Defining Epicurean Hedonism

Note: I am putting together original writings for my philosophy site (which has recently undergone a new focus). The following is a draft of the first of this original content.  Appreciate any comments.

Defining Epicurean Hedonism

The ancient followers of Epicurus (Epicureans) had a far different understanding of the word Epicureanism than we speakers of modern English do. The modern understanding of Epicureanism stands in near opposition to the classical meaning of the term. Just as Epicureanism has had a shift in meaning so, too, has the term hedonism. The following will attempt to distinguish between the modern conception of hedonism and the hedonism of Epicurus, which for the sake of differentiation can be called virtuous hedonism.

Dictionaries define hedonism as “pursuit of or devotion to pleasure” and generally refer to sensual pleasures. The word hedonism comes from the word hēdonē which is an English tranliteration of the Greek word for pleasure¹. To most moderns, the word hedonism brings up visions of overweight intoxicated people eating and drinking to excess and indulging in bawdy pleasures. As we shall see, for Epicureans, hedonism means something far different. In order to understand this difference, we must begin by exploring what the Epicureans mean by pleasure.

Epicurus rested his entire ethical doctrine on pleasure, believing that all living beings sought it out naturally without being taught. The problem, in Epicurus’ view, is that we allow short term pleasures to interfere with our long term pleasure and peace of mind. Principal Doctrine 3 reads:

The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together.²

A brief (and admittedly oversimplified) example may help to illustrate this point. When hungry, one suffers pain. Eating satisfies the pangs of hunger and leads to pleasure. However, if overly rich foods are eaten or if one eats too much, pain and discomfort return. In this example, the short term pleasure of gorging on good food gets in the way of our longer term pleasure of not feeling bloated and overly full. It is in this sense that moderation leads to the greatest pleasure, as both eating too little and eating too much creates pain.

Epicurus differentiates between two different types of pleasure. The first pleasure type is kinematic (pleasure in motion) and is created by stimulus (eating sweet food, playing with a puppy, etc…), but the pleasure ends when the stimulus stops. The other pleasure type is katastematic (pleasure at rest) and is not based on a constant stimulus but upon the non-existence of pain, fear, anxiety, etc… Katastematic pleasure is held to be the higher good as it leads to ataraxia (robust tranquility). For the Epicureans, ataraxia is believed to be the goal of philosophy and life and is, in fact, the only source of true happiness. While kinematic pleasure is held to be a good, it should only be sought if it in no way interferes with our katastematic pleasure. Referring back our example above, rich food is OK to seek out, but must be done in moderation so that it does not interfere with the tranquility of being sated. This outlook stands in direct opposition to the modern views of the terms Epicurean and hedonism.

No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.³

Katastematic pleasure is nearly a negative-pleasure as it is based less upon pleasurable stimuli and more upon the absence of pain, fear, anxiety, etc… While Epicurus and his followers sought pleasure of the body (to satiation, never to excess), it is the pleasures of the soul and mind that are of the highest good and most likely to provide long-term ataraxia. To, once again, reference the Principal Doctrines:

Bodily pleasure does not increase when the pain of want has been removed; after that it only admits of variation. The limit of mental pleasure, however, is reached when we reflect on these bodily pleasures and their related emotions, which used to cause the mind the greatest alarms.⁴

For Epicurus, tranquility of the mind and soul can only be achieved after removing fear of the Gods, heavenly bodies, and death, these being the chief obstacles to maintaining lasting pleasure. He further held that learning, friendship, and removing oneself from public life all lead to the greatest tranquility.

Hedonism for Epicurus involves the past, present, and future. Living each moment so that it does not later cause regret, understanding your desires and seeking out those which are both necessary and natural, and understanding that the Gods and death are nothing to us which will prevent anxiety about the future.

 

1) Wikipedia: hēdonē

2) Principal Doctrine 3

3) Principal Doctrine 8

4) Principal Doctrine 18

Tumblr, it has been good to know you

Tumblelog, you don’t hear that phrase much these days.  Mostly you don’t hear that term because micro-blog was a little more catchy.

To quote Wikipedia:

Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”. These small messages are sometimes called microposts.

I signed up for a Tumblr account the month that they went live, March 2007.  I liked the concept, I liked having a blog and a micro-blog as they served different purposes.

