Print Books vs, eBooks: A Reconsideration

They say that when printing became available to the masses, reading skills rearranged our brains. Reading required ways of thinking and imagining in ways we had never done before. There were new thoughts, ideas, ways of thinking that might be new and exciting. 

That said it must be remembered the Chinese starting printing books using hand carved wooden blocks in the 1100's. The impetus? The need to disseminate Buddhist prayers to the faithful, not unlike Gutenberg's Bible in 1450, several centuries after the east. Least we forget China, invented paper in 105 A.D. while Europe caught up in the 1300's. Most western books used vellum as a base for handwritten books made from animal skins. If paper was used it was, like silk, imported from China.

Some may argue printing was one of the root causes of the Renaissance, the Reformation. the modern world. For the first time Bibles were accessible to all in their own languages and they could finally challenge the Catholic Church and did. New thoughts and ideas could easily be carried. Books were dangerous hence all the book burnings in modern history. In any event thoughts and ideas could now travel widely and be discussed as never before.

A Chinese woodblock print from
the 1100's still usable today.

Growing up in the early '50's public schools taught us how to read using a visual system. You looked at a word and were supposed to "remember" it. That's really not much different than learning Chinese. You must visually know 5,000 unique characters to read competently and stokes don't have sounds either.

I always got good grades in school but my mother and my third grade teacher had a "chat" when mother realized I couldn't read. She was furious. So, in what seemed like years (actually a few weeks) every night after dinner Mom or Dad would sit with me flashing cards with letters and I had to repeat its sound. Then rudimentary words then on to, "See Dick run" and so forth. That summer I read just about all the kids books in the library until I started reading adult books. Mother intervened over some adult book when the librarian felt it had "racy" parts. Mother said so what. He's probably too young to understand them anyway. Ah PEYTON'S PLACE and KING'S ROW.

Books have always been a part of my life and we carried that tradition on with our children. Bath at 8:00, then a story and to bed. We discovered our son taught himself to read at 5 when he told me about several stories he had read of Edgar Allen Poe. I'll never forget the trip to the Getty Museum Gift shop where he found a book on Greek Gods and he wanted to know who they were. So page by page I explained the gods to him. Finally I said, "Son, I'm sorry but I never thought I'd have to remember everything about these gods." The room erupted in laughter and when I turned around about 40 people had gathered round to hear what I had to say.

As I write this there are books everywhere, those I've read and have kept and those waiting their turn. When eBooks like the Kindle and Nook and such came out I wasn't much interested. I like holding a book, finding the marker where I had left off and if necessary underlined something to review later. To be fair though, I sure wish they had these when I was in college ! Those books were heavy.

When I got an iPad Amazon allowed us to download books on Apple devices but I never liked them. Tough to read on the phone and I never mastered book marks and such. I stuck with the real thing mostly because of costs and valuing, as many do, just having them.

Xerox Docutech Printer - invented over 25 years ago

Books, ALL books, have been digitally typeset since 1984. In fact Xerox had a machine that could print a complete book with binding and color cover in under 15 minutes. As a journalism major with a great deal of backroom experience I could never figure out how Apple or Amazon could charge what they do for eBooks. There is: 1 No printing costs of ink and paper, 2. No presses and printing staff to pay or building to maintain, 3. No delivery costs of paper, ink, delivery of printed books. 4. No remainders, the taking back of unsold books. What cost remains is the publishers profit, editor's pay and author's royalty and some marketing expenses.

16 GB Kindle

However I finally gave in on a Black Friday Amazon 16 GB Kindle with a 6" diagonal screen that is about 6" x 4". weighing about 5 ½ oz., less than my iPhone.The amazing part is that it holds from about 3,000 to over 5,700 books depended on the books size. The downside, as with any electronic device is power. They say it can last up to six weeks on a charge IF you read 30 minutes a day. That's like saying you'll get 80 mpg if you only drive 30 mph. My experience so far is about half.

