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There are no two ways about it: E-books are here to stay. Unless something as remarkable as Japan’s reversion to the sword occurs, digital books are the 21st century successor to print. And yet the e-book is fundamentally flawed. There are some aspects to print book culture that e-books can’t replicate (at least not easily) — yet.
Full article here. Number four reason is my current peeve. I'm sorry, but I still don't associate a pdf, for example, of the Pathfinder Core book with the HC itself (and thus meriting nearly pricing, if Paizo had gone that route).
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Similar to what he writes in the article, I haven't bought a physical book (Paizo products don't count) in the last year unless it simply wasn't available as an ebook--or if the ebook price was more than the physical price, which happens more and more frequently at Amazon, especially with new releases.
I agree with every point he made, but especially so with four and five, price and bookshelf-cum-autobiography. As a lifelong reader and one who holds others to an invisible personal standard --you don't read, we probably don't have enough in common to hang out, and you better read a nice mix of genre and literature and educational, no self-help tripe either-- , the books on the shelves in your foyer, den, or study tell me who you really are, whether the choices are designed to convey a flavor or sincerely displayed, your personality is manifested.
I would never dream of asking you to unlock your kindle or iPad so I can peek at your ebook collection.
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My problem with E-books (and pdfs for that matter) is that, quite simply, I like books. A real book, hardback or paperback, just seems more real to me. I find that I can read faster, have better comprehension, and find the experience more enjoyable when I read from a book rather than a screen.
I used to think that way, too. But after checking out the Nook I find an ereader or tablet with ereader apps way to go. You can carry more books and not heavy. Also with ereaders you can changer the font style and size to make it easier to read. Also if you are online as you read, you can highlight a word that you don't know and click on it. Then it will bring up what the word means.
Just my 2 coopers.
All hail King Ludd!
Not only do I hate e-books with a passion (and I'm prepared to throw wooden shoes into your machine at a moment's notice, provided I can find some wooden shoes!), I also hate Mp3s.
I am a books and records (cds are the work of the devil!) man and will be til the day I die!
I carry my Adam tablet every where so if I have some down time and feel like reading I have all my books with me (finished and unfinished). My reading habits must be different than the authors because when ever I look at my tablet I think "What books haven't I finished?".
Yes you can. I keep all my eBook files in a master folder called eBooks and have Kindle and Aldiko readers linked to it. That way I can just look in the eBooks folder to get an alphabetized list of all my books. Also from that master folder if I select a book it automatically opens it in the appropriate reader.
Yea you can't write in the margins but you can highlight any passages you want and write up a fully indexed sticky note that can be attached to the highlighted passage.
This is the the only point I agree with, eBooks should cost only a third to half of what a real books costs.
Unless those books are hard-backed original editions of the classics keep on ornate hardwood bookshelves they are just clutter.
I consider myself a pretty fast reader, and I know others have other styles/preferences, but I've always thought the "books are heavy to carry 100 with me at all times!" argument kind of weak.
Sure, it'd be nice to have my entire library at hand, but wow, I've never "needed" more than 2-3 books with me at any given time.
Just an observation.
Xabulba, I'm on the same page with you on each of those points.
I think the article stumbled on most of them.
1) I've got a Kindle, and one of my favorite features is that it remembers exactly where I am in every book.
2) I don't have any trouble keeping all my books in one place, and if I buy something that isn't Kindle friendly, I just convert it with Calibre.
3) I actually prefer the digital way of highlighting. On tthe Kindle, I can see all my highlights from a book in one place. I basically am creating my own Cliff Notes version using highlighting.
4) Amen. E-books should never be priced above the paperback version.
5) Meh. I've got a whole bookshelf worth of Fantasy and Science fiction that I wish I had in digital form instead.
5)I've found that my books are a source of interior pollution. And it turns out that several people I know are allergic to them. Also after years living in Asia, I find I am finally embracing minimalist interior design. Most of my books will be in an enclosed place, hidden from sight, and the erst on my kindle.
