X

Sony's 'David Blaine' starts 30 days of living in display window

To promote its new Sony Reader, the PRS-700, Sony is having Dave Farrow sit in a display window in Manhattan and read all day long for the month of October.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
See full bio
David Carnoy

I don't know if there's a Guinness Book of Records world record at stake here, but as part of its effort to promote its digital book readers, including the just-announced PRS-700, Sony has "memory expert" Dave Farrow sitting in a window display in New York reading books all day for the month of October.

Dave Farrow screengrab
"One man. One revolutionary cause. 30 days." Sony

As we reported Thursday, the sit-in--or read-in--is timed to commemorate National Book Month and promote literacy in schools. According to Sony, for every one of Farrow's page turns, Sony will provide a set of 100 eBook classics to a school or education institution.

Of course, if endurance artist David Blaine were performing the same stunt, he'd probably never leave the window, but it should be pointed out that Farrow will get plenty of breaks--and not just of the potty variety. Apparently, Sony is allowing anybody to get in the window and read for a bit, so Farrow will get some time to leave the rather small space he is inhabiting.

Sony has a live Webcam that's pretty amusing with both an interior view inside the window (with sound) and a street-view perspective. Check it out.