Yes.

    But you need more photo embeds and VIDEO, yes?

    Good work so far,

    Dr. W

    ReplyDelete

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