3 ms·

I dont understand the hate for this book. A very smart and wealthy man spent a lot of coin geeking out on a passion. Doesnt seem very different from Jay Leno a

I dont understand the hate for this book. A very smart and wealthy man spent a lot of coin geeking out on a passion. Doesnt seem very different from Jay Leno and his garage or Tom Hanks and his typewriters. Compared to the ketamine and influence that our current billionaires spend their money on, it seems pretty harmless.

fmajid 2y ago
Because Myhrvold is the single most notorious patent troll, bar none.
- genewitch 2y ago
  Never sous vide your heros
quesera 2y ago
Myrvhold has a bad rep in the tech industry due to Innovation Ventures. But re: Modernist Cuisine, I've always puzzled over the COGS and ROI math. Despite the high price, he might actually be selling at cost. A lot of effort went into these books. The photography was surely expensive to create, and definitely to print. The books must be very low-volume sales, you have to account for the wholesale price to bookstores, and add some required margin for the publisher... I wonder if they are above water for Myrvhold at all. Not that he needs them to be, obviously. I also wonder about Don Knuth, and some of the TASCHEN specimen titles. Publishing is a tough business!
- Agingcoder 2y ago
  I know a bit about the taschen/luxury books business, having a very good friend who works in this space ( she’s built a publishing business, and makes a living out of it, typically her books print up to a few hundreds at most). Basically, there are book collectors who are willing to pay for beautiful books ( my friend sells art pieces according to her , not mere books ), companies willing to buy them ( and sometimes codesign them if they’re say luxury brands ) and give them as gifts to their clients, and then people like you and me who will maybe buy one just because you really want it. It’s not a highly profitable business by any means, it’s a small market, and it’s the opposite of the high volume mainstream publishing industry.

fmajid 2y ago

Because Myhrvold is the single most notorious patent troll, bar none.

genewitch 2y ago
Never sous vide your heros

quesera 2y ago

Myrvhold has a bad rep in the tech industry due to Innovation Ventures. But re: Modernist Cuisine, I've always puzzled over the COGS and ROI math. Despite the high price, he might actually be selling at cost. A lot of effort went into these books. The photography was surely expensive to create, and definitely to print. The books must be very low-volume sales, you have to account for the wholesale price to bookstores, and add some required margin for the publisher... I wonder if they are above water for Myrvhold at all. Not that he needs them to be, obviously. I also wonder about Don Knuth, and some of the TASCHEN specimen titles. Publishing is a tough business!

Agingcoder 2y ago
I know a bit about the taschen/luxury books business, having a very good friend who works in this space ( she’s built a publishing business, and makes a living out of it, typically her books print up to a few hundreds at most). Basically, there are book collectors who are willing to pay for beautiful books ( my friend sells art pieces according to her , not mere books ), companies willing to buy them ( and sometimes codesign them if they’re say luxury brands ) and give them as gifts to their clients, and then people like you and me who will maybe buy one just because you really want it. It’s not a highly profitable business by any means, it’s a small market, and it’s the opposite of the high volume mainstream publishing industry.