By David Reinhardt on 19 Aug '10 82 Comments

Could this be the dumbest forum post ever?

David Reinhardt

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19 August 2010

Updated at 23:18 CEST

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Picture 1577 500x762 Could this be the dumbest forum post ever?

No doubt Amazon are keeping a close eye on potential developments in the market.

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http://startupmeme.com Sardar Mohkim Khan

I would pass that for one.. Maybe Bezos can turn this stupidity into a multimillion dollar product
http://www.twitter.com/heycheri Cheri

Haha, that’s not so bad. :-P It sounds like a genuine question — just a weird idea.
- Anonymous
  
  Its not a weird idea you moron. Its a library. Another dumb post
  - Anonymous
    
    You are dumb enough to believe that she was serious hm?
    - Anonymous
      
      You were dumb enough to believe that he was serious about believing she was serious hm?
      - Anonymous
        
        omg a never ending loop
http://kneedeepincode.com Oscar Godson

Haha, it’s funny if it were true :) It was just to show how you could easily be put into the “Pool Room”, but quite funny taken out of context like this.
Almost Embarrased

Ever hear of a library?
Matt

Perhaps maybe a service like Bookswim, which describes itself as a Netflix for books?

Not sure why this is stupid. Or are you thinking that perhaps they had never heard of a library?
- Anonymous
  
  yes, dumbass
http://thezargon.org Fernando Fonseca

I really can’t see why this is stupid. It actually sounds like a legitimate question made by, probably, a pre-adolescent concerned about his sister’s love for books. I think that the value of $1000 is a bit over the top (mass market paperback average price in 2008 was $8.30 in the US).
Being the source an Australian forum I could also guess that there are many areas where libraries actually don’t exist.
All in all, I think that this was one of those great moments where you, David, could have taken your time to post something actually interesting (like the cultural differences between Europe and Oceania in what regards to access to books). Instead of that you chose the “funny post” path and clearly you are not funny. The only thing stupid about this post is the post itself and not its content.
- MissyM
  
  Of COURSE Australia has libraries. For regional areas there are often mobile libraries which distribute from a central hub, and many libraries provide digitised articles for easier access as well.
  
  I have yet to find a better library than the one I was a member of in Sydney and I have lived in London, Amsterdam and Stockholm.
- Ben
  
  Well being Australian the post, that would be more like $890 USD. Books in Australia cost significantly more than in the US or the UK thanks to poor retail options and excessive local publisher mark-ups.
  
  Take a recent NYT top paperback seller, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. The RRP/list price in the USA is $14.95, in the UK it is £7.99 ($12.50), in Australia it is $24.95 AUD ($22.30 USD).
- Anonymous
  
  Every town in Australia has a library. And regardless, anybody who has not heard of a library is a retard. A funny retard. Like you.
http://davereinhardt.com David Reinhardt

Matt, Fernando – if you follow the link through you’ll see the author also realised their own folly.
- http://thezargon.org Fernando Fonseca
  
  David, remind that, the next time you make an honest mistake because of whatever reason I will just go ahead and write a blog post calling your post stupid :-)
  - Anonymous
    
    im sorry but when someone honestly says that without using their common sense to look up such a thing, they are stupid
Anonymous

This was also from 2005 – before Netflix, iBooks, and the Kindle.
- Matty
  
  It is from 2008, 2005 is when they joined the forum. Australia’s remote area’s have mobile libraries which is a big truck full of books and these trucks go around to remote locations so no one misses out.
  - http://thezargon.org Fernando Fonseca
    
    Matty,
    I was raised on a farm 20 miles outside Swansea in the UK and I know the mobile libraries that you are talking about because they also existed back then. The problem was once you had read all the books you were f****d. If someone is purportedly spending $1000/year on books I guess that EVEN IF all remote areas of the outback were covered (and this is like a big IF) probably the girl had consumed all of the books when she reached 15.
    
    On a side note, it would just be ok if you would drop this and admit that this post is a WoSotD = Waste of Space on the Database.
    
