The Future of Books

[Starbreaker]

To everyone saying you would lose your e-reader on the bus or whatever... I've never left mine anywhere and I'm very forgetful. I literally carry it everywhere I go. You could easily say "Oh I'd never take my laptop anywhere" or "I'd never take my cell phone out with me."

 

[Spot's Meow]

I can't stand books from the library. For one, they're always hardcovers that have that annoying plastic book jacket attached to them that you can't remove. And second, I am a slow reader. It usually takes me weeks or months to read a book from start to finish. It's just a lot easier if I own the thing.

Same here, I would love to use the library more but I am a slow reader and don't like that there is a time restriction. I mean, when I was in grad school, it took me two years to read one book because of all the other stuff I had going on and books for school I had to read.

Anyway, e-books are available from the library as well, which is convenient for those who would like to check out books but can't always make it to the library or turn the books in on time. Many libraries have e-books available in formats that can be read by Nooks, Sony, and other e-readers, and several libraries are now lending out books in the Kindle format as well. I might check this out soon, but for now I have enough free books loaded onto my Kindle to last me years.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Don't most e-readers have an option to read the text aloud? I would think that would be a boon to disabled readers.

Also, as previous mentioned in this thread, being able to increase the font size is also a boon to people with poor eyesight. If I had rely on large print books that are available at my library my choice of reading materials would be very limited.

There are a few books with normal size font that I will buy if they are not available as an e-book but I find that reading them is harder than I would like and that lessens my reading enjoyment.

Using an e-reader I was able to get through the 1200 pages of A Storm of Swords in less than three days. If I had tried to read the print version it probably would have taken me weeks as I find that I can only read about 50 pages of normal print a day.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Ebooks are retarded.

Someone on here in another thread in the Navy with limited locker space once said otherwise. Imagine being able to take hundreds of books with you instead of one or two.

Conversely, I'm also in the Navy and I have no problem filling my locker with books because I love the genuine, authentic feel of books that much.

 

[JoeZhang]

It's the story or narrative I'm interested in rather than the physical object - I've owned thousands of books but once the ereader arrived, I went completely electronic.

 

[Starkers]

You became a robot?

 

[Snaploud]

Don't most e-readers have an option to read the text aloud? I would think that would be a boon to disabled readers.

Another boon to disabled readers is that companies like Baen.com can set-up ways to offer all their e-content to the disabled for free.

http://www.webscription.net/t-disabled.aspx

 

[I Grok Spock]

How many devices can you sync with your Amazon or B&N account? If my wife and I each had one, can we share the same library?

I'm guessing you can't resell "used" ebooks. Or give them to friends. Or pass them on to your heirs (unless you can will your Amazon account to someone).

 

[Kegg]

I literally can't find any advantages to owning a paper book. Smell and texture don't count.

In situations where you have to turn off electronic devices, you can have a paper book. They also cannot run out of battery time, and they are less fragile than an ereader - if dropped, significantly more likely to still be perfectly workable when picked up again.

Beyond this - and the used/lending example given by I Grok Spock - no other advantages come to mind.

 

[Starbreaker]

I literally can't find any advantages to owning a paper book. Smell and texture don't count.

In situations where you have to turn off electronic devices, you can have a paper book. They also cannot run out of battery time, and they are less fragile than an ereader - if dropped, significantly more likely to still be perfectly workable when picked up again.

Beyond this - and the used/lending example given by I Grok Spock - no other advantages come to mind.

I guess it's true that if you were on a deserted island some physical books would be nice. My battery runs for two weeks on just an hour's charge or so.

And I've never been in any kind of place where I've had to turn off my ereader yet.

 

[Spot's Meow]

How many devices can you sync with your Amazon or B&N account? If my wife and I each had one, can we share the same library?

I'm guessing you can't resell "used" ebooks. Or give them to friends. Or pass them on to your heirs (unless you can will your Amazon account to someone).

I don't know the answer to the other questions, but I know that you can lend other people your ebooks, for two weeks at a time. When it is lent out you cannot read the book yourself. So in that way it is similar to a real book.

 

[RobertVA]

Barnes and Noble uses an email address as an account ID and your choice of password (can and should be diffrent than the password you use for the email provider). Hardware readers and reader software for tablets, smartphones and computers can be registered to access the shared library using the same B&N ID and password. Publications can only be bought if there's a valid credit/debit card associated with the user ID, even if it's a free publication or bought with a gift card, since the rights management scheme uses the card number to encrypt the downloaded file and subsequently decrypt the file in the reader.

Note that there are stricter limits on the number of devices you can run their Nook Study application on. Textbooks that can be read on Nook Study might not work with the hardware readers or normal computer/phone/tablet reader applications.

 

[Kegg]

And I've never been in any kind of place where I've had to turn off my ereader yet.

Try a plane. Can't have them on for takeoff or landing.

 

[Miss Chicken]

If I was on a plane I wouldn't be using my e-reader during takeoff or landings. I enjoy looking out the window during takeoffs/landings so I always try to get a window seat. In fact, as long as we are flying over land that I can see I would rather spend my time looking out at the view.

 

[Professor Zoom]

And I've never been in any kind of place where I've had to turn off my ereader yet.

Try a plane. Can't have them on for takeoff or landing.

So, for just a few minutes... oh, the humanity!

 

[Starbreaker]

Oh, and I was gonna say I think my PRS-300 is indestructible. I've dropped it several times and I can't even scratch it. It might be possessed.

 

[I Grok Spock]

Well, a little researchand I answered one of my questions:

Can I share content with other Kindles?

You can enjoy your Kindle content on Kindle devices or Kindle applications that are registered to your Amazon.com account. There may be limits on the number of devices (usually six) that can simultaneously use a single book. Subscriptions to newspapers or periodicals cannot be shared on multiple devices.

So that's an advantage over physical books, in that you can buy one copy and multiple people could read it simultaneously.

I'm still a little hung up over the idea of having thousands of dollars invested in a bunch of 1s and 0s floating somewhere in the cloud. What if the provider goes belly up? Or if they aren't in the cloud, are they covered by my home owner's insurance?

Aside from the financial aspect, there's a sentimental and nostalgia value to physical media. I have several books that were my grandfather's. I also have books from my childhood that have a certain meaning to me, and some which I've passed on to my nieces and nephews.

Anyway, I recognize the convenience and advantages of e-readers and other downloaded media (I have the Kindle app on my phone to read freebies), but most of the time, I still go the traditional route.

 

[RAMA]

I re-discovered books recently...I had planned on and started acquiring all e-books, and then something in me told me I wanted to put books on my bookshelves again, I do love holding them. I am certain at some point my e-books will supersede my physical books (if they haven't already), but I don't think I'm going to part with them for awhile.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Aside from the financial aspect, there's a sentimental and nostalgia value to physical media. I have several books that were my grandfather's. I also have books from my childhood that have a certain meaning to me, and some which I've passed on to my nieces and nephews.

Giving up physical media doesn't become compulsory when one buys an e-reader. I still collect children's books that are illustrated by Libico Maraja.

I also plan to to buy books by my favourite author (Arnaldur Indridason) in paper form as well as digital as he only writes about one novel a year.

I also will continue to by the 500 Lark series (art books) and if I ever have grandchildren I will buy physical books fot them.

 

[Mr Pointy Ears]

dont think books will disappear,hell even in the 24 century,picard and co are still reading books.