Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for October 09, 2012

hahahahaahahaa – did he kill that thing and then give it back to janis with fly guts on it?

I agree. Tried a kindle once and immediately went back to my hard copies. Although, I can certainly see the advantages in some cases, such as air travel.

I can’t comment on the value of an ebook as a flyswatter, though.

I love the sound of a paper page being turned, and the gentle thump when you close a book..

so do you loan out the entire ebook to a friend when you want them to read a book?

I have a glorious stack of hardcover and paperback books just waiting to take a ride in my backpack or purse, to be opened at a moment’s notice. :)

I have both – but I write and Kindle lets me publish and make good money when traditional publishing would not. I price my books at $2.99 and still get more than I would if it was paper.

I prefer hardcopy books for reading, not hitting flies. In response to @ paulproteus my mom lends me whole books which I give back when done. Other than that I go to the library.

Did Arlo give the Kindle back cuz it stopped working after he hit the fly?

I could never accept clay – give me a good solid rock to read. As for Kindle – I prefer it to the Nook only because it’s what I own and use daily. When I want a book (text, not photo), I download it in <60 seconds and usually pay about half the price. I got The Jungle for 99 cents, the complete Twain free.

Twain spoilers.

Love my Kindle…but it’s NOT a good flyswatter Arlo!

So, according to this strip, the value of a book is its value as a flyswatter. Publishers, take note: you don’t have to put any ink on the pages. No need for all those bothersome words that you have to pay someone to write. Just put out blank books of appropriate size & weight to be good flyswatters.

He is right. Digital readers suck!

I did this with a mosquito and “shattered” the screen on my Kindle"…….expensive fly swatted!

Q24 – I wonder how many books I have in my house with a dead fly in them.

Magazines are best…..tightly rolled.

I agree. Although there certainly is a place for technology in this world, there is something about the feel of a book, the weight or heft.

Rupert Giles once said it was the smell that enticed him. Funny that a TV vampire hunter endorsed the print.

Anybody remember the Mad magazine that had a picture of a flyswatter on the cover to actually make the magazine useful?

Twain in modern-speak= Technology Without An Interesting Name

How do you type on one of those things? Do you poke at the screen with a stylus? Or do you use a handwriting-to-typeface converter (like I use on my Cassiopeia [programmable in a Basic variant or in C++] that I bought for $50 6 years ago?) There is much to be said for Project Gutenberg, like that it’s free.

I love the smell of books, I love getting ink on the sides of my thumbs, I love finding flowers or leaves I pressed between the pages of my hard backs, I like that most paperbacks weigh less than a lb since I prefer to read laying down with the book over my head….