The Future of Books

[Miss Chicken]

It is usually, but not always, a couple of dollars cheaper to buy the ebook version of a recently released book than it is to buy the paperback version.

For example I recently purchased the Kindle version of "The Curse of the Pogo Stick" by Colin Cotterill. It cost me $9.99, the paperback version is $11.20. There is an added benefit for me as I have to pay international postage if I buy from Amazon.com.

Another book I recently brough was "The Given Land" by Thomas Allen. The Kindle version cost me $9.99 and the paperback is $23.95 on Amazon.com.

 

[Saxman1]

We did a bunch of Christmas shopping at the closest Barnes and Noble today. Great store, great selection and they are honoring our Borders Rewards membership through 1/31/2011. Still, for most non-holiday reading material, it's the library, library Kindle lending and Kindle or Half Price Books.

 

[Geckothan]

Ebooks are retarded.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Is there any particular cost advantage to download an electronic version of a given book, or is the e-version about the same in terms of price? Just curious.

Generally a few bucks cheaper for the ebook.

edited to add: beaten to it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What are your thoughts on the matter?

I'm not a romantic when it comes to books. I have no attachment to printed reading material whatsoever. As far as I care, the end result is to get words to my eyeballs. I don't care about any other part of the process. Anything that makes that easier and more efficient (which my iPad and the Kindle store has done, and how), is okay by me. All the books I buy now are e. And as others have also said, I read a lot more now that I've made the switch.

In fact I've *replaced* some of my books with Kindle versions; in that case I give away or donate the printed ones. I'd do that with every book I own if I could afford it. And why the hell would I be worried about losing ebooks? Amazon has a record of every ebook I've ever bought. If I get a new device, or my existing one gets erased, it can be restored in a flash. Nothing is ever lost.

I mean, if you like the experience of going to a bookstore, or the smell of the pages, or the turning of them, or whatever, hey, that's fine. But those things hold absolutely no value to me.

I'm sure the printed page will always exist in some form. But I personally don't buy books that way anymore, and I don't miss having them.

 

[RoJoHen]

Ebooks are retarded.

Good contribution.

 

[Snaploud]

The biggest benefit of regular books was that it was easy on the eyes. E-ink has closed the gap. In fact, it's even easier to read on an e-reader because I just have to push a button to switch pages.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I like the backlit screen of the iPad for e-reading.

 

[RoJoHen]

I like the backlit screen of the iPad for e-reading.

The main issue with that type of screen is dealing with glare. It probably just depends on where you're reading it. I can't see an iPad screen being very easy to read if you're outside in the sun, for example. With e-ink, there is no such glare.

 

[Skywalker]

So since the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are both going to have ebooks as well as web browsing, video streaming, etc., does that mean they'll have both e-ink and backlit screens or something?

Sorry, I don't own anything like these so I have no idea how they all work.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

Personally, I prefer hardback books, especially when they're on sale. I have a Kindle and have downloaded some free books. I plan to put the classics on there.

 

[Snaploud]

So since the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are both going to have ebooks as well as web browsing, video streaming, etc., does that mean they'll have both e-ink and backlit screens or something?

Sorry, I don't own anything like these so I have no idea how they all work.

Both the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet use back-lit screens. They don't use e-ink.

 

[Skywalker]

I figured that'd be the case, I imagine it'd be rather unfeasible to have both since they're rather different. I just wanted to make sure.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Personally I prefer real books, especially hard covers. I would rather buy a hard cover book that came with a digital download. So I could purchase it once, have a real to hold version and a digital one to actually read.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Is there any particular cost advantage to download an electronic version of a given book, or is the e-version about the same in terms of price? Just curious.

A lot of times, for current books, they are the same, but many times they are cheaper-- for good reason, since the overhead is so much lower. Also, there's a ton of stuff available for free or very cheaply (I recently got a complete set of ERB's Tarzan books for about five bucks). It's also great for independent creators-- my ebook costs 99 cents, compared to about 11 bucks for the paperbacks, and my profit margin is three times greater.

Ebooks are retarded.

Far from it. The content is the same, there is a ton of free or inexpensive material available, there are added conveniences like adjustable font size, you can carry around a whole library in your hand and they don't consume paper.

 

[Starbreaker]

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.

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

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If you're on the go, an ebook would be great. But for a home library, I prefer books. I like how they look in my bookshelves, they're no-stress if I lose or destroy one and best of all, you can check them out of the library for free. Why buy any book, paper or electronic?

 

[Miss Chicken]

Why buy any book. paper or electronic?

1) Because some of the books I read are not available throgh my local library system

2) Because going to the libary involves me walking to the bus-stop, catching the bus into the city, walking two blocks to the library, locating the