As for taking measure of people by the books they read *cough Andrew cough*... well... to use the old cliche: don't judge a book by its cover... or lack of it as it were. A person's autobiography shows far better through conversation.
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5)I've found that my books are a source of interior pollution. And it turns out that several people I know are allergic to them. Also after years living in Asia, I find I am finally embracing minimalist interior design. Most of my books will be in an enclosed place, hidden from sight, and the erst on my kindle.
As for taking measure of people by the books they read *cough Andrew cough*... well... to use the old cliche: don't judge a book by its cover... or lack of it as it were. A person's autobiography shows far better through conversation.
All that came out very poorly in my previous post. What I really meant to say is that: books are conversation starters for me. If I somehow find myself at your house, and there are no books anywhere in sight, it's likely we'll find there's not too much in common between us--not because you don't display your library, but because, typically, if you don't display your library, it's because you don't have one. If you don't have one, you're probably not a reader. If you're not a reader, there are a hundred and more other things you're not, and all the things you probably are, I'm probably not.
I've done a fair share of trying to be friends with people who fill their personal lives with everything I avoid or am honestly disinterested in, and the relationships are short.
Another thing on conversation--the books in your library give me an idea of what you like to think and talk about. I can count on one hand the number of people I've met who literally own no books yet read all the time, borrowing everything from the library or others, or disposing of books as soon as their consumed.
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Haha. No worries I followed you, I was just yanking at you.
For my part I own only a few books that either I can't find electronically, that are books on graphics or art, or they are books that I keep solely for the purpose of conversation (coffee table books).
With the exception of those and gaming material, I gave the last of my books away when I left China 2 months ago because I have vowed to limit my physical personal property--I've moved my shit too many times. So here I am, bookless as an illiterate, yet I read almost two hours a day. There's something worth talking about.
I am reading "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" right now: a scary memoir of a soldier of the so called "illuminati".
I've owned a kindle for 4 months and I've read between 15 and 20 books. I read way more than I used to because I can take it with me everywhere. It's more than half paid for itself by eliminating postage expenses.
I can drop an actual book without breaking it, and it never runs out of batteries. :-)
Interesting. I've dropped my kindle twice (from more than 5 feet--once it went flying across the room) and broken it, or rather deformed it severely. I had to disassemble and reassemble it to get it straight again.... and it works fine. After another 4 months it will have more than paid for itself, and then I can either lose it, break it, or call it money in the bank.
Batteries last so long, and warnings start early enough--that it has not been an issue yet. It's also the only battery powered device I've ever bought that lasts longer than the specs claimed.
My big gripe with ebooks like kindle is that it can't match printed paper photos.
I can buy a book for 5-10 euro in a used bookstore and put it in my man-bag. If I somehow end up misplacing my book (Leave it on a train, get mugged, spill some tea on it. That sort of thing) No problem. I just get a new book.
I can't say the same about E-readers.
Tablets have security locks so thieves can't use or sell them which makes it useless to steal them.
I can drop an actual book without breaking it, and it never runs out of batteries. :-)
ummm...LOOK OVER THERE, FLYING MONKEYS!!!...
If a book gets wet, its usually not the end of the world. I like reading in the bathtub, so, no e-readers for me, thanks. :)
I also get eye strain from reading black text on a screen of white light.
Kindle's screen looks like paper. It's amazing.
Also you can read the Kindle in more positions (in bed or on a sofa) that you can a real book, and it weighs less than most books, and you don't need two hands to hold it and turn pages.
If you're deaf it will read to you. If you have bad eyesight you can increase text size.
But bathtub=bad.
If you're deaf it will read to you.
Of course you won't be able to hear it so in this case it is just messing with you. Evil SoB devices.
But bathtub=bad.
Seems to me that dropping a real book in the bathtub doesn't equal good either.
Greg
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But bathtub=bad.Seems to me that dropping a real book in the bathtub doesn't equal good either.
