Staff appreciation lunch

IU Technology Architecture Lodge
Random and not so random thoughts from Raymond Yee, primarily on the scholarly and educational use of the Web, libraries, educational technology, and information management

Staff appreciation lunch

Today's NYTimes article on how book-buyers are resisting buying non-fiction hardbacks priced $35, non-fiction hardbacks for $26 and paperbacks for $15 made wonder whether I'm being cheap or whether the publishers are stupid in overpricing books (and would make money if books were cheaper). It's difficult for me to rationally decide how much I should pay for books. The temptation is to go for a straight ROI type of calculation -- benefit over cost. Should I calculate the return on the number of hours of entertainment. I sometimes measure movies in that way: 2 hours of distraction for $8.75. By that logic, books are cheap -- dozens (if not hundreds for highly technical works) of hours of engagement for $30. Other times I think of the poor authors that I'm trying to support. I'm doing my part of the preservation and advancement of culture. While I'm at it, I'll be enlightened and transformed. $30 would be an absolute bargain price for such a priceless exchange.

Major Religions Ranked by Numbers of Adherents [link from rebecca's pocket] I've been thinking about getting an estimate of the number of adherents -- and this page looks like a good start.

The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at why NYUOnline went under.

JOHO: "The Generosity of Blogs"

Nov Jan

Last update: Saturday, December 15, 2001 at 10:49:39 PM.

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