With the announcement that Yahoo was buying Tumblr, I scrambled to find the exit.  It seems that everything that Yahoo touches turns to poo.  How long did Flickr stagnate under Yahoo’s mis-management?

Yesterday I set up a second WordPress blog to be my microblog.  The nice thing is that there were only little problems importing my 1200 posts.  Youtube videos imported as links and mp3s didn’t import at all but other than that…

It isn’t clear what Yahoo’s plans for Tumblr are, but I had no hope that improvements would be on the list.  So Yahoo buys Tumblr, I move to WordPress, seems like a win/win and everyone is happy.

Link to my microblog.

Epicureanism as a Way of Life

Those who know me know that I have long been intrigued by the Hellenistic philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism.  In the last two years I have been drawn away from Stoicism and have developed a deep attachment to the teachings of Epicurus.

I’ve always enjoyed the way that the Buddhists numbered everything…the three practices, the four noble truths, the eightfold path, etc…

In my notebook I’ve been attempting to do something similar for Epicureanism.  Since it has been so long since I posted anything here, I thought I would share them.

(keep in mind that I invented none of these, I simply drew them from disparate sources, I would have kept source links had I known that I would share them)

Ten Epicurean Values

1-5 have to do with ourselves)

1) Prudence
2) Self-management
3) Self-sufficiency
4) Serenity
5) Simplicity

6-10 have to do with our relationship with others)

6) Friendliness
7) Honesty
8) Generosity
9) Cheerfulness
10) Gentleness

Eight Epicurean Counsels

1) Don’t fear God.
2) Don’t worry about death.
3) Don’t fear pain.
4) Live simply.
5) Pursue pleasure wisely.
6) Make friends and be a good friend.
7) Be honest in your business and private life.
8) Avoid fame and political ambition.

The Epicurean Paradox

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

Four Part Cure

Don’t fear god,
Don’t worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure.

Types of Desires

1.  Natural and necessary (always OK)
2. Natural but unnecessary (OK if no greater harm is caused)
3. Unnatural and unnecessary (Never OK)

 The Three Goods

1. Friendship
2. Analysed Life
3. Autarchy

Principal Doctrines

1A blessed and eternal being has no trouble itself and brings no trouble upon any other being; hence it is exempt from movements of anger and favour, for every such movement implies weakness.

2Death is nothing to us; for the body, when it has been resolved into its elements, has no feeling, and that which has no feeling is nothing to us.

3The magnitude of pleasures is limited by the removal of all pain. Wherever there is pleasure, so long as it is present, there is no pain either of body or of mind or both.

4Continuous pain does not last long in the flesh, and pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that degree of pain which barely outweighs pleasure in the flesh does not occur for many days together. Illnesses of long duration even permit of an excess of pleasure over pain in the flesh.

5It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man does not live wisely, though he lives well and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.

6As far as concerns protection from other men, any means of procuring this was a natural good.

7Some men sought to become famous and renowned, thinking that thus they would make themselves secure against their fellow-men. If, then, the life of such persons really was secure, they attained natural good; if, however, it was insecure, they have not attained the end which by nature’s own promptings they originally sought.

8No pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.

9If all pleasure had been capable of accumulation, if this had gone on not only in time, but all over the frame or, at any rate, the principal parts of man’s nature, there would not have been any difference between one pleasure and another as, in fact, there now is.

10If the objects which are productive of pleasures to profligate persons really freed them from fears of the mind—the fears, I mean, inspired by celestial and atmospheric phenomena, the fear of death, the fear of pain—if, further, they taught them to limit their desires, we should not have any reason to censure such persons, for they would then be filled with pleasure to overflowing on all sides and would be exempt from all pain, whether of body or mind, that is, from all evil.

11If we had never been molested by alarms at celestial and atmospheric phenomena, nor by the misgiving that death somehow affects us, nor by neglect of the proper limits of pains and desires, we should have had no need to study natural science.

12It would be impossible to banish fear on matters of the highest importance if a man did not know the nature of the whole universe but lived in dread of what the legends tell us. Hence, without the study of nature there was no enjoyment of unmixed pleasures.

13There would be no advantage in providing security against our fellow-men so long as we were alarmed by occurrences over our heads or beneath the earth, or in general by whatever happens in the infinite void.

