Was Black Friday Treasure Island - or Jekyll and Hyde?

Robert Louis Stevenson is famous for the novels he wrote, including 'Kidnapped' 'Treasure Island' and 'Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde', which are all available as free eBooks through the likes of Amazon (although they will let you pay someone - presumably Stevenson's estate, but I'm not convinced - a small amount.  You take your choice, but legally the book is out of copyright). He also displayed an interesting approach to birthdays by gifting his to the son of one of his acquaintances. He reckoned that he was too old to be celebrating birthdays and felt that two birthdays for a child was a better use of the day. Of course he was a famous author and presumably had a comfortable lifestyle, so was prepared to forego the annual receipt of birthday presents. I don't know if he took what appears to me to be an obvious extension to his gesture and stopped buying presents for all and sundry - after all, without a birthday there would be no need to reciprocate. Let's call that rule one.

Of course this was before the consumer boom that fuelled the credit crunch, so perhaps there wasn't the same imperative to provide presents costing an arm and a leg for everyone he knew. Also he seems to have retained his rights to Christmas presents.

As we approach the holiday season, having witnessed Black Friday in the UK being imported by ASDA, the UK arm of Wal-Mart, I guess we haven't lost our appetite for consuming totally, austerity or no. We have had Black Friday in the UK for some years, but predominantly as an on-line experience. To my knowledge this was the first time a major retailer in the UK has run a Black Friday promotion. At my local ASDA I witnessed a lot of large screen TVs being pushed out of the store by people with grins almost as wide as the TVs they had bought. I also read about arguments and even fights breaking out in some stores as stocks ran low, apparently a phenomenon also imported from the US on Black Friday. I'm sure that wasn't the publicity ASDA wanted but overall I suspect it's here to stay and I'd be very surprised if other high street retailers didn't join in next year.

Maybe with more choice the apparent need for violence and abuse won't be as great but somehow I doubt it. I'm not sure what Robert Louis Stevenson would have made of the spectacle, watching people who normally shop courteously becoming so aggressive. Perhaps there was more in Doctor Jekyll than meets the eye, maybe Black Friday is the secret mixture that turns nice people bad? Maybe RLS might have given his Christmas away as well as his birthday if he witnessed last weeks events.

I don't know if giving Christmas away is a viable option - I like to consume as much as the next guy and Christmas day provides an opportunity for the mutual exchange of gifts. But birthdays - perhaps he had a valid point there. Kids get more out of them, or at least should do, than adults. Here's my view on gifting birthdays, especially for those of with birthdays not in January and December. Why those two months? Well I've a few young relatives with birthdays reasonably close to Christmas and I reckon they are most likely to have a reduced birthday gift allocation due to the proximity to the big day. It must be especially difficult for those who are born on December 25th. My guess is those who have birthdays adjacent to Christmas probably deserve to hang onto theirs longer.

So here's my extension to RLS's idea. Those of us above a certain age gift our birthday to a child. I would suggest that initially we choose kids that we think deserve a second birthday, that is, kids we like. Next in the hierarchy should be the kids of parents we don't particularly like - well it's a big sacrifice so we might as well get some personal satisfaction - or Schadenfreude- from the gift. In fact reverse those, my inner B L O'Feld is grinning at the mayhem gifting birthdays will provide. And let's not forget rule one from above - eliminate the need for reciprocation and we might actually be able to accommodate the increased costs from Black Friday as we buy bargains we never considered buying in the first place, preventing those 60" plasma screen grins turning to half inch pursed lips when the credit card statement arrives in January.

Maybe it will be antidote to the mixture that created Mr Hyde?

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Last Chance for Christmas

Still looking for that elusive last Christmas present?  Well, if the target of your generosity is a reader then now is the time to consider the options.

I'm wasn't going to look at mini tablet computers in this posting, but if your budget does stretch that far then I guess the choice is between the iPad Mini, the Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7.  The Apple's the most costly choice out of the three, but you probably knew that already.  It's getting mixed reviews, largely because its screen is 'only as good as the iPad 2 screen', the screen on arguably the most popular variant of the full sized tablet.  My view is that is if the recipient is already embedded in Apple technology then this has to be a contender.  After that its between the Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.  Google have just raised the bar by upping the memory to 32Gb on their flagship model, but pricewise these two devices are running neck and neck.  Behind them is the Nook HD with only 8Gb of memory and an almost unknown market presence in this country.  For those prepared to tough it out until Christmas Eve you may find the Nook being discounted.  Of course, if you're spending this kind of money you may want to make sure the gift can be returned in the case of multiple tablets being bought for the same person - in the  UK most high street retailers will issue a gift receipt that will allow the recipient to return the item for a full refund until mid January.

For dedicated eReading devices the choices are bewildering.  As I pointed out in a recent blog entry, dedicated eReaders are past their peak, being usurped by the rise of the multi-tasking tablets.  However, right now, there are so many new models on sale in the UK it is inconceivable that some of these won't be discounted.  So if your in the market to buy one for someone, waiting is probably as smart as it gets.  They're not going to run out and they're not going to rise in price.  Choose a price point and stick with it, but be prepared to shop around the various brands.  Unlike tablets, the dedicated eReaders tend to be stuck to one eBook store, although most use the same format of book (EPUB) which is readily available through Smashwords, as are Kindle format books.  Again, gift receipts might be a good idea in case of duplication.

If your gift options don't run to a bit of technology then consider vouchers.  Apple do them for the iBook store (strictly for anything on iTunes, but if the recipient is a reader then perhaps it will be used for your intended purpose).  Amazon also do vouchers, which like the iTunes vouchers can be bought in stores around the country or can be downloaded to your own computer for you to print off.  Add a fancy card, a nice message and your shopping is done.  The only limitation with this is that the voucher can be used against any Amazon purchase - or put another way, against anything that can be bought on this planet.  So don't get too excited if your intention is to persuade your recipient to download that book you've been raving about.

If you do want to gift 'that book' then you could try Smashwords - they have a gifting option, read about it here.  The only downside I can see with the Smashwords version is that the gift will be emailed to the recipient the second you pay, but I guess you can do it on Christmas day.  If you're stuck for books to gift, may I suggest you cast your eyes to the top of the this page - all six books are listed on Smashwords and are currently $0.99 each in my December promotion.

If eBooks are too radical for the target of your generosity then print books are still available and, heck, may be for a few years more.  Just don't let anyone know I said that.  Again, all those books at the top of this blog are available from your local Amazon outlet and are printed to order.  Better be quick, though, because it can take a couple of days from placing an order to Amazon and the Post Office getting it to your front door.  I don't think Amazon supply gift receipts, but trust me on this one, I doubt your present will be duplicated (I've seen the Amazon sales figures for my books!).

Enjoy the holidays.

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