Greg
I've done it, a few times in my lifetime. A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven, the pages may be a little warped but still legible. Paper's pretty hardy. :) After about three years, a thoroughly enjoyed book will lose its warp. I try not to take hardbacks in, but they are somewhat fixable by the hairdryer technique, so long as whatever the hardback is made of doesn't start peeling off immediately.
Leatherbound and gilded edge books are treated differently of course. But paperbacks and most hardbacks are pretty resilient. :P
If you're deaf it will read to you.Of course you won't be able to hear it so in this case it is just messing with you. Evil SoB devices.
DOH!
Three words: Public Domain Books.
Since we upgraded to the book we've had a pretty consistent system. I wonder how long these e-books will last before they become obsolete.
I used to read in the bathtub, but I haven't taken a bath in years.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!
A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven...
I hope you don't ever put one in the broiler, if you're in a hurry. I hear after 451 degrees, things can get pretty dicey....
More on topic, I own a Kindle, and I love it. The only real drawbacks for me are a complete lack of resale value (no physical item to change hands) and an inability to loan to friends (same issue).
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A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven...I hope you don't ever put one in the broiler, if you're in a hurry. I hear after 451 degrees, things can get pretty dicey....
More on topic, I own a Kindle, and I love it. The only real drawbacks for me are a complete lack of resale value (no physical item to change hands) and an inability to loan to friends (same issue).
I've tried to sell some used physical books recently, and it's getting more and more difficult (it started getting harder about 8 years ago or so). If they're not very obscure/rare/antique/collectible titles, forget about it - they're worth essentially nothing for resale already.
A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven...I hope you don't ever put one in the broiler, if you're in a hurry. I hear after 451 degrees, things can get pretty dicey....
I've only done this once: I left a 60s copy of W.E.B. duBois's biography of John Brown published by the Communist Party USA in the rain and dried it out in the oven.
Except I forgot about it until my apartment was filled with smoke!
I've still to find another copy of that book!
Since we upgraded to the book we've had a pretty consistent system. I wonder how long these e-books will last before they become obsolete.
ROFL
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A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven...I hope you don't ever put one in the broiler, if you're in a hurry. I hear after 451 degrees, things can get pretty dicey....
More on topic, I own a Kindle, and I love it. The only real drawbacks for me are a complete lack of resale value (no physical item to change hands) and an inability to loan to friends (same issue).
I wish I could give away my read ebooks, the ones I'm unlikely to reread (otherwise, I'd 'gift' one, as Amazon allows).
I also wish publishers would release omnibus e-editions just as they release print omnibus editions. WotC and Games Workshop routinely now release omnibus editions a year or so after the final book hits the shelves, and they're rereleasing older sets as single volumes, but you still have to buy the ebooks at full single novel price--paperbacks, with a few exceptions, are listing at iBooks and Amazon at $7.99 or more, while the print copies (at Amazon) are not only discounted but usually part of their 4-for-3 deal. Not to mention the novels, like Crichton's old stuff, that's going for $9.99 while the newly rereleased print copy is a dollar cheaper.
The real b+!!~ for American Warhammerphiles is that 40k ebooks are only available from two sources, iBooks at the US price, or the BL site at the higher UK price.
I can get the Ravenor omnibus with all the connecting stories for $11 from Amazon, but the total price with stories from iBooks is $32!!
I can get the Ravenor omnibus with all the connecting stories for $11 from Amazon, but the total price with stories from iBooks is $32!!
Issues like this are where the pricing argument of "you're paying for the content, not the medium" fall flattest.
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I've tried to sell some used physical books recently, and it's getting more and more difficult (it started getting harder about 8 years ago or so). If they're not very obscure/rare/antique/collectible titles, forget about it - they're worth essentially nothing for resale already.A paperback can be quickly dried in an oven...I hope you don't ever put one in the broiler, if you're in a hurry. I hear after 451 degrees, things can get pretty dicey....
More on topic, I own a Kindle, and I love it. The only real drawbacks for me are a complete lack of resale value (no physical item to change hands) and an inability to loan to friends (same issue).