14When tolerable security against our fellow-men is attained, then on a basis of power arises most genuine bliss, to wit, the security of a private life withdrawn from the multitude.

15Nature’s wealth has its bounds and is easy to procure, but the wealth of vain fancies recedes to an infinite distance.

16Fortune but slightly crosses the wise man’s path; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.

17The just man enjoys the greatest peace of mind, the unjust is full of the utmost disquietude.

18Pleasure in the flesh admits no increase when once the pain of want has been removed; after that it only admits of variation. The limit of pleasure in the mind is obtained by calculating the pleasures themselves and the contrary pains, which cause the mind the greatest alarms.

19Infinite time and finite time hold an equal amount of pleasure, if we measure the limits of that pleasure by reason.

20The flesh assumes the limits of pleasure to be infinite, and only infinite time would satisfy it. But the mind, grasping in thought what the end and limit of the flesh is, and banishing the terrors of futurity, procures a complete and perfect life and has no longer any need of infinite time. Nevertheless, it does not shun pleasure, and even in the hour of death, when ushered out of existence by circumstances, the mind does not fail to enjoy the best life.

21He who understands the limits of life knows how easy it is to procure enough to remove the pain of want and make the whole of life complete and perfect. Hence he has no longer any need of things which are not to be won save by conflict and struggle.

22We must take into account as the end all that really exists and all clear evidence of sense to which we refer our opinions; for otherwise everything will be full of uncertainty and confusion.

23If you fight against all your sensations you will have no standard to which to refer, and thus no means of judging even those sensations which you pronounce false.

24If you reject absolutely any single sensation without stopping to discriminate between that which is matter of opinion and awaits further confirmation and that which is already present, whether in sensation or in feeling or in any mental apprehension, you will throw into confusion even the rest of your sensations by your groundless belief, so as to reject the truth altogether. If you hastily affirm as true all that awaits confirmation in ideas based on opinion, as well as that which does not, you will not escape error, as you will be taking sides in every question involving truth and error.

25If you do not on every separate occasion refer each of your actions to the chief end of nature, but if instead of this in the act of choice or avoidance you swerve aside to some other end, your acts will not be consistent with your theories.

26Some desires lead to no pain when they remain ungratified. All such desires are unnecessary, and the longing is easily got rid of when the thing desired is difficult to procure or when the desires seem likely to produce harm.

27Of all the means which are procured by wisdom to insure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.

28The same conviction, which inspires confidence that nothing we have to fear is eternal or even of long duration, also enables us to see that even in our limited life nothing enhances our security so much as friendship.

29Of our desires, some are natural and necessary; others are natural, but not necessary; others, again, are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion.

30Some natural desires, again, entail no pain when not gratified, though the objects are vehemently pursued. These desires also are due to groundless opinion, and when they are not got rid of, it is not because of their own nature, but because of the man’s groundless opinion.

31Natural justice is a contract of expediency, to prevent one man from harming or being harmed by another.

32Those animals which were incapable of making compacts with one another, to the end that they might neither inflict nor suffer harm, are without either justice or injustice. Similarly those tribes which either could not or would not form mutual covenants to the same end are in the like case.

33There never was an absolute justice, but only a convention made in mutual intercourse, in whatever region, from time to time, providing against the infliction or suffering of harm.

34Injustice is not in itself an evil, but only in its consequence, viz., the terror which is excited by apprehension that those appointed to punish such offences will discover the injustice.

35It is impossible for the man who secretly violates any article of the social compact to feel confident that he will remain undiscovered, even if he has already escaped ten thousand times; for until his death he is never sure he will not be detected.

36Taken generally, justice is the same for all, but in its application to particular cases of territory or the like, it varies under different circumstances.

37Whatever in conventional law is attested to be expedient in the needs arising out of mutual intercourse is by its nature just, whether the same for all or not, and in case any law is made and does not prove suitable to the expediency of mutual intercourse, then this is no longer just. And should the expediency which is expressed by the law vary and only for a time correspond with the notion of justice, nevertheless, for the time being, it was just, so long as we do not trouble ourselves about empty terms but look broadly at facts.