For us old people you can make the screen backlight brighter or dimmer AND increase the type size for these old eyes. As this was the entry level there are five variations ranging from $89.99 to $399.99 with different abilities. If you already have an iPad it can do what any Kindle can do without extra expense. For me though, reading Stephen King's 11.22.1963, an 800+ page behemoth, the Kindle would be easier to read in bed! It's also easier to take along for doctor's visits, if you know what I mean. My "medical bag" is heavy enough without adding the book you'll need when is your appointment is not on time. 

Will I give up printed books? Never. The Kindle may well harbor fiction and lighter fare whereas my printed books will lean towards history and more serious matters. However, that could change if there's a "deal" on any book or it's too big to lug to bed!!!

Thank you for reading my blog! Please be sure to visit on a regular basis or contact me at KrugsStudio@gmail.com. New blogs are added all the time. In conjunction  with my store I feel that “design” is an important part of our lives. Everything we use or live by was designed by someone. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates design about my blog.

Please be sure to visit my store, KrugsStudio.etsy.com on a regular basis. New birdhouses, craft items, photography and canvas paintings are added all the time. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates local handcrafted items about my store.

OWN or GIFT an original work of art this year!

EV's Are Great. Are We There Yet?

My favorite car! Mercedes Benz
300 SL Gullwing seen exactly like this.

When I was in the second grade my parent's hired a babysitter to watch over me until they came home from work. Clara, though as old as my grandparents, was an adventurous old soul and we had many afterschool adventures. Our favorite was visiting all the car dealerships on Broadway in Portland, OR.

Our favorite dealer was the Mercedes dealer who had a silver Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing with a bright red, leather on display. It cost over $5,000 then but what a car. When they spotted us they would open the gull wings and let us sit in it with me pretending to drive. Little did I know then it would be worth millions 70 years later!

I have always loved cars for their designs and once upon a time, colors. Who can forget a vermillion and white Oldsmobile convertible or white, pink and black Dodge, red or pink 1959 Cadilliacs with rocket tail fins? They had style and chrome and most of all color. Cars, however, were not always gasoline driven.

World's first electric car

Historically, electric cars have actually been around for two hundred years. A Hungarian priest developed a battery in 1828 and actually attached it to a coach. 

A Frenchman developed a rechargeable battery in 1859 that with a small Sieman's motor was able to propel itself in Paris. It was improvements in the battery that led to mass production of batteries in 1881 and tinkering with better batteries on coaches that led to Thomas Edison creating his own electric car in 1912.

Batteries just couldn't overcome the range limitations gasoline engines didn't have, or charging times, a problem we are still struggling with today.

However, 1950's and 60's beasts were not very fuel efficient and probably a large contributor to global warming. There was recognition by automakers that something had to be done but the money kept rolling in and it was largely ignored until smaller, more efficient vehicles started arriving from Europe                                    (the VW bug) and Japan (Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi) and Fiat.

I can clearly remember Detroit's response in 1960:  the Ford Falcon, Chrysler Valient and Chevy Corvair, a rear engine car like the VW bug. All three had respectable sales and while smaller than normal sedans were still far larger than Fiat 500's, any Toyota or the Datson 510. 

For me design is the thing. I could never buy an ugly car despite its internal spec's. I was never a mechanic only knowing rudimentary facts on how a car runs. For me, a "good" car was one that started and didn't make you cringe every time you drove (Pontiac Aztec).

Saturn SL-1

Before college in 1963 we encountered a Chrysler Turbine car, one of about 50 made and test driven around the country. It could run on about anything, even a bottle of Scotch but that soon petered out and they were recalled and destroyed. Not efficient enough.

GM was next in line in 1990 when they introduced the Saturn SL-1. A fully electric two seater vehicle, it had a range of about 100 miles before needing a charge. A friend leased one and it was quite nice but impractical in LA. Everyplace takes 45 minutes to get there. Today probably longer. They tinkered with the electronics getting up to 150 mile range that required overnight charging using a 240V line. Few were leased.

