5 ms·

Space really isn’t that scarce. Library books solely as interior design is still better than 99% of the decorative architecture campuses are covered in that us

Space really isn’t that scarce. Library books solely as interior design is still better than 99% of the decorative architecture campuses are covered in that use up orders of magnitude more space.

liontwist 2y ago
The cost for universities is the librarians, (and journal subscriptions?) not the books.
- dr_dshiv 2y ago
  Think of what a librarian could be today in the context of LLMs — there are completely different ways of accessing and organizing information — ways that will continually evolve in next few years. In Europe it is legal to scan library books and use the contents with ML, per EU directive.
WalterBright 2y ago
What is funny is that the background one sees on remote interviews on TV is nearly always a bookshelf. The books are carefully curated to give the right impression to the viewer. I wonder if the person had actually read them, or it is just window decoration. One person had the books he'd authored lined up on his shelf. Sadly, I rarely am able to read the titles on the spines. A bit too out of focus. There's a great pic of Werner von Braun in his office, with the inevitable bookshelf behind him. I was able to read some of the titles, and looked them up. Classic rocket books! The ultimate nerd bookshelf. I wonder what is on Elon's bookshelf!
- Karrot_Kream 2y ago
  > What is funny is that the background one sees on remote interviews on TV is nearly always a bookshelf. The books are carefully curated to give the right impression to the viewer. I wonder if the person had actually read them, or it is just window decoration. There are rental bookshelves available for decorative or studio purposes actually, which are purely put together to give the impression of erudition. When doing scholarly photoshoots, posing in front of the office bookshelf is a common choice.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    Just for laughs, I used a photo of a bookshelf as my zoom background for a while.
- matwood 2y ago
  Haha...I often don't pay attention to the interview itself and spend the entire time bothering my wife with questions like, 'I wonder why they picked that book/picture/background?'
- liontwist 2y ago
  They are decorations. Very common for lawyers and finance pros to have similar styles for sales purposes. Elons brand isn’t really being a historian or an academic guy. I don’t think he reads and I don’t think he pretends to. Just focus on the projects.
  - itishappy 2y ago
    I wonder what's on Jeff Bezos' bookshelf. He leans more into the history. https://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html https://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    > I don’t think he reads I've read that he's read "Rocketeers" by Belfiore, along with "Rocket Propulsion Elements" and "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics". I have all three. The latter two are very non-trivial. Musk is extremely well informed about technology. The idea that he doesn't read is not compelling.
    - liontwist 2y ago
      > Musk is extremely well informed about technology Yes. That’s different than reading. I’m not ascribing moral value either way.
      - WalterBright 2y ago
        One doesn't become well-informed without reading. I recall debating a historical point with a person who would send me cites in the form of TikTok clips. Coincidentally, I have two entire books on the subject, by two accomplished historians. Both books demolished all of his points. Just for fun, compare a transcript of the movie "Oppenheimer" with the book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". You're looking at a transcript of the movie of a few pages vs a 750 page small print tome. There's no way "Oppenheimer" makes one well informed about the Manhattan Project.
        liontwist 2y ago

Space really isn’t that scarce. Library books solely as interior design is still better than 99% of the decorative architecture campuses are covered in that use up orders of magnitude more space.

liontwist 2y ago

The cost for universities is the librarians, (and journal subscriptions?) not the books.

dr_dshiv 2y ago
Think of what a librarian could be today in the context of LLMs — there are completely different ways of accessing and organizing information — ways that will continually evolve in next few years. In Europe it is legal to scan library books and use the contents with ML, per EU directive.

WalterBright 2y ago

What is funny is that the background one sees on remote interviews on TV is nearly always a bookshelf. The books are carefully curated to give the right impression to the viewer. I wonder if the person had actually read them, or it is just window decoration. One person had the books he'd authored lined up on his shelf. Sadly, I rarely am able to read the titles on the spines. A bit too out of focus. There's a great pic of Werner von Braun in his office, with the inevitable bookshelf behind him. I was able to read some of the titles, and looked them up. Classic rocket books! The ultimate nerd bookshelf. I wonder what is on Elon's bookshelf!

Karrot_Kream 2y ago
> What is funny is that the background one sees on remote interviews on TV is nearly always a bookshelf. The books are carefully curated to give the right impression to the viewer. I wonder if the person had actually read them, or it is just window decoration. There are rental bookshelves available for decorative or studio purposes actually, which are purely put together to give the impression of erudition. When doing scholarly photoshoots, posing in front of the office bookshelf is a common choice.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  Just for laughs, I used a photo of a bookshelf as my zoom background for a while.
matwood 2y ago
Haha...I often don't pay attention to the interview itself and spend the entire time bothering my wife with questions like, 'I wonder why they picked that book/picture/background?'
liontwist 2y ago
They are decorations. Very common for lawyers and finance pros to have similar styles for sales purposes. Elons brand isn’t really being a historian or an academic guy. I don’t think he reads and I don’t think he pretends to. Just focus on the projects.
- itishappy 2y ago
  I wonder what's on Jeff Bezos' bookshelf. He leans more into the history. https://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html https://www.bezosexpeditions.com/updates.html
- WalterBright 2y ago
  > I don’t think he reads I've read that he's read "Rocketeers" by Belfiore, along with "Rocket Propulsion Elements" and "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics". I have all three. The latter two are very non-trivial. Musk is extremely well informed about technology. The idea that he doesn't read is not compelling.
  - liontwist 2y ago
    > Musk is extremely well informed about technology Yes. That’s different than reading. I’m not ascribing moral value either way.
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      One doesn't become well-informed without reading. I recall debating a historical point with a person who would send me cites in the form of TikTok clips. Coincidentally, I have two entire books on the subject, by two accomplished historians. Both books demolished all of his points. Just for fun, compare a transcript of the movie "Oppenheimer" with the book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". You're looking at a transcript of the movie of a few pages vs a 750 page small print tome. There's no way "Oppenheimer" makes one well informed about the Manhattan Project.
      - liontwist 2y ago