Bezos should put his billions in public libraries • Hacker News Board

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#81

Post by praneshp » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:34 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #73

orik wrote: post #66

I’m sure thousands of people have ideas of how Bezos should spend his. Bezos should spend (or not spend) in ways and things he values, to maximize what he gets out of what he’s earned. (P.S. libraries compete with his book selling business! Why wouldn’t he rather sell a ‘library pass’ on a kindle for a monthly subscription?)

Kindle is very well integrated with library services already. Also, they do sell a month-to-month "kindle unlimited" service. It kind of sucks though (last I used it, anyway).

It sucks as of last month.

The integration with libraries is super-cool though!

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#82

Post by cookiecaper » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

olegkikin wrote: post #47

magic_beans wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not belief. It's fact that a large percentage of citizens are unable to access desktop computers for work/jobs, though they might have an internet-enabled phone. Have you ever been to a library in the inner city, or in any big city for that matter?

The internet penetration in the US last year was 88.5%, it's higher now. What is this "large percentage" exactly? What important information can't you get through a cheap smartphone and public Wifi?

Not to mention, it's not hard to find a well-used laptop in the US for virtually nothing, and with things like Chromebooks, you can get something new for around $100. There are charities that furnish computer access either through directly providing a cheap laptop or by offering shared access at centers, etc.

It's absurd to suggest that we need to spend millions building and maintaining traditional public libraries just because some people do not have immediate access to a computer.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#83

Post by contact_fusion » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #24

pravinva wrote: post #10

Is non fossil fuel energy research too hard to be funded? Gates and Bezos etc have funded just about a billion. Why not 20 billion

I was wondering if someone would put big money into fusion if we could make it happen sooner. My understanding is that the physics are reasonably well understood and now it's mainly a difficult engineering problem. I wonder if ITER could happen sooner with enough money.

Fusion research is actually very well funded. It doesn't seem that way because nearly all news stories about fusion are about the Q factor of the latest shot or experiment was. (Q is the energy gain factor.) The field is advancing on many fronts, using several strategies. ITER is but one of many efforts. Some results coming from NIF suggest that ICF is not as dead as it seemed years ago!

ITER itself is (iirc) the largest scientific project on Earth. It is funded by 35 countries, to the tune of billions. They have already had cost overruns (the perpetual curse of modern science it seems) but I doubt that more money would necessarily solve fusion engineering faster. They are currently building the reactor and are on track for first plasma in 2025. An ITER-scale tokamak is as close to a "sure bet" for Q>=1 that you can get. (Their goal is Q=10)

Interestingly, one of the major milestones for ITER is tritium production through breeder blankets - which would solve a critical bottleneck for future, enterprise fusion power systems. (Not to mention scientific research.)

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#84

Post by diffeomorphism » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

The article does not mention ebooks, which is a surprising omission considering it involves Amazon.

I don't know how it is in the US, but for instance German libraries offer to loan ebooks: http://www.onleihe.net/

Donating ereaders and rights to ebooks to libraries seems more effective than printed books.

Big caveats here are Amazon's monopoly position, DRM and copyright and loans for ebooks vs. physical books.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#85

Post by tambourine_man » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

I find this titles very off putting.

It seems to imply that someone, who wasn't competent enough to make billions of their own, is somehow more apt to know how to better spend them than the one that actually did.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#86

Post by jansho » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

tostitos1979 wrote: post #22

I want to give a shout out to a charity called "Room to read". There is a book about the founder's story .. he was one of us (a tech leader at Microsoft). His book and story touched me deeply.

This is great, thanks!

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#87

Post by Blackthorn » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

stillsut wrote: post #44

chickenfries wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Visit a library in a low-income area (where people need them the most) and see the kinds of computers people use to hunt for jobs, do their homework, etc. I've been to a library that was running windows 2000 on TWO ancient Dells with with CRT monitors in 2015. And the two computers they had were being used by adults and students. There is so much to be gained from improving libraries.

Let me give you a hypothetical company IT department: while you are allowed to work there with any education background, only an MBA can be a manager. How do you think they would perform at IT tasks? Who runs libraries? People with Masters in Library Science. I expect severe budget and certification crises would come to any library that won't put a certified librarian in a head position. Or, I'm a working class guy a…

> Who runs libraries? People with Masters in Library Science. I expect severe budget and certification crises would come to any library that won't put a certified librarian in a head position.

And you would be wrong. My local library is considered one of the best small-town libraries in the nation (I believe at one point it literally won an award for being the best) -- and does not have a certified librarian in a head position.

Also, to compare MLS librarians with MBAs in regards to the workings of what's under them is exceptionally unfair. Most librarians I know (a set which includes my father in law, who is a county library director, and two close friends, who hold MLS degrees) are extremely academically curious about new things they can do to make their libraries more accessible and attractive.

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#88

Post by cratermoon » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

graphitezepp wrote: post #15

I would much rather billionaire types take on large issues that governments don't want to touch, like space flight or specific diseases in foreign countries, than something already in service like libraries. Maybe I just have a bias due to having a library just up the street from where I live currently, but I have never not had access to an adequate library in my life time, and only see room for marginal diminishing…

> large issues that governments don't want to touch

Health care for all? Affordable housing? Food security?

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#89

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Bezos should put his billions in public libraries

#90

Post by miguelrochefort » Tue, Aug 15, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

Although I don't like the government taking my money to subsidize stuff, I'd rather see them make basic Internet "free" than build and maintain libraries.