That's what finally convinced me that physical copies are not all it's where it's at.
Wow, all I can say to that is that the market is completely different here.
Used bookstores are doing a pretty steady trade, and books are bought regularly.
In fact, just this past Friday, I took in 10 BattleTech novels of mine that were duplicates of stuff in my collection - I had either bought a nicer copy, or had bought a copy thinking that I didn't have it already.
Bought a couple that I for sure did not have.
As always, they sell for half-cover, buy for quarter-cover.
Got rid of my dupes, didn't pay anything out of pocket for the new ones, and I've still got credit for future purchases...
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Wow, all I can say to that is that the market is completely different here.
Used bookstores are doing a pretty steady trade, and books are bought regularly.
In fact, just this past Friday, I took in 10 BattleTech novels of mine that were duplicates of stuff in my collection - I had either bought a nicer copy, or had bought a copy thinking that I didn't have it already.
Bought a couple that I for sure did not have.
As always, they sell for half-cover, buy for quarter-cover.
Got rid of my dupes, didn't pay anything out of pocket for the new ones, and I've still got credit for future purchases...
But after buying the two used books you only made around $6 (I estimate), and lost around $38. That's not good economics, if you're looking at the overall market for used books.
Now, I'm sure it was subjectively a good deal for you, since you got rid of what you didn't need, got what you needed and paid for the gas to do it all with no new expenditure.
I'm just saying.
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But after buying the two used books you only made around $6 (I estimate), and lost around $38. That's not good economics, if you're looking at the overall market for used books.
Now, I'm sure it was subjectively a good deal for you, since you got rid of what you didn't need, got what you needed and paid for the gas to do it all with no new expenditure.
I'm just saying.
I sold the 10 (or maybe it was 11? I dunno) books for $16, and the two new books were $4.75, so I've got $11.25 credit remaining. Quarter-cover is fair for the amount of effort I have to put into getting rid of them.
That said:
Maybe I'm the dumb redneck of consumers, but I don't buy things for their resale value, so it really doesn't bother me that I "lost" money on the deal, considering I paid more for them than I sold them for.
I buy things because I want them, and because I want to keep them forever. That's not to say that I won't someday later decide to part with them, but their future resale value really doesn't come into the equation when I'm buying something for myself.
besides how much are people making when they "resell" those ebooks?
Maybe I'm the dumb redneck of consumers, but I don't buy things for their resale value, so it really doesn't bother me that I "lost" money on the deal, considering I paid more for them than I sold them for.
I buy things because I want them, and because I want to keep them forever. That's not to say that I won't someday later decide to part with them, but their future resale value really doesn't come into the equation when I'm buying something for myself.
+1
I don't know about anyone else, but I can tell you that you have at least one fellow "redneck consumer" here. I have also tried to convince my friends and kids that if they're going to collect something, be it Beanie Babies or comic books or whatever, they'd darned well better make sure that the collection has value to them, because when (not if, but when) the bottom falls out of the market, it sure won't have value to anyone else.
I always laugh when I hear about someone diving into the latest "collectible", expecting to fund their kids' college education with it. I buy stuff because I want it, not because I think someone else will.
Where was I? Oh, yeah, e-books. Maybe I'm related to King Ludd, or I've just got to get used to it, but there's something for me in dealing with the physical item. I love my Kindle, but I'm not ready to disappear completely into the digital realm just yet.
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I still subscribe to Easton Press and I will continue to pick up hardcovers of Stephen King. I still buy those B&N hard covers in the bargain books aisles, like the gigantic Paradise Lost, and I still buy hard covers of new Bradbury or Asimov editions. I still buy Elder Signs Press signed books and, like Pathfinder, I collect Call of Cthulhu and all the Cthulhu fiction trades Chaosium gets round to publishing.
