On January 27, 2010, Apple announced the iPad. The iPad has been described as a “large iPod Touch” by most people who have seen the device on the web, in person, or in print. Some newspaper companies are hoping that this device will help save them by giving those who prefer ebooks and blogs a portable and “digital” way to view their products. Several book publishers seem to be hoping the same thing. With the success of Amazon.com’s Kindle, it would seem that they’d be correct in their assumptions, but I beg to differ.

When Apple introduced the iPod back in October 2001, Apple also introduced a new software application called iTunes. I’m sure almost everyone under the age of 60 has at least seen or used iTunes in some way. But what most people don’t know is what iTunes did to the record labels.

Before iTunes became popular you either had to buy an entire CD to get your favorite radio hit, use a cumbersome MP3 download service, or download via bit torrent or similar product illegally.

That meant that most consumers would just buy the entire CD, even if they didn’t like the nine or so other songs on the record. So, in turn, the record labels would make $5-XX off individual CD’s. But iTunes introduced a new platform for selling music. It was an easy way to buy individual songs for as low as $0.99! So people didn’t have to “waste” their money on the other songs on a record. But that also meant that the record label might only make $0.25-0.XX on a purchase. So the record labels did lose quite a bit of money at first, but in the end I think they make it up in volume, or at least make it close to still be worth selling for such a low price.

In my opinion that may be what will happen with the newspaper and book publishers. The publishers are going to either have to sell the product for a low price and make it up in volume or sell it for a ridiculously high amount and hope they sell enough to make it worth “losing” the cheapies like myself, who aren’t going to pay $XX for a digital copy of their product.

I feel newspapers in specific should give away their product for free and run it on an ad system similar to what The Batavian does; but I also feel that they are going to have change the style of writing to be more personal and community oriented.

Comment below to let me know what you think. Do you prefer to read the news or books on the web? Would you be willing to pay for a digital copy?

Every year St. Paul Lutheran School in Batavia celebrates “National Lutheran Schools Week”. It is a week dedicated to celebrating the uniqueness of Lutheran schools across the nation. This year St. Paul chose to make their theme “Numbered with the Saints.” So every day this past week they have had events that had to do with numbers and math. Yesterday the children invited their grandparents to come to the school to see what their usual day is like and also performed a play for them. Today was “The Math Olympics”. Each of the fourth and fifth grade students ran a different station which had to do with some kind of math. Then the younger children teamed up and went around to compete in each “event.” At the end of the day the team with the most points won a prize of treats and goodies.

The video below gives a quick glance at what the afternoon was like.

Yesterday afternoon several Girl Scouts from the Oakfield/Elba area visited Crossroads House to deliver 114 handmade pillows. The girls made the pillows in November planning to give them to Hospice, but Hospice can no longer accept the pillows.  

Tracine Lundmark of Oakfield made some calls and found out that Crossroads House could use the pillows. The girls enjoyed seeing Lois Folger receive several they had made. 

Crossroads will use the pillows to help future residents become more comfortable. If your group or organization would like to make a donation to Crossroads, you can find their contact information on their website. http://crossroadshouse.com

 One of our Facebook Fans sent us a picture of the building on the corner of Ellicott St. and Otis St.

Below is a picture of the building according to Google Street view from 2008, and next to it the 1932 snap shot.

Marie Pappalardo McMullen says "If you drive by, look up top, Grandfather even put our name there 'Pappalardo'."

 I thought I would finish out the series with a bit of humor. Thank you again to everyone who stopped by The Batavian booth and said hi.

It was showtime last night at Oakfield-Alabama High School and the Drama Club was ready to shine for the community. And it did.

The teens have been preparing to perform two plays since October, putting in two-hours days until recently when they started practing three to four hours a day. The plays lasted around two and a half hours with two brief intermissions in between acts.

The first one was about the first Thanksgiving, from the point of view of a young man named Dwayne, who had not done his homework the previous night. Due to his lack of studying, Duane's understanding of the first Thanksgiving was a little skewed.

He was not prepared when his teacher called on him to give a synopsis of that celebrated mealtime. In Dwayne's eyes, the Salem witch trials took place at the same time as the first Thanksgiving. He also believed football was invented by the pilgrim men as a way for them to relax and be lazy while the women did all the work. In the end, Dwayne's teacher got so fed up with his inaccuracies she asked him to stop.

The second play was about the Brookshire family's annual Christmas letter. Mrs. Brookshire asked her family to help her write it but they declined for various reasons and excuses. So she gave up and decided to write it herself.

