Thursday, December 28, 2006

His Name Is Probably Hideki

Printing images using a PictBridge compliant printer

[…]

Notes:

  • You cannot print movies.

Also:

You can use the following batteries below:

  • R6 (size AA) alkaline batteries…
  • ZR6 (size AA) Oxy Nickel Primary Battery…
  • HR 15/51:HR6…

You cannot use the batteries unlisted above

I've done a fair amount of listing in my life, but I can't say I've ever had the pleasure of unlisting…

A few minutes after typing that out, it occurred to me what they're trying to say there: you can use the batteries they list, but you can't use any batteries they don't list. Duh. But there's something extremely strange about speaking of "the batteries unlisted above." It sounds as if they're actively committing a deed called "unlisting" upon a definite set of objects, as opposed to merely neglecting to list some hazy blob of stuff — as if, whenever they enumerate some possibilities, they're also not-enumerating every single other possibility, where not-enumerating is a physical exertion that requires an expenditure of energy, sweat trickling down their foreheads. As D.L. said recently, every time you order something at a restaurant, you're simultaneously not ordering everything else — and the anxiety he expressed over this ineluctable aspect of the human condition is about what I imagine was experienced by some Japanese guy at the Sony factory where my camera was made as he painstakingly unlisted all the non-R6/ZR6/HR 15/51:HR6 batteries he could think of, hoping against hope that he didn't forget anything.

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