Some books I absolutely want a physical copy, preferably one that will age well. There's no intention, for me, of ever going 100% digital. Like Kirk, I will treasure that copy of Dickens someone gets me for my birthday above anything that exists as a series of well-placed 1s and 0s.
But ebooks of throwaways--those modern day ($9!) dime store novels you'll never read again--help me make space in an ever decreasing man-cave for the really important (to me) books, like my Easton Press collection, my game books, my 12 editions of Finnegans Wake bought just because of an introduction or slight variations in a few lines of text.
Ebooks also let me read more of those dime store and bottom shelf novels because, frankly, I can read easier now in more places than I ever could with an actual book! I went through 4 copies of Stephen King's The Waste Lands because it got left in an airport, on an airplane, at a restaurant and, gasp, the basin of an airport toilet (disgusting, I know). I'm a little too conscious of the value of my iPad to accidentally leave it anywhere.
One more: ebooks let me read those books I'm embarrassed to be caught reading in public.
...my 12 editions of Finnegans Wake bought just because of an introduction or slight variations in a few lines of text.
Finnegan's Wake? Really? I'm starting to collect different editions of Tolkein, myself, but hey, to each his own. If you can make sense out of that book, more power to ya! :-P
...my 12 editions of Finnegans Wake bought just because of an introduction or slight variations in a few lines of text.Finnegan's Wake? Really? I'm starting to collect different editions of Tolkein, myself, but hey, to each his own. If you can make sense out of that book, more power to ya! :-P
‘science split the atom and Joyce split the word’
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besides how much are people making when they "resell" those ebooks?
Only reason I would re-sell a book is to make room. With ebooks don't need too.
So the effort to make a little over $1.60 a book when they go for $6.99 to $9.99 a book isn't worth it. Especially when all it is doing is using up trees that don't really need to.
Sean
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...my 12 editions of Finnegans Wake bought just because of an introduction or slight variations in a few lines of text.
Finnegan's Wake? Really? I'm starting to collect different editions of Tolkein, myself, but hey, to each his own. If you can make sense out of that book, more power to ya! :-P
I'm a Joycephile to the core; little things, like knowing there's no apostrophe in the title... ;-)
I read for Beowulf only because so many other candidates were already doing Joyce, but JJ is my first love--I lost a superserious girlfriend in college over Joyce, so, yeah, I'm certifiable!
I'm a full devotee of the e-book. I've got the Kindle app on several devices and do most of my reading on that. I occasionally buy hard copies of gaming materials but I always want a PDF to accompany it (but not vice-versa).
I do have my book collections (and own more than 4,000 books) but over the last few years I've begun to sell or give them away. Eventually I expect I'll only keep the books that are of greatest personal value to me. I'm not even all that interested in signed books any more.
I have a nook, and am moving towards ebooks, but I don't think I'll ever give up physical books entirely. I love art books and large format illustrated books, and for hardcovers in good condition that I hope to reread I don't want to go to the expense of replacing them with ebooks.
For now though my goal is to not have to buy any new bookcases. I need one more, because the ones I have now aren't really deep enough for some of my art books, but otherwise no more.
I've been trying to get rid of books that I don't want or don't think I'd ever read again (and if I'm wrong, I'll buy the ebook if I really want to read it again). I used to be able to get 10% of retail for fiction, last week it was $1 per book (hardcovers), and some places I know pay less than that, if they'll even take them. It's almost not worth the effort, but I just hate to throw them away.
I used to be able to get 10% of retail for fiction, last week it was $1 per book (hardcovers), and some places I know pay less than that, if they'll even take them. It's almost not worth the effort, but I just hate to throw them away.
You could give them to friends, or donate them to Goodwill or the local public library. I hate seeing books without a good home...
Yeah, if you can't find a used book store where you can get a decent exchange rate, donating them to a library, church, or Boy Scout troop is a good idea.
Some people may be surprised at me giving props to the churches, but I have ulterior motives. Church books sales (at least here in New England) are a great way to score expensive books for a buck a piece!
When you drop your books off, ask 'em when the next sale is and show up early!