We then got a glimpse of the big events that happened during the year as she wrote them down in her letter. In the end, the rest of the family realized how important writing the letter was to Mrs. Brookshire, and they helped her finish it.

The following are some video clips from some interviews I conducted with some of the main characters.

The following is the third video in the "Countdown to Christmas" video series. The final videos will be posted on Christmas day.

What does Christmas mean to you? Tell us in the comment section below.

Here is the second video in the "Countdown to Christmas" video series. The next video will be released on Dec. 19

Here's a timely request from our correspondent and video producer Ethan Thompson:

Hello everyone! I'd like to put together a video slideshow featuring pictures of peoples' Christmas trees. So take out your digital camera, snap a picture of your Christmas tree, then email the picture to ethan at jptmedia dot com.

Please include your first and last name and what town you live in. I'll be taking submissions until Dec. 20. The video will be posted on The Batavian Dec. 24.

Last night I went to Christmas in the City and brought along my video equipment. I interviewed around 50 people, which gave me around 45 minutes of footage. So for the next few weeks I'll be posting a new video every seven days until Christmas. On Christmas day I will post one or two longer videos. So I hope you enjoy the first installment of the "Countdown to Christmas" video series.

Thank you to all the wonderful folks that took the time to talk with me and allowed me to interview them.

For the past 10 years, the City Church in Batavia has hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the community. The first year, they teamed up with Miss Batavia Diner and "hosted" the dinner -- which means that they paid for everyone who came in for a turkey dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For the following four years, they rented out the First Presbyterian Church's kitchen. For the past three years, they have been hosting the event at their facility.

The day before Thanksgiving is spent organizing food that has been donated from people and businesses in the community, decorating tables, and tying up all the final loose ends.

On Thanksgiving day, they start cooking meals early in the morning so they are prepared when the doors open at 11:00 a.m..

Transportation is provided by the church's bus ministry for those who need it. When people arrive they are met at the door by a “greeter” who welcomes them and gives them any information they might need. Then they are seated in one of the many tables set up in the back of the church. Volunteers go around the room asking people what they would like to eat or drink, while several people in the kitchen constantly cook food.

On average there are usually around 125 people who take part in the event and about 25 of those are usually deliveries.

“This dinner isn't just for the disadvantaged, it's for anyone who would like to have Thanksgiving dinner with other people, or maybe they don't have room for their family at home, so they come here and have dinner with us,” said Debbie Osborn, a City Church member.

If you spent Thanksgiving alone or were crowded in your home, next year remember that there is a place you can go to enjoy a happy, fun filled, peaceful Thanksgiving dinner with other people.

Every year Oakfield-Alabama Middle-High School hosts a Veterans Day celebration. They invite anywhere from 15-25 veterans from around the area to come and give a presentation on how the military has changed their lives and what it was like to be in the military. If the veteran went to war, he is asked to bring memorabilia such as metals, helmets, etc.

This year they had approximately 18 veterans come and share their stories. Several generations were represented. Some of the veterans included in this year's program were James Neider, Pastor Mark Perkins, Red Robinson, Leonard Gordon, Ray Cianfrini, Clayton Fry and Wallace Kornow.

The event is coordinated by Patricia Trinder, a middle school math teacher, who is running it for the first time by herself. When asked why she wanted to take over coordinating the event she said “I've always felt it was a special thing that needed to be continued.” She'd helped run it in the past, but when Darlene Bakos retired she handed the reins totally over to Trinder.

We asked some of the veterans if they thought other schools should hold events like this one.

“I hope that other schools and communities would really take time to educate people of the value of their veterans,” said Cianfrini.

Kornow, a fellow Oakfield veteran, said, “I think every school should take the opportunity to invite their local veterans to this kind of program.”

Oakfield-Alabama would be delighted to see other schools in the area hold events like this one. If you would like to learn more about Oakfield's celebration, please contact Patricia Trinder. You can email her at ptrinder@oahornets.org

Sara Burk-Balbi and Marianne Clattenburg

On Friday night, the Assembly of God church in Batavia hosted a back-to-school rally for local youth.

This was a community-outreach event intended "to start a fire in the hearts of the youth," said Pastor Lou Krutz.

It started with a demo by the Solid Rock Skate Team out of Rochester. After that, kids were given the option to play dodgeball or hang out in the building and play games. Then there was a concert by the local band Elmwood Drive.

A message was also given by Pastor Krutz entitled "Are you a chicken or a pig?". It compared what a chicken sacrifices and what a pig sacrifices and how it relates to a commitment to God. The night ended with a game of intense dodgeball.

I thought the event was an overall success.

Below is a quick video of the event.