# Early release of HP7, big deal! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378 "2007-07-19T13:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/41 "2007-07-19T19:47:07Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Wake me for the three minutes of real news, please. [/QUOTE] You are far too optimistic. [QUOTE=Liberal] **Tritium[sup]1[/sup] Members**: Never read any of the books, never saw any of the movies, never opened a Cafe Society thread about Harry Potter, and thought this thread was about Hewlett Packard. [/QUOTE] I’m afraid I technically can’t qualify for membership, but I was wondering why Hewlett Packard would release a new calculator with such a retro numbering scheme. Is there some kind of Sustaining Member level, or a semiqualified auxillary, or somesuch? [QUOTE=Anaamika] So…what are you going to discuss in your meetings? [/QUOTE] Horatio Hornblower, the _Hitchhiker’s_ books, Updike’s “Rabbit” novels, Highsmith’s Ripley series, le Carre’s Karla Trilogy, maybe the Cthulhu Mythos. Anything but bloody Harry Potter. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/42 "2007-07-19T19:56:07Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] So Tuesday I get an e-mail from Border’s confirming that I can pick it up after midnight Friday, and reminding me (as if I needed to be told) the they were having a Grand Hallows Ball Friday evening with all the hype & giveaways. They also told me that my reserved copy would only be held until the store closed on Saturday. WTF?!?! What part of **reserved** do you people not understand? There was nothing said about having a limited amount of time to pick up the book when I ordered it. I have ordered books from Borders before, and they always held them until it was convenient for me to come in and collect it. What if I had other plans for this weekend? Does this mean that if I don’t go in Saturday I’m not going to get the book at the price I was promised? [/QUOTE] Normally, a book on reserve should be held for three days only. The thing about Harry Potter(and this was done last year, as well, you only had the first weekend to pick it up) is that each store only gets so many books. It’s usually in excess of the reserves, but we’re talking upwards of a thousand at larger stores. Then you have the hundreds who didn’t reserve it coming in, seeing the HUGE display behind the registers and saying, > [@](#): > > _Some customer who didn’t reserve the book:_ > “What do you mean you’re out? I can see hundreds! Why can’t I buy one? So what if these people reserved it, I’m here, now, with money in hand! Give me a book or I’m calling corporate about you guys refusing to sell me one.” And it will be 40% off to everyone the first weekend, probably the first week or two, that’s how it usually goes. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/43 "2007-07-19T19:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=wring] Platinum here. Wish I could be eligible for the Tritium, but there is absolutely no fucking way to avoid HP mania, unless you don’t go on the internet at all, don’t watch TV at all, don’t listen to the radio at all, and don’t go shopping at all. [/QUOTE] …and live on Mars, in a cave, with your fingers in your ears. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/44 "2007-07-19T19:59:46Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Horatio Hornblower, the _Hitchhiker’s_ books, Updike’s “Rabbit” novels, Highsmith’s Ripley series, le Carre’s Karla Trilogy, maybe the Cthulhu Mythos. Anything but bloody Harry Potter. Stranger [/QUOTE] In other words, the same things a lot of people who read Harry Potter books read and talk about, except they’re not so damn snobby about it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/45 "2007-07-19T20:00:02Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] I’d be more pleased to know that this is the last HP book, if I could believe that the media won’t find some other book, movie, or DVD to go wild over next year. As it is, I just can’t get excited about Harry being in the news - it’s a slow news season, if it weren’t him it would be Royals, or more about Lindsay Lohan, or Paris Hilton… _yawn_ Wake me for the three minutes of real news, please. [/QUOTE] The Royals suck this year like they do every year. It’s a week past the All-Star break and they’re still 12 games under .500 and 16 back. Wait, you meant the UK. Well, I think most of that last paragraph still applies. It may be July, but I don’t think it’s that slow of a news season. Or maybe I spend too much time listening to politics. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/46 "2007-07-19T20:18:42Z")
Does anyone know if any early copies showed up on ebay? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/47 "2007-07-19T21:38:42Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] I’m a bonafide **Tritium** member, baby! I was thinking… when did HP release OS’s? [/QUOTE] Sorry. You need to at least know about the existence of HP-UX, which was first released in 1983, to qualify for Tritium. ETA: It’s a variant of Unix. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/48 "2007-07-19T21:54:28Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Does anyone know if any early copies showed up on ebay? [/QUOTE] According to a couple news stories I read on it, yes, some did. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/49 "2007-07-19T21:57:01Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] I’m afraid I technically can’t qualify for membership, but I was wondering why Hewlett Packard would release a new calculator with such a retro numbering scheme. Is there some kind of Sustaining Member level, or a semiqualified auxillary, or somesuch? [/QUOTE] For you, absolutely! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/50 "2007-07-19T21:58:30Z")