38Where without any change in circumstances the conventional laws when judged by their consequences were seen not to correspond with the notion of justice, such laws were not really just; but wherever the laws have ceased to be expedient in consequence of a change in circumstances, in that case the laws were for the time being just, when they were expedient for the mutual intercourse of the citizens, and ceased subsequently to be just when they ceased to be expedient.

39He who best insured safety from external foes made into one nation all the folk capable of uniting together, and those incapable of such union he assuredly did not treat as aliens; if there were any whom he could not even on such terms incorporate, he excluded them from intercourse whenever this suited with his own interests.

40Those who could best insure the confidence that they would be safe from their neighbours, being thus in possession of the surest guarantee, passed the most agreeable life in each other’s society, and their enjoyment of the fullest intimacy was such that, if one of them died before his time, the survivors did not lament his death as if it called for pity.

Vatican Sayings

1(PD 1)A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness.

2(PD 2)Death is nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to us.

3(PD 4)Continuous bodily pain does not last long; instead, pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that degree of pain which slightly exceeds bodily pleasure does not last for many days at once. Diseases of long duration allow an excess of bodily pleasure over pain.

4Every pain is easy to disregard; for that which is intense is of brief duration, and those bodily pains that last long are mild.

5(PD 5)It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.

6(PD 35)It is impossible for a man who secretly violates the terms of the agreement not to harm or be harmed to feel confident that he will remain undiscovered, even if he has already escaped ten thousand times; for until his death he is never sure that he will not be detected.

7For an aggressor to be undetected is difficult; and for him to be confident that his concealment will continue is impossible.

8(PD 15)The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.

9Necessity is an evil; but there is no necessity for continuing to live with necessity.

10Remember that you are mortal and have a limited time to live and have devoted yourself to discussions on nature for all time and eternity and have seen “things that are now and are to me come and have been.”

11Most men are insensible when they rest, and mad when they act.

12(PD 17) The just man is most free from disturbance, while the unjust is full of the utmost disturbance.

13(PD 37) Among the things held to be just by law, whatever is proved to be of advantage in men’s dealings has the stamp of justice, whether or not it be the same for all; but if a man makes a law and it does not prove to be mutually advantageous, then this is no longer just. And if what is mutually advantageous varies and only for a time corresponds to our concept of justice, nevertheless for that time it is just for those who do not trouble themselves about empty words, but look simply at the facts.

14We have been born once and cannot be born a second time; for all eternity we shall no longer exist. But you, although you are not in control of tomorrow, are postponing your happiness. Life is wasted by delaying, and each one of us dies without enjoying leisure.

15We place a high value on our characters as if they were our own possessions whether or not we are virtuous and praised by other men. So, too, we must regard the characters of those around us if they are our friends.

16No one chooses a thing seeing that it is evil; but being lured by it when it appears good in comparison to a greater evil, he is caught.

17We should not view the young man as happy, but rather the old man whose life has been fortunate. The young man at the height of his powers is often befuddled by chance and driven from his course; but the old man has dropped anchor in old age as in a harbor, since he secures in sure and thankful memory goods for which he was once scarcely confident of.

18If sight, association, and intercourse are removed, the passion of love is ended.

19He has become an old man on the day on which he forgot his past blessings.

20(PD 29) Of our desires some are natural and necessary, others are natural but not necessary; and others are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion.

21We must not force Nature but persuade her. We shall persuade her if we satisfy the necessary desires and also those bodily desires that do not harm us while sternly rejecting those that are harmful.

22(PD 19) Unlimited time and limited time afford an equal amount of pleasure, if we measure the limits of that pleasure by reason.

23Every friendship in itself is to be desired; but the initial cause of friendship is from its advantages.

24Dreams have neither a divine nature nor a prophetic power, but they are the result of images that impact on us.

25Poverty, if measured by the natural end, is great wealth; but wealth, if not limited, is great poverty.

26One must presume that long and short arguments contribute to the same end.

27The benefits of other activities come only to those who have already become, with great difficulty, complete masters of such pursuits, but in the study of philosophy pleasure accompanies growing knowledge; for pleasure does not follow learning; rather, learning and pleasure advance side by side.

28Those who are overly eager to make friends are not to be approved; nor yet should you approve those who avoid friendship, for risks must be run for its sake.

