Published 28 July 2009 · Main Posts the best argument against the Kindle Jeff Sparrow There’s a boilerplate article about new reading technology: you commission an ancient writerly type to trial the thing, encouraging them to make self-deprecating remarks about their bumblefingered relation to technology and their innate love of leather bindings. (I always end up visualising a hypothetical encounter between, say, Normal Mailer and an early computer, circa 1971, in which Mailer denounces the clunky box as a piece of impudence cooked up by New York liberals to destroy the natural, manly clack of fingers on the typewriter. But maybe that’s just me.) Anyway, Nicholson Baker does the ‘Meet the Kindle’ article better the most — and along the way makes a compelling argument against its adoption. Apparently, this devil machine talks like Tom Hanks! Reading some of “Max,” a James Patterson novel, I experimented with the text-to-speech feature. The robo-reader had a polite, halting, Middle European intonation, like Tom Hanks in “The Terminal,” and it was sometimes confused by periods. Once it thought “miss.” was the abbreviation of a state name: “He loved the chase, the hunt, the split-second intersection of luck and skill that allowed him to exercise his perfection, his inability to Mississippi.” I turned the machine off. Now, there’s something charming about a computer confusing ‘miss’ and ‘Mississippi’ (right up to the time it locks you out of the spaceship). But Tom Hanks? Not so much! So, once again, a question for Overland readers: who should do the Kindle voice? I was intially thinking Sean Connery (‘Shplendid, Miss Moneypenny’) and then Patti Smith (‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine!’) before realising that there’s only one set of vocal cords I want articulating my digital literature. My choice is here. But who, dear readers, would you nominate? Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 10 November 202311 November 2023 · Subscriberthon 2023 On the final day of Subscriberthon, Overland’s most important members get to have their say Editorial Team BORIS A quick guide to another year of Overland, from your trusty feline, Boris. I liked the ginger cat story, though it made my human cry. I liked the talking cat, too, but I’m definitely in the “not wasting my time learning to talk” camp. But reading is good. And writing is fun, though it’s been challenging […] 1 First published in Overland Issue 228 9 November 20239 November 2023 · Subscriberthon 2023 On the second-last day of Subscriberthon, Overland’s co-chief editor Evelyn Araluen speaks truth to power Editorial Team To my friends and comrades, I’m not sure if there’s language to communicate how this last month has utterly changed me. This time a few weeks ago the busyness and chaos of bricolage arts and academic labour had so efficiently distracted me from my anxiety about the upcoming referendum that I forgot to prepare myself for its inevitable conclusion.