    To go back to 2008 (that is like going back to 1901 to talk about current technology) is already lame. What part of “Next Web” didn’t David get? From this post it sounds like he is confusing next with previous. #justsayin #thatisall
    - Nik
      
      au$1000 in books isn’t hard to rack up. In Australia we have stupid protectionist policies to safeguard Australian publishers. So, books on average are about $25-40 for a non-fiction / novel sized retail book. If you buy any sort of research book it’s about $30-50. The most recent two books I bought were text books and they cost me $100 each. I spend as many book dollars on bookdepository, but if I bought all my books retail in Aus, I’d be spending about $1000-1500/yr easily.
- http://www.sighedeffects.com Hyena
  
  Netflix was around well before 2005. Like 7 years prior to 2005. In 2007 they delivered their billionth DVD. (but I don’t think they are available in Australia.)
Tan Low

LOL, I think you are right. But it does make a lot of sense.

http://www.privacy-tools.eu.tc
- Anonymous
  
  Bot much?
http://www.otakhi.com mr.otakhi

This is not stupid… but a person doing a genuine analysis of how to optimizing an existing system and found that such optimization has already been performed.

Since we are born, most of us learn things as given and never question why… we then acquire more knowledge using the given as the basis. And one day, you wake up and question the basis… and this is exactly what happened here.

http://www.otakhi.com
a band new HTML5 authoring tool for the new decade
jake

Um, It is not a good idea for anyone with Public Library Access. Hopefully it stays this way forever. To wish for such a thing is bonkers. Wish for a good library instead.
Kwalu Osei

Dear Overzealous twit, this one is dedicated to you:

You know that I love you boy
Hot like Mexico, rejoice
At this point I gotta choose
Nothing to loose

Don’t call my name
Don’t call my name, Alejandro
I’m not your babe
I’m not your babe, Fernando!

PS It was a brain freeze on her part and a FUNNY post. Besides it is this guys blog and yes you can disagree it is not the “stupidist post.”

That right is deserved for your condescending and antagonistic remarks. Your attempt at justifying a “would be scenario” with facts about mobile libraries? How is that relevant to what is ONLY supposed to be a funny observation.

Seriously hope that was a troll or the UK has a bunch of pompous asshats running a muck.
- http://thezargon.org Fernando Fonseca
  
  Miss Osei,
  Tell me who you are and then I can reply to you. To use the name of someone that is already dead (Glad you know how to use Google) to attack me is one of the sickest things I ever seen being done to defend what is, obviously, an outdated and stupid post.
  
  Nevermind that this is not a blog but a website (check the copyright below); nevermind that you seem to know so well what David Reinhardt meant with his post that I am inclined to believe that “Kwalu Osei” is just a cowardly way to reply to me without giving your true face. Was that a Freudian slip when you wrote “is this guys blog”? Very suspicious, Miss Osei.
  
  Unlike you I have no problem in providing my real name, my website’s URL where you can find all information about me (which you did) so I think that the real troll here is obviously you.
  And learn how to follow comment threads, you would be doing yourself a favor.
  - mikedaspike
    
    Congratulations Fernando on sharing your website’s URL, realname and elegant combination of stupidity and arrogance.
    
    Now the user Kombiman is an active poster on a forum (3,646 posts), so let’s *assume* he has an internet connection. Let’s *assume* he has some knowledge of how to use it (as it takes some time to post 3,646 times, which translates to time spent on the internet and so, experience). Let’s *assume* by his reaction on his 2nd post he figured how dumb his idea was. Let’s *assume* that he deleted his account out of shame (as it seems obvious by the other users’ comments).
    
    HOLY CRAP! HE MUST BE AN AFRICAN CHILD IN A WARZONE USING ELEPHANT BALLS AND LION TEETH TO HIJACK THE LOCAL PONY WIFI INTERNETZ!
    
    oh shit, I’m sure there aint no books out there.
    
    Muito obrigado, moron.
    
    PS: No, I don’t want to tell you who I am. If I had to put up with idiots like you all the time I’d go stabbing people in the face on a daily basis.
- snoop
  
  its lose not loose….. loose is the opposite of tight
- Eyeswierdopen
  
  Kwalu, I thnk you’ll find that pompous ass-hats run amok, rather than “a muck”.
  
  Stupidest blog comment ever? Ha!
  - Kwalu Osei
    
    Dear gramaphile do not be like those know-it-all’s who speak the queens English trying to correct a “colour” spelling and what have you….
    