29To speak frankly as I study nature I would prefer to speak in oracles that which is of advantage to all men even though it be understood by none, rather than to conform to popular opinion and thus gain the constant praise that comes from the many.

30Some men spend their whole life furnishing for themselves the things proper to life without realizing that at our birth each of us was poured a mortal brew to drink.

31It is possible to provide security against other things, but as far as death is concerned, we men all live in a city without walls.

32The honor paid to a wise man is itself a great good for those who honor him.

33The cry of the flesh is not to be hungry, thirsty, or cold; for he who is free of these and is confident of remain so might vie even with Zeus for happiness.

34We do not so much need the assistance of our friends as we do the confidence of their assistance in need.

35Don’t spoil what you have by desiring what you don’t have; but remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.

36Epicurus’s life when compared to that of other men with respect to gentleness and self-sufficiency might be thought a mere legend.

37When confronted by evil nature is weak, but not when faced with good; for pleasures make it secure but pains ruin it.

38He is of very small account for whom there are many good reasons for ending his life.

39Neither he who is always seeking material aid from his friends nor he who never considers such aid is a true friend; for one engages in petty trade, taking a favor instead of gratitude, and the other deprives himself of hope for the future.

40He who asserts that everything happens by necessity can hardly find fault with one who denies that everything happens by necessity; by his own theory this very argument is voiced by necessity.

41At one and the same time we must philosophize, laugh, and manage our household and other business, while never ceasing to proclaim the words of true philosophy.

42The same time produces both the beginning of the greatest good and the dissolution of the evil.

43The love of money, if unjustly gained, is impious, and, if justly, shameful; for it is inappropriate to be miserly even with justice on one’s side.

44The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.

45The study of nature does not create men who are fond of boasting and chattering or who show off the culture that impresses the many, but rather men who are strong and self-sufficient, and who take pride in their own personal qualities not in those that depend on external circumstances.

46Let us completely rid ourselves of our bad habits as if they were evil men who have done us long and grievous harm.

47I have anticipated you, Fortune, and entrenched myself against all your secret attacks. And we will not give ourselves up as captives to you or to any other circumstance; but when it is time for us to go, spitting contempt on life and on those who here vainly cling to it, we will leave life crying aloud in a glorious triumph-song that we have lived well.

48While we are on the road, we must try to make what is before us better than what is past; when we come to the road’s end, we feel a smooth contentment.

49(PD 12) It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he doesn’t know the nature of the universe but still gives some credence to myths. So without the study of nature there is no enjoyment of pure pleasure.

50(PD 8) No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.

51[addressing a young man] I understand from you that your natural disposition is too much inclined toward sexual passion. Follow your inclination as you will, provided only that you neither violate the laws, disturb well-established customs, harm any one of your neighbors, injure your own body, nor waste your possessions. That you be not checked by one or more of these provisos is impossible; for a man never gets any good from sexual passion, and he is fortunate if he does not receive harm.

52Friendship dances around the world bidding us all to awaken to the recognition of happiness.

53We must envy no one; for the good do not deserve envy and as for the bad, the more they prosper, the more they ruin it for themselves.

54It is not the pretense but the real pursuit of philosophy that is needed; for we do not need the semblance of health but rather true health.

55We should find solace for misfortune in the happy memory of what has been and in the knowledge that what has been cannot be undone.

56–57The wise man feels no more pain when being tortured himself than when his friend tortured, and will die for him; for if he betrays his friend, his whole life will be confounded by distrust and completely upset.

58We must free ourselves from the prison of public education and politics.

59What cannot be satisfied is not a man’s stomach, as most men think, but rather the false opinion that the stomach requires unlimited filling.

60Every man passes out of life as if he had just been born.

61Most beautiful is the sight of those close to us, when our original contact makes us of one mind or produces a great incitement to this end.

62If the anger of parents against their children is justified, it is quite pointless for the children to resist it and to fail to ask forgiveness. If the anger is not justified but is unreasonable, it is folly for an irrational child to appeal to someone deaf to appeals and not to try to turn it aside in other directions by a display of good will.

63There is also a limit in simple living, and he who fails to understand this falls into an error as great as that of the man who gives way to extravagance.

64We should welcome praise from others if it comes unsought, but we should be concerned with healing ourselves.