Tesla Model X

Fast forward to 2012 to Tesla's offering the Tesla Model S, a full sized, all electric passenger sedan that could go over 200 miles on a single charge. It had breathtaking speed with some models going 0 - 60 mph in under 3 seconds. Best of all it didn't use gas and didn't add to pollution at the car level. As we soon realized, a great deal of pollution went into making the car.

Next came Tesla's Model X an acknowledgment that car buyers were buying SUV's, not sedans. It looked like something out of a Batman movie and has never sold well. It suffers with quality control issues that can't seem to be overcome.

Tesla Model 3 and Model Y

Much more successful have been Tesla's Model 3 and the Model Y, the most sold SUV in the world at one point. They share many of the same components and constant improvements in manufacturing have eliminated parts and weight. In fact they are so successful giga factories in China and Germany were built to satisfy demand. Sales have slowed with Mr. Musk's affiliation with the Trump administration. He didn't seem to realize many early adapters tended to be liberal's hoping to save their world. Affiliating with conservatives he became anathema to his leftward leaning buyers. That and increasing quality problems.

Nissan Leaf

Now other companies weren't standing still. Nissan introduced the "Leaf" again a car with merely 100 miles range. A second iteration more than doubled that but was never a great seller. 

Of course the Big Three were beginning to show signs of panic especially after states like California passed laws stating NO gasoline cars could be sold there after 2035. The German's weren't far behind while China's government encouraged electric cars and over 100 companies started making EV's.

Chevy Bolt EV

All the "big" western companies announced grand plans with billions to be spent on EV's. Chevrolet offered first the Volt a hybrid type of car where the gasoline engine charged the batteries. While a nice little car it was soon replaced by the even smaller Chevy Bolt that got over 200 miles of range and despite its size was amazingly comfortable. In the Coachella Valley there was a respectable amount until the flaming battery recall. And, it was affordable made more so with the $7,500 tax rebate on all electric cars.

Lucid, a new startup introduced the pricey Air with nearly 400 miles of range that by tinkering has increased. Beautiful sedans they come at a time Americans want SUV's. Their new Gravity may improve their fortunes as the pickup and Rivian SUV's have. 

The elephant in the room all American automakers fear is China and with good reason.

Xiami Yu-7

On a visit to China in 2024 I was stunned at just how many EV's there were. They are easy to spot. Gas cars have blue license plates, EV's green. At every traffic light is was about 50 - 50. And, they are really nice too. My partner doesn't own a car so if weren't using his scooter we rode a Didi (like Uber here).We rode in at least 10 Chinese EV's and a Tesla Model 3. Seriously the Tesla is the model T of EV's. The Chinese EV's are like limo's. Huge spaces in back, dead quiet and powerful offering amenities Tesla can only hope for.

Like Tesla they have small showrooms in malls and several phone companies are making EV's. Get you on your phone and tethered on the road. Really, you'd see complete phone offerings and a choice of several EV's to clamber in. I fell in love with a Neo SUV in a beautiful smoky lavender. That's another thing, they are not afraid of color either and some I really like - NOT white, black, grey or silver.

The Big Three know, if Chinese cars were allowed in the U.S. market there probably wouldn't be one left standing. And, they know it too. It's already panic time in Europe with Germany crying the loudest! The reason is that most sedans and EV's in China compare in price with ICE vehicles, so why not go electric? Car tags are cheaper too.

I was puzzled by Buick. There are Buick's in China we never see but they had an EV station wagon that was very popular. Again quiet, powerful with many of the same amenities we had noticed on Chinese brands. Why isn't it here? Far nicer than a Tesla.

