This is a "Spyder" clone. I think they cloned the price as well, this used unit sells for $18,000. That's better than spending $73,000 on a Cadillac Esplanade, which comes with a heated steering wheel. That's a real must for those chilly Florida mornings where it can drop into the 70s.
An e-reader finally fell into the price range where I’ll test it. Remember, I do not test leading edge products, I wait until the cost-benefit ratio falls out of the stratosphere. Borders is closing 40% of their 500 stores, and dumping their “Slick” e-reader for $90. I got one, and I’ve been pushing it to the limits, examining every feature.They are trying to charge the same outrageous prices for e-books as the hardcover versions in most cases. No way should an e-book coast the same as the hardcover version bound in leather and gold leaf. I’m instantly looking for free sources, ahem.
I’ve already read most of what’s worth reading in the public domain. The Slick comes with Sherlock Holmes and Huckleberry Finn, most generous of them. Maybe that is why they are facing bankruptcy and canning 6,000 employees. Then again, maybe it is coincidence, you know, like Kodak failing to realize they could not gouge people for film and developing forever.
The e-reader comes with lousy instructions. The easy stuff is fairly intuitive, and you should be able to work the reader, music and photo features. The MP3 player lacks many of the standard controls, such as a “stop” button and a repeat is from the beginning or nothing. But I can live with that.
What chokes me however is the video player. While the literature states the unit plays flash video, most of the time it returns a “file format error” message. This is totally unacceptable, even if the cause was documented. The same flv files play fine on a computer. That is a real let-down, Borders, I’m working on it..
Here's a shot of the Esplanade I just mentioned. I call it the SUV choice of the credit junkie crowd. The specs say it gets 20 miles per gallon. Add a grain of salt and take that down to 12 or 15. Salt is heavy, you know.Last, the red truck. Well, it has an ad on the back for an adult video store, proving once again that adult Americans have some very strange ideas about what kind of sex is "naughty". And that they think alike, trying to re-write the rulebook to prevent anyone from doing what they themselves missed out on.
Did you see that news item the other day about a 24 year old jock in trouble for poinking a 17 year old? Hey, she was a sleazebucket, for crying out loud. Then, I am against any statutory laws that attempt to regulate what people do for pleasure. You just cannot outlaw booze, sex and drugs. Statutory law makes criminals out of ordinary citizens. But, like I said, most lawyers never scored with young women, so they love to make laws preventing others from doing so.
Musicians, well, that is a totally different story. I've never met a musician who isn't guilty of the statutory crimes of underage drinking, sex with a minor, and possession of narcotics, except myself of course, since I've been lily-white since I first touched a bass when I was 13, cross my heart and spit three times. What the lawyers have done is criminalize a reality they envy, an envy so bad it hurts. Not all lawyers, but the ones who try to force their loser morality on others.That kind of behavior is not unusual in the rarified upper echelons of the legal community. I say that because of the way so many lawyers appear ready to jump in on the weakest of defenses and waste the court's time. If the defendant is caught red-handed, why that is because when he was a little boy, he never had a puppy. I say even if he didn't, is that an excuse? Is that the victims fault? Remember, it is only a theory that the law is not to punish. My instinct is that changes when it comes to repeat, hardened offenders.
You might say I believe a different set of laws should apply to those who don't get the message when they are let off the first time. But you could also say it is clear 2/3 of them don't.
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