65It is pointless for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.

66We show our feeling for our friends’ suffering, not with laments, but with thoughtful concern.

67Since the attainment of great wealth can scarcely be accomplished without slavery to crowds or to politicians, a free life cannot obtain much wealth; but such a life already possesses everything in unfailing supply. Should such a life happen to achieve great wealth, this too it can share so as to gain the good will of one’s neighbors.

68Nothing is enough to someone for whom what is enough is little.

69The thankless nature of the soul makes the creature endlessly greedy for variations in its lifestyle.

70Do nothing in your life that will cause you to fear if it is discovered by your neighbor.

71Question each of your desires: “What will happen to me if that which this desire seeks is achieved, and what if it is not?”

72(PD 13) There is no advantage to obtaining protection from other men so long as we are alarmed by events above or below the earth or in general by whatever happens in the boundless universe.

73That we have suffered certain bodily pains aids us in preventing others like them.

74In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns the most.

75The saying, “look to the end of a long life,” shows small thanks for past good fortune.

76As you grow old you are such as I urge you to be, and you have recognized the difference between studying philosophy for yourself and studying it for Greece. I rejoice with you.

77Freedom is the greatest fruit of self-sufficiency.

78The noble man is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship; of these, the former is a mortal good, the latter an immortal one.

79He who is calm disturbs neither himself nor another.

80The first step towards salvation is to attend to one’s youth and guard against that which defiles everything through maddening desires.

81The soul neither rids itself of disturbance nor gains a worthwhile joy through the possession of greatest wealth, nor by the honor and admiration bestowed by the crowd, or through any of the other things sought by unlimited desire.

Against CISPA? Take the internet dark, 4/22/2013

History, Redux Edition

What follows is an opinionated rant, feel free to browse elsewhere.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.  –Ben Franklin

As Mozilla finally gives up on the iOS platform, the question that must be asked is who is next?  The constraints that Apple puts on browser developers (straight out of Microsoft’s wettest dream) leads to the crippling of alternatives to mobile Safari.  Apple uses Safari’s webkit browser engine but only allows other browsers to use a crippled and slower version.  Despite this handicap, Google’s Chrome is not only competitive with Safari, but bests it in most usage scenarios.  Apple is just not that savvy when it comes to coding software (hence the need for restrictions to prevent real competition).

As developers begin to abandon the platform we need only look at Apple’s history to see where this is going.  Once Apple made the most advanced personal computer.  But after its release, they sat on their laurels and stopped innovating.  When competition arose, Apple still did not innovate, instead they hired lawyers and attempted to use the courts to stifle the competition.  They eventually lost and the platform languished, never to recover.  While the competition went on to rule the desktop roost.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and Apple had the most innovative phone platform.  But as the competition moves ahead of them, Apple fails to grasp the lessons of history and again fails to innovate.  Once again they attempt to use the courts to stifle the competition.  Attempting to stifle Android’s rapid innovation through a global thermonuclear patent war has so far had the same effect as round one.  One major win (which still can’t be counted due to not being finalized and under appeal) and an entire series of losses and pyrrhic victories which has done little but tarnish Apple’s own brand.  Innovation wise, Apple trails badly.  Still the kings of gorgeous hardware, Apple struggles with mediocre software and even worse web services.

The only thing keeping Apple’s iOS at current levels is consumer lock-in.  People have invested in the app store and they are loathe to abandon that investment.  But, sooner or later, they will cut their losses and move on; and history will have made another revolution.  More important is that teenagers, the bellwether of what’s cool, are fleeing the platform.  When Apple was the small underdog they were cool (well, at least hipster cool if not truly cool), but with their popularity and ease of use they now appeal to the elderly.  Can a device really be cool if your grandmother has one?

A recent report suggested that 96% of all mobile malware is targeting Android, still 7 out of 10 consumers choose that platform.  Apple’s share is falling rapidly and now rests at around 20%…history redux, indeed.

Which brings us back to that Franklin quote above.  It would seem that most people agree with Franklin.  Most would rather have a little in-security in exchange for the freedom that Android offers over the closed, locked down, proprietary, and innovation stifling platform offered by the  fruity company.