    FYI: Running amok, sometimes referred to as simply amok[1] (also spelled amuck or amuk), is derived from the Malay/Indonesian/Tagalog word amuk, meaning “mad with uncontrollable rage”. The verb form is amuk, or in Tagalog past tense nag-amok, with nag-aamok as present tense.
    
    So yes you are right, but so am I and that is how it is termed in this part of the world. Nice observation though.
    
    And to Fernando who clearly missed the Lady Gaga reference and took it personally. I would say sir you have been trolled. Sleep well, stay classy and keep that arrogant tone. You’ll go far in you professional dealing with the superiority complex you suffer.
    
    There are constructive remarks and comments like yours which try to “troll” the author. Publish your website in the comments below so the OP can relink this blog post to your domain. -Thanks
Anonymous

you can rent books from B&N.com granted they are expensive as hell text books which come out with new editions every 2 years.
http://www.querymarc.com/ marc

I found it completely logical, a library was exactly what he was thinking of, but it wasn’t in his current point of reference. I would have loved to seen his face when he read lib-rary-y .. that look would have been priceless…
- Anonymous
  
  Logical and stupid are not mutually exclusive. The OP knew what a Library was. Anyone in Australia who is old enough to be posting here will know what a library is. The OPs reaction in the third post is enough to show that he knew what a library was. He just had a chain of logic in his head, which rattled around in here at least long enough for him to post about it. And in all that time he never made the connection to libraries. Hence the stupidity.
Josh

Interesting and funny because even though everyone knows what a library is, most people now are rarely in one, and probably read that original post and immediately think, “yeah, that IS a good idea”. Ben Franklin also thought so.
Anonymous

…..yes from 2008
http://jbhawthorne.blogspot.com jason

not really a stupid question…i spent thousands of dollars on books for school and they collect dust under my bed…the library doesn’t give out new books…so this would probably be a good idea…i would check out google books or the religion | bookstore section of jbhawthorne.blogspot.com…you may find what you need there
Buzz Killington

The rebuttal was so close to killing it, but alas… it’s a pot calling a kettle black.

The pronunciation of “lib-rar-y” as rendered by Kombiman (like the mittens?) is just plain bananas… definitely Li-brar-y, or next Li-bra-ry.
http://jordybrisbin.com Luxury Burnaby Realtor

That’s pretty funny. First good laugh all day.
http://dilldoe.org DillDoe

Ya niggas stole that for OT
http://dilldoe.org DillDoe

Ya niggas stole that from OT
http://www.bwn.net goob

he spelt libary wrong
http://twitter.com/itsmeSaifu SAIFu

for while even i forgot to think of library
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=livibetter Yu-Jie Lin

And it’s totally free for rental!
andhisband

Wow, the OP works for Battlestar Galactica in Africa?!!! Maybe all those eight-sided books aren’t easily lendable. IIRC, even ADM Adama only shared one book.
Tardigrade

I wouldn’t call it stupid, considering many never go to a library, nor read a book. More stupid would be to suggest that someone should invent a water thingie for houses, so that people wouldn’t have to buy water in bottles.
stlport

This is not stupid. There are indeed book rental services in other countries such as Japan, China. Most of them provide newest comic books or Kongfu fictions which are not easily found in libraries. Plus, libraries have fewer duplications for such books than needed sometimes. Just my two cents.
bert strom

hes talking about an online service and you guys are referring to a physical library? hes not the one whos stupid..
jah

NECRO posting is bad mmmmk
Anonymous

fantastic
Mitzi

..and 1000 US dollars isn’t unbelievable for someone who reads “-alot-”. I probably spend (conservatively) $1500. a year for books, both paper and electronic.
Betty

Obvious troll is obvious.

This has to be one of the oldest troll posts in the history of ever.. You guys are idiots.

