Amazon

Habermas-Chipotle-Glee Count From Public Parts

After having listened to the audio book, I have just finished reading the paper edition of Jeff Jarvis' Public Parts.



Here's Amazon's product description which gives you a good idea what it is all about:



"In Public Parts, Jeff Jarvis travels through history to show the amazing parallels of distrust and fear that met the advent of innovations such as the printing press and the camera. He reveals amazing, almost unnerving, connections between our suspicions and discomforts through history as technology has inexorably changed the world and our sense of us within it. Based on extensive interviews, Jarvis introduces us to the men and women building the Internet today. Some of them have become household names-Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Ev Williams- many more of them may soon be recognized as the industrialists, philosophers, and designers of our online future. He reveals the promising ways in which the Internet is already allowing us to collaborate, organize and create in dazzling ways-how we manufacture and merchandise, buy and sell, teach and learn. It is a world being built on an ethic of transparency and generosity but as Jarvis shows, it is a world that's already impacting economies, industries, human health, and many other facets of humanity in meaningful and measurable ways. Jarvis makes an urgent case that the future of the internet-needs as much protection as the physical space we share. It is a space of the public, for the public and by the public-and it needs respect and protection from all of us, no matter how we use it."



As a This Week in Google (TWiG) viewer/listener, I often play the Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game in the TWiT.tv chat room when I am able to follow the show live. The Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game is a tongue-in-cheek drinking game based on the sometimes extremely topical and relevant, sometimes tangential mentions of Habermas (German sociologist and philosopher), Chipotle (Chain of North American Fast Food Restaurants) and Glee (US TV Series). You have a drink each time one of the three is mentioned.


As I read through Public Parts, I did my best to count mentions of Habermas, Chipotle and Glee. Below are the results I have found. In the spirit of "openness", "collaboration" and "betaness" delineated in Public Parts, I would like to invite anyone who has read the book and counted the H-C-G mentions to please correct me if the count is wrong (leave a comment below please). Even better, if you are Jeff Jarvis and have a more accurate count please let me know. Here are the count results:
  1. Habermas (27)
  2. Chipotle (3)
  3. Glee (0)
Even though I didn't catch a mention of Glee, rest assured that it was present in the spirit of the book ;-) . Assuming your drink of choice is served in 25ml spirit shots be prepared to consume a standard 0.75l bottle of it. If your tipple of choice is wine (in 250ml servings), be prepared to consume 10 bottles of wine... If my H-C-G count is correct, Jeff Jarvis has achieved close to enological-mathematical perfection for the Habermas-Chipotle-Glee drinking game for Public Parts. He must have been practising while writing the book. That would also expalin the #fuckyouwashington trending topic...

Now that I've finished reading the paper edition of Public Parts, I'll send a copy to my mum. It's the sort of book that will clarify issues in and around social media to her while being in a form-factor she is comfortable with: a hardback paper book.



As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jeff Jarvis' Public Parts Now Available

It's a book we've been teased with many an episode on This Week in Google... Public Parts by Jeff Jarvis is now available to order from amazon.co.uk, to download as a Kindle Edition, and to download as an audiobook from Audible.



I downloaded the Public Parts audiobook (read by Jeff himself) last night and have been listening to it while walking in the autumnal sun today.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and will have to make sure I read the paper edition with a bottle of something to play the Chipotle-Habermas-Glee Drinking Game. In the audiobook I have already caught a mention of Chipotle...

I'll post my full impressions once I've read the hardback copy which should arrive in the post on Friday.

As well as listening to Public Parts, this evening I will be watching This Week in Google (with Leo Laporte, Gina Trapani and Jeff Jarvis) live on TWiT.tv. I think it's a Jarvisian day. Or is it a Jarvite day? Or even a Jarvisite day?

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below!

Tesco Kindle Covers

For a few months now the UK retailer Tesco has been selling the Amazon Kindle in its larger stores. As well as the Kindle, in both the WiFi and WiFi+3G variants, Tesco have also been selling cases and accessories for Amazon's e-book reader.

Yesterday I spotted two new reasonably priced accessories in my local Tesco Extra store. Amusingly they are both Tesco own-brand products.
Tesco Neoprene Sleeve and Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle.
First up is the Tesco Neoprene Sleeve for Kindle. Currently priced at £4.97, this sleeve is a basic neoprene sleeve. As with most Tesco own-brand products good value for money and not too expensive.
Tesco Neoprene Sleeve for Kindle.
A step up in the market is the Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle. Currently priced at £7.97, this folio case has been blessed with the Tesco Finest branding. Tesco Finest is Tesco's premium/luxury own-brand, which still has an affordable pricing. This case is made of soft leather and does have a good feel when held.
Tesco Finest Leather Folio Case for Kindle.
The fact that Tesco is selling own-brand Kindle accessories is interesting to me for many reasons. Firstly it shows us how deeply Tesco is moving into being a serious non-food retailer in consumer electronics. As well as selling the Amazon Kindle, Tesco also sells the Sony e-readers and on Tesco Direct (the online service) the Bookeen e-book readers. Tesco obviously sees potential in the e-book reader market.
Secondly, the fact that Tesco has started selling own-brand accessories means there have been enough Kindles sold to make it worth while offering cases and pouches. This is also an indicator of the fact that the Amazon Kindle is a very, very successful device and platform.

I myself now have an Amazon Kindle and will be releasing a series of blog posts about the Kindle device and services and how to make the most of them.

A quick disclaimer: I do work for Tesco, but am in no way remunerated or rewarded by Tesco for writing content on my personal website about the company or its products. I would also like to point out I was not given a Kindle as a freebie, I bought mine. Disclaimer over and done with, we can avoid any Leo Laporte vs Mike Arrington moments in the comments section.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below, and if you want to go ahead and Google +1 this post.