Just like in the platform wars of old, Apple’s supporters are loud and rabid.  They will gnash their teeth and claim to be superior (just like they did last time around), they will claim that Apple has somehow been cheated or even stolen from.  And still, their platform will slide into irrelevance.

Perhaps Apple will have better luck with watches.

Electronic Books and Reading Devices Come of Age

E-books have been gaining in popularity the last few years. Devices to read these books come from a plethora of manufacturers; Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony’s what-ch-may-call-it device, plus multi use tablets from Apple and those running the Android operating system. Not to mention the explosion of smart phones some with screens that match the dedicated e-reader devices. The problem for me has been the proprietary nature of these devices and the books that go with them. Buy into an ecosystem and your books are stranded there, harsh digital rights management (DRM) sees to that.

I’ve always been a reader, as far back as I can remember. From the time that my first grade teacher read the class Charlotte’s Web I was captured by the magical escapism that comes from reading. Since then, books have been a constant companion throughout my life. Years ago when e-books were first appearing, I shunned them in favor of the familiar dead tree variety of books. Then with the advent of dedicated e-readers and screens created specifically not to fatigue the eyes my interest grew. But the proprietary closed nature of each seller’s ecosystem held me back. Buy a book from Apple and you can only read it on Apple hardware. While Amazon’s Kindle software runs on a wide range of devices if you choose to end your relationship with Amazon all of your books become inaccessible. The gross and unfair DRM prevents you from actually owning the items that you buy.  As you may recall, digital music went through a similar phase.  Apple’s heavily DRM encumbered music store was a niche product until Amazon released non-DRM music (forcing Apple to follow or become irrelevant).  Then digital music bloomed.  I don’t recall the last time I bought a physical CD, and e-books are nearing that phase now.  I think it is safe to say that when the DRM comes off, traditional publishers, bookstores, and their agents will become a historical footnote.  Authors will go direct to consumers, books will be cheaper and authors will earn more, the middle man will disappear.

I read my first full e-book about a year and a half ago.  Since then I have read 15 or 20 e-books and but a single paper book.  While I don’t have a dedicated reader device I do have a highly customizable Android tablet that allows me to have different settings for different lighting conditions.  This makes it easy on the eyes to read in pretty much any condition other than direct sunlight, since I never really read on the beach this is not a problem.

Much like iTunes helps organize your music and make it accessible, there are organizers that use meta data to organize your books.  I use Calibre Ebook Manager, it is fast, efficient, multi-platform, and open source.  If you can use iTunes, or Windows Media Player then you can effectively use Calibre.  It manages most book formats and has a built in reader application.  For mobile and tablets, where most of my reading gets done, there are a multitude of reader applications available.  I currently use Moon Reader on Android, it handles many formats and wirelessly integrates with Calibre on the desktop.  This provides a no-compromise experience that bests having a large library of physical books (I still have 3 large book cases filled with books but they are becoming less relevant.)

But what about obtaining books?  Most books are still DRM encumbered, holding back the entire industry.  This is a publisher inspired attack on both the reading public and the authors who are trying to reach them.  However, the time is fast approaching when DRM will fall by the wayside, in the meantime there are lots of books available without DRM.  For tech books, O’Reilly Publishing offers thousands of titles on vast topics all without DRM.  Tor, the publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy has gone completely DRM-Free.

The folks at Defective by Design have the best list of places to obtain DRM-free books, the list is currently quite vast and growing.

Currently if one wants to go all digital in their reading, it may be impossible to get some books in DRM free format.  So if you must buy these, leave comments for the publisher/seller that you prefer your reading to be unencumbered with DRM.

It is only a matter of time until freedom wins out and DRM falls by the wayside…in the mean time: Happy Reading.