Welcome to the internet people.
- Seriously
  
  I wonder how many ppl have died or ended up missing cause they took something on the net serious…
http://wortakzente.wordpress.com Jela

There are worse things to spend one’s money on than books. Maybe the sister doesn’t wont to get her books go through numerous hands. Maybe she just loves books, wants to keep them, wants to own them, just like I do. Otherwise she could sell them. Of course, if her brother dosn’t even know libraries, he has no understanding for a book addict.
Seriously

1000$ a year is 84$ a month, next to nothing if your are reading for more than 30 mins a day-

Fitzgerald short story collection – 20$ (10 days)
Poe poems collection – 20$ (10-15 days)
Recent “literature” release – 15$ (3 hours wasted and 15 down the drain)
cookbook – 30$ (only 15 mins every night, not really reading, but learning from text none the less)

<- That's not close to a month's worth of reading, only 30-45 min a day, and it cost 85$…

Just so you know…
There are used book stores that have books at 50% off list, and Goodwill has books for 99 cents/1.39 hardcover
http://www.honourchick.com/blog honour chick

maybe he meant Blockbuster-library, ;)
Anonymous

it could be just a marketing ploy and we’re all victims of the joke ?

While I’m at it.
http://www.fbooker.blogspot.com
http://deathgleaner.wordpress.com stooooopid

stoooooooooooopid
Anonymous

fernando has to be the most annoying person ever.
http://oscarolim.com Oscar

Because we all know libraries have all the books we want to read right? It is a legitimate question. Libraries also rent dvds now. Doesn’t mean they have all the dvds in the world available (not even close).
- Eyeswierdopen
  
  So let me see if I understand you here – libraries dont have all the books ever printed but a book rental service that was like a video store would be able to stock every book in the entire history of the world? Dur. In fact you’ll find that many libraries these days willorder a requested book from another affiliated library in the region if they dont have a copy themselves. This doenst mean they can anything, but it hugely espands the range of books available for free to the consumer,
  
  Selekta’s original post might not be so dumb if s/he was suggesting an online book-hire service where the books-for-loan are ordered online and then sent from the nearest point where a copy is available, as amazon does with book sales. However they blew their ignorance into the open by comparing their brainwave with a “video rental store”.
  
  Yes, it’s an alarmingly ignorant post.
  - Eyeswierdopen
    
    Apologies for my typos – wrote this too quickly and didnt check before hitting send
    - Eyeswierdopen
      
      One more comment: how long before some nit-wit raised on i-Pads, Kindles and e-books comes up with a radical new idea – a real life version of the e-book that you can actually flick through, write on using a pen, dog-ear the pages of and lend to friends, as it’s printed on paper.
      - Tardigrade
        
        But that would be a stupid and impractical idea right?
Now

Look in a business perspective….
What he questioning about is more of an alternative to library.
http://tevalentine.com Tim

Funny yes, but not the dumbest.
Myndale

Actually the original question isn’t as stupid as all you people make out. There are book clubs around the world that do just this, and they have far many more books than a council library ever will. Also the recent prevalence of things like the iPad and other eBook readers have spawed a new wave of online book rental sites that have a fixed number of copies of each book they store (which they’ve purchased) and they use DRM to “lend” those copies out to subscribers who then “return” them when they’re done.
kirill

Selecta is not stupid. Book sharing is a good idea. Friends always do this. Developing wider book-sharing communities which do not exist in some places would give readers a much wider choice than any library available to you and also save some trees. And some money, so there’s nothing that badly wrong with the video rental comparison either
Anonymous

is it not obious Fernando Fonseca is op
david crowell

So this guy goes in to pitch an idea … He says “Everyone likes books, so we give them a way to get them and we charge tor it.” The group looks at him and laughs. “Haven’t you ever heard of a “LIBRARY” HAHAHAHAHAHA … So the guy goes and sells Kindle elsewhere…
Anonymous

you people are arguing about a statement that was probably made when this person was stoned. get over it.
http://www.facebook.com/Neyeh Stacie LeAnne Heyen

Actually its NOT that huge of a prolem! In the US there are a couple of websites, one being paperbackswap.com where you trade books. lets say i post a book, you want it, i send it to you, you send me a credit (one credit per book) and then you get to either KEEP the book, or if you want, repost it. I have belonged to the site since 2006, and it has existed since 2004, so, hmmmmmmmmm. Now here is the next thing, TRUE it is not international, but I know that bookmooch (which is similiar) is, and pbs (as we call it) is working on becoming international!

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Could this be the dumbest forum post ever?

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