As much potential as EV's have, there is still the dilemma of range and charging times. Friends that have them like them but rarely talk about the issues they face which can be:

    * Any repair that might cost $2,000 on a gas car could be $20,000 on an EV

    * Insurance costs are much higher because they know repairs are expensive

    * Tires last at best 25,000 miles because of the extra battery weight. Rotating tires is mandatory

    * New tires are expensive

    * Charging, where and when. Many freestanding stations are often crowded, damaged and take far             longer than say 5 minutes filling a gas tank. If you live in a condo or apartment it would be a hassle to         create your own charging station. California says you must allow it but YOU bear all the expense

   * EV's cost $10-20,000 more than a comparable ICE car. Worse EV's plummet in resale value. Some                drop 50% after you drive off the dealers lot.  

    * There is a learning curve after driving a gas vehicle. Braking has a whole new meaning

    * Few if any knobs. Everything is on an iPad like screen. For me, too distracting and not a good place to       be if you're driving

    * While operating the EV is nearly pollution free, gathering the materials to make it and the costs of             disposing of it are high and worrisome. New technologies need to be invented to reduce the pollution         these type of batteries being made create and safe and non-polluting ways to dispose of or recapture             these materials without affecting our environment.

    * MOTOR TREND usually has an article where a staffer takes a trip with an EV and they are not                 flattering. I know I panic when my Mazda gets to 1/4 full and having my EV stating you have 20 miles         left would send me over the edge.

    * Going on a trip? Be SURE to have Plan B maps if the station is damaged. No gas can will help you.

    * The $7,500 tax credit has expired. Manufactures and buyers are looking more closely at an EV's cost

    * Be prepared for a milage tax. You're driving for free meaning you aren't paying a gas tax. Your                  vehicles are heavy and wear roads out faster

    * Believe it or not you still need a 12 volt battery. When that goes dead you are deader than dead as all         the cars electronics won't work anymore.

    *Paying for charging on the road can almost rival the cost of a tank of gas

    * Finally, no one is sure what the cost of new batteries are. Battery replacement in a hybrid wipes all those years of gas savings. A electric EV? Anyone's guess.

I know that on a recent trip to the hinterlands of northern Arizona, lower Utah and the high desert of California we saw one EV and drove for hours with no signal nor gas. Siri said turn left in the middle of nowhere so we did. Driving an EV there isn't a place I want to be. I wasn't happy driving as gas stations were as scarce as EV charging stations. Luckily we got up to 39 mpg. Whew.

2026 Prius, grand daddy of hybrids

We have made great strides in electric vehicles but in general the infrastructure is not there yet. There are over 145,000 gas stations in the US with probably four or more pumps. You can expect each pump to work. While there 138,000 charging plugs oftentimes they are disabled or just don't work. Considering there are over 280,000,000 vehicles in the United States with 4,000,000 EV's of all types we have a long ways to go. Especially if you venture out into rural areas like the west and midwest.

Range and especially costs are what holds most people back. For now hybrids seem to be the answer. Around town you may just run on electricity; my daughter does in her Venza. I know friends who have gas and EV vechiles. The EV is for town. Long distant trips they use gas.

We will get there but for the majority of us, we just aren't there yet. China encourages manufacturers, so should we.

Thank you for reading my blog! Please be sure to visit on a regular basis or contact me at KrugsStudio@gmail.com. New blogs are added all the time. In conjunction  with my store I feel that “design” is an important part of our lives. Everything we use or live by was designed by someone. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates design about my blog.

Please be sure to visit my store, KrugsStudio.etsy.com on a regular basis. New birdhouses, craft items, photography and canvas paintings are added all the time. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates local handcrafted items about my store.

OWN or GIFT an original work of art this year!

NUREMBERG: The Final Judgment of Evil

NUREMBERG is a movie all Americans, from high school on up, need to see. It takes a unique approach to the final accounting of Nazi Germany and the players that made it all happen. Lest we forget, Hitler had a plan, a "design" for a new and greater Germany. This movie focuses on the relationship between Herman Göring and psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Kelley one of several doctors sent to consider the sanity of Nazi officials on trial. One could consider their actions from 1933 to 1945 to already be a kind of insanity.