Ubuntu Unity, Unnecassarily Ununified

Mobile is all the buzz in the world of technology. Microsoft brought their phone interface to Windows 8 while Apple continues to borrow ideas from iOS for the Mac desktop. Not to be outdone, Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu Linux, forked the Gnome Shell to bring mobile UI elements to the desktop. This interface, known as Unity, has received much bashing from the Linux faithful. Previously I had very minimal experience with Unity. I installed it, looked at it, and replaced it with Gnome Shell and then went back to KDE.
I’ve been a KDE fan for years. I loved KDE 3 and it was my favorite UI for years. When KDE 4 was released too early and incomplete I switched to Gnome and even Windows for a while. Eventually, with KDE 4.4, I went back to it and it regained its place at the top of my list. I would tell anyone who cared to listen that KDE was my favorite and it was followed by Windows. But I like to give others a chance.
When Windows 8 RC was released I used it for 3 months to see if it was as bad as everyone said (it wasn’t). However, I happily scurried back to KDE when my experiment was concluded.
I keep a spare computer under my desk to install new stuff on and to do stuff too dangerous to do on my regular desktop. The other day I was re-installing Windows on it and I decided to throw Ubuntu Quantal on there as well to see how it was progressing.
Unity breaks many desktop paradigms. Previously I had installed it but not for long enough to get used to it and to see if it was superior to other desktops or just different. So I made the decision to put it on my main desktop. My goal was a six week test, to attempt to use it without serious modifications for an extended period. In this way I thought I could get used to it, experience the Ubuntu way without my previous expectations having a major impact. My 6 week adventure had to be brought to an early termination after 3 days. I don’t think my problem was that it was just different, I think it is more that Unity is not yet ready for primetime.
This is not to say that Unity is not perfect for some users, it is only for my personal use that it is inadequate. On a netbook or a computer with low resolution it may be much more usable than it is on my desktop. Here I’ll only briefly touch on the deficiencies that I found while attempting to not trash the concepts involved.
My setup involves dual monitors of differing resolutions a 22 inch (1680×1050) and a 20 inch (1440×900) with the larger one being primary. With this much real estate the integrated menu bar makes no sense. When I am working in a small file explorer window in the bottom right of the monitor I do not want to move 2 feet diagonally across the monitor to change a setting. Add to that the fact that the menu bar is hidden until you get close to it with the pointer and you have serious usability problems. Gimp has lots of stuff in the menu, I would go up and to the left until the menu bar appeared and then have to go back right to find the correct dropdown to choose a command. A second here, a second there, and pretty soon we are talking about real time wastage. While it is nice that Ubuntu attempts to get the UI out of your way, I think this is too extreme.
Moving the close maximize buttons to the left seems arbitrary and capricious. Over 90% of computer users are used to them being to the right. If Shuttleworth thinks he can win Mac converts with this move, good luck, and I hope he is happy with the targeted 7%. This is a small thing and comes down to preference more than anything else.
On my setup I turned off the dock on my secondary monitor. Still system tray and menu bar stays on both of them. I like the concept except the status messages would appear on the right side of the right monitor while I was working on the left monitor–this is over 3 feet away from where I am focused. One might as well project them onto the moon for all the good that they do. When I hover my mouse over the volume icon and scroll to change the volume, the visual would pop up on the secondary monitor so I would be forced to look one place while working in another some distance away.
I could find no way to force video and music players to open on the secondary monitor. Well, I actually found a way but it was byzantine and involved typing commands into terminal and then copying the output into Compiz and was generally a PITA.
Unity provides no method to browse applications by category. You can browse them all, but there is no means of filtering by use. This is another design problem seemingly adopted from OS X. There is a very good reason that despite its mind share, OS X has never achieved much market share: It looks good in a demo, but in real world environments it sucks to use.
Since there are no categories to browse, search is the preferred method to find and launch applications. But when you do this, you get Amazon ads for Windows software. I don’t really know what to say about this…WTF?
Ubuntu uses an older version of Nautilus with fewer features. Other Gnome software is also deprecated. Not sure what the point of this is.
Buttons don’t act like buttons. Generally when you click on a button it gives the impression of depressing to give you feedback, but not the Unity dock. Click and a second later it will glow and a short while later the application will open. This is probably no slower than any other desktop, but the mixed feedback makes it seem longer. Once again, poor design concepts.
For all of these reasons, I ended my experiment much earlier than expected. I installed Gnome Shell and deleted all traces of Unity. I’ve decided to use Gnome for the 6 week experiment. Will it stick? Will I scurry back to KDE when the experiment is over or will I come to love Gnome the way I do KDE? Time will tell, stay posted as the experiment ends in mid-March. One thing I can say already, with the advent of Gnome 3.6 and Windows 8, Gnome has moved up to be my second favorite desktop environment. Leaving Unity and OS X to fight over last place.