I see this as no better than a computer printed autograph on a letter.
In other words, bullshit.
I might be sold if the machine penned the autograph in real-time; as the author signed the tablet. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
I personally wouldn’t consider an item “signed” this way as authentically autographed. Collectible dealers better make a distinction, or else they may see a drop off in sales.
I thought it would be used in real time. As she used the tablet in her home, the autograph would be written in the book for someone. Otherwise how is she going to personalize them?
There is a lag. Maybe I’m quibbling. But still, even personalizing doesn’t make it more pallatable.
For instance; would you want a baseball where say Derek Jeter wrote “Hi Abbie, regards Derek Jeter”, and this inscription was “printed” onto the ball? Where Jeter never even held or saw the ball?
I wouldn’t.
To me, the whole key to having something signed/autographed is that the person was actually there doing the signing to the object.
Lame, lame idea. Pretty much defeats the whole purpose of an autograph don’t you think? I thought the whole idea of an autograph was that the signed object was in the signers prescence at one time.
“Wow, Dan Marino held this football in his hands while signing it.”
not, “Wow, a machine wrote Dan’s signature on it as he signed a signature pad hundreds of miles away.”
Yes, I understand a personalized autograph. But so much of the marketplace is created by players sitting in the locker stall signing box after box of baseballs, or jerseys or trading cards or whatever. That seems to mysitfy me. I’m not saying it is wrong or stupid or anything, I just don’t understand the appeal.
I don’t care either way for sports autographs, but I sure do value my Bruce Campbell autograph in my copy of “If Chins Could Kill.” And as I recall, I stood in line where he signed lots of copies.
But we all sat down, and he chatted with each of us for a minute or so. Autographs are important. He signed mine with my name and “Give me some sugar, baby!”
But I wouldn’t use the thing mentioned in the OP. Doesn’t make any sense to me. Part of the thrill of getting that autograph was meeting him, and standing in line, and chatting with him…if PTerry would ever come to NYC on a weekend I’d be down there like a shot. (He always comes Wednesday nights!) But it has to be live, in-person.
Well, granted, a lot of people do do that - and generally to walk the crowd and sign a lot of autographs is considered a nice thing for a famous person to do. On the other hand, there’s some (generally authors) who refuse point blank to sign at all - an autograph from them (say, signed for a close friend) would be worth a *very * significant amount. And there’s shades in between.
Well, the sentimental answer is that people can hold on to the autographed item as a tangible memento of the time they stood in the presence of greatness, and were acknowledged as being there.
The cynical answer is that people believe that the souvenir will appreciate in monetary value, and can be sold at some later date for a handsome profit.
My take is, that anything that is created specifically to be a collectible souvenir, whether it is a bit of “sports memorabilia,” or a set of plates with the characters from Star Trek, is going to be about as wise an investment as buying insurance at the blackjack table when the dealer is showing an ace.
Yeah. I don’t get the point of an autograph unless it’s a personal memento of having met the signer. I don’t get the point of buying an autographed object - to me that misses the value of an autograph completely.
Exactly. I’ve been to a few book signings, and the fun is hearing the author speak for a while and then getting to, briefly, speak to him or her. Getting a signature via autopen sounds completely uninteresting.
You know, folks, this is not a new idea. When my brother was born in 1947, my dad went to his office at the credit bureau. He hand-wrote a “credit report” on his newborn son, and he sent it, over the wires, to several other credit bureaus. I have a copy around here somewhere.
At least 30 years ago I stopped, awestruck, in front of an office supply store to watch a machine “write” the brand name of the pen used (Micropoint, I think.) It used a roll of paper, and there was a big pile of the machine’s handiwork strewn all over the floor; thousands of repetitions of Micropoint, all exactly the same.
For me it is a souvenir of the fact that I met the “signer”.
I once heard a sports figure say that when he signed something, he really appreciated it when the “fan” asked for the item tobe personalized. He figured the person actually wanted to keep the item; not hawk it on ebay.
Excuse me while I go experience life by remotely watching the events of the world unfold, remotely sharing in people’s triumphs and identifying with their struggles.