However, there is another movie one should see first, one whose horror builds so quietly you are enveloped in it before you realize it. THE ZONE OF INTEREST is a quiet almost documentary movie about the Höss family. The father, Rudolf Höss, was the commandant of Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp in Poland.

This film shows a typical German family living well with garden parties, housecleaning, family outings, the humdrum of family life. Only this idyllic setting is literally next door to Auschwitz. The horror slowly builds. Nearly every scene shows black smoke in the background reminding us of what happens next door as if the shouting, dogs barking and gunshots aren't enough.

One scene, quietly horrific in a way I wasn't inspecting, is when a Polish maid brings in articles of clothing gathered from the cast off clothes, of mostly Jewish women led to the showers, had brought with them. The item is a gorgeous mink coat. Mrs. Höss tries the coat on and when reaching in the pockets finds a lipstick. Going over to the mirror she tries it on, approves and puts in her pocket. You slowly realize this once belonged to a Jewish wife who is possibly being incinerated that very moment. Then you find out she had been a maid to a wealthy Jewish matron and this was her payback.

Before seeing NUREMBERG, I had just finished a book by a German journalist called VERTIGO. It recounts the rise and fall of Germany's Weimar Republic created from the ashes of World War I and Hitler's overthrow in March of 1933. It's an instructive book filling in much between the war's history most Americans and probably Germans don't know.

My Opa immigrated here in 1925 and brought his wife and two children here in 1926. My father was four. While in college I spent several Christmases with my Oma and Opa and we talked briefly about Weimar Germany. As he explained and was recounted in the book, inflation reached dizzying heights. One American dollar equaled, at one point, one trillion marks! I wish we had talked more because he arrived after this inflation so lived during it. Germans were tired. They never accepted democracy and missed their Kaiser. When Hitler kept hammering on the creation of a new and better Germany many were ready to listen.

The not so great escape.

NUREMBERG has Russell Crow playing Herman Göring who we first see trying to escape, with his family, to Austria. He was Reich Marshall, second in command, just below Hitler, and in that sense responsible for everything happening during the Third Reich.. All the Nazi general staff prisoners are brought to Nuremberg, site of several infamous Nazi rallies, to be tried.

You learn there had never been a war trial before and when US Judge Robert H. Jackson is given the task he literally started from scratch. His first job was getting all parties involved to agree on a trial. One judge each came from France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union. Jackson was the prosecutor. He also had to get the Catholic churches approval so when the Pope demurred Jackson reminded him of the churches complicity.

Göing in the docket

The real interest comes from the interplay between Rami Malek, who plays Dr. Kelley and Göring. Göring fails to see the error of his ways and bows down to no one. I must admit, though, for a two and a half long movie I never looked at my watch. To see such certitude in this evil is mind bending. It is only at the end, when Jackson has run out of questions his British counterpart asks Göring point blank, "Do you regret what you have done?" "No." There, in that one word you realize evil exists among us and it is our duty to keep it at bay.

Another issue is that it was clearly apparent none of these officials ever thought they would pay (with their lives) for what they had done. Trials of this sort were new and they seemed to think they would face no penalty. Today, however, there is a different reality and that is what citizens of this world expect. The lesson here, if we can yet remember it, if we forget get the past we are condemned to relive it. As this movie clearly shows there IS evil among us and it is our duty to stamp it out before it becomes a fire!

Thank you for reading my blog! Please be sure to visit on a regular basis or contact me at KrugsStudio@gmail.com. New blogs are added all the time. In conjunction  with my store I feel that “design” is an important part of our lives. Everything we use or live by was designed by someone. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates design about my blog.

Please be sure to visit my store, KrugsStudio.etsy.com on a regular basis. New birdhouses, craft items, photography and canvas paintings are added all the time. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates local handcrafted items about my store.

OWN or GIFT an original work of art this year!