[sing-song] I know what happens! I know what happens! [/sing-song] And I won’t tell YOU! Hey, two of my daughters are buying it tomorrow. I’ll probably never read it but it’s sometimes nice to be one-up on them, if only to prove my Google-fu is stronger than theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/51 "2007-07-19T21:59:57Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Sorry. You need to at least know about the existence of HP-UX, which was first released in 1983, to qualify for Tritium. ETA: It’s a variant of Unix. [/QUOTE] SysV, though, not 4.3 Berkeley Standard Distribution. 😉 Stranger ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/52 "2007-07-19T22:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] According to a couple news stories I read on it, yes, some did. -Joe [/QUOTE] Great Oogly Moogly, I just went to eBay to see whether there were any Advanced Reader Copies available - they’ve got one, and it’s already up to $500. With five days left in the bidding. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/53 "2007-07-19T22:16:14Z")
[QUOTE=wring] …and the North won. [/QUOTE] Won what? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/54 "2007-07-20T00:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Won what? [/QUOTE] an advance copy. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/55 "2007-07-20T00:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=wring] an advance copy. [/QUOTE] :eek: Well then, the North sure can’t join. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/56 "2007-07-20T00:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] Does it really matter? Does anyone really care? What is the big deal? [/QUOTE] It matters, and I care. Not a huge amount, but I don’t like spoilers going out everywhere. I mean, if you never saw Citizen Kane would you like the box for the CD telling you exactly who/what Rosebud was? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/57 "2007-07-20T00:37:47Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] It matters, and I care. Not a huge amount, but I don’t like spoilers going out everywhere. I mean, if you never saw Citizen Kane would you like the box for the CD telling you exactly who/what Rosebud was? [/QUOTE] [“Rosebud!”](http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=9760) Now, talking about _Chinatown_…Forget it about, Jake. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/58 "2007-07-20T00:45:04Z")
[QUOTE=yellowval] I do mock the _adults_ who wait in line for 16 hours to buy/see it and dress up in costumes to do so. Sorry. [/QUOTE] Does it count if I’m just wearing my cute little pleated skirt?\* Or do I have to add the school scarf? Chronicles of Narnia? Children’s books. Same with Roald Dahl’s novels (mostly), The Hobbit… there is important literature that was originally written for children in mind. And while I’ll agree the books are not Great Lit-ehr-ah-choor (and I know from lit-ehr-a-choor), they are oddly compelling and enjoyable. I’m going to the Potter party tomorrow night and yes, I’ll feel rather silly as I’m approaching 30 and in line for a book intended for high schoolers. I don’t take myself so seriously as to be truly bothered by this, though, and I don’t take anyone else’s opinion so seriously that I’m going to let your mockery stop me. That’s my long way of saying I don’t care what you think, la-la-la la laaaaaaa la. > [@Stranger on a Train](#): > > Horatio Hornblower, the Hitchhiker’s books, Updike’s “Rabbit” novels, Highsmith’s Ripley series, le Carre’s Karla Trilogy, maybe the Cthulhu Mythos. Anything but bloody Harry Potter. In order: Haven’t read but that’s only because I still need to get my hands on a copy. Have read and loved… hmm, the first three or so, but I’ve become less of a fan over the years. This is neither the time nor the place, though. Ugh, Updike. Yes, he’s a very good writer, but my old creative writing professor worshiped him. And while I learned a lot from Updike and my old professor, the “Genre books are crap!” rant on day 1 rather turned me off the bastard. At least we had DISCUSSION in other classes. Haven’t heard of the second two. Cthulhu Mythos? Really? You don’t think Lovecraft is a hack but you think Rowling is? Look, the mythos are entertaining and enjoyable, but the man masturbated to a thesaurus. No, I’m not too good for any of these books. But the main argument against them appears to reduce to “But they’re so POOOOOOPULAR! They can’t be good!” Uh huh. Whatever, guys. I’m a big old dork, but at least I admit it. 😉 \*er, not _just_. I’ll have a blouse and shoes and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/59 "2007-07-20T00:49:11Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] Does it count if I’m just wearing my cute little pleated skirt?\* Or do I have to add the school scarf? [/QUOTE] Well, since I don’t know much about Harry Potter, I can’t really answer that. It could be a trick question to try to get me kicked out of the club, for all I know. I’ll commence to pointing and laughing now, if you don’t mind. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378/60 "2007-07-20T00:54:22Z")
[QUOTE=Little Plastic Ninja] Haven’t read but that’s only because I still need to get my hands on a copy. Have read and loved… hmm, the first three or so, but I’ve become less of a fan over the years. This is neither the time nor the place, though. Ugh, Updike. Yes, he’s a very good writer, but my old creative writing professor worshiped him. And while I learned a lot from Updike and my old professor, the “Genre books are crap!” rant on day 1 rather turned me off the bastard. At least we had DISCUSSION in other classes. Haven’t heard of the second two. Cthulhu Mythos? Really? You don’t think Lovecraft is a hack but you think Rowling is? Look, the mythos are entertaining and enjoyable, but the man masturbated to a thesaurus. [/QUOTE] Woosh. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-release-of-hp7-big-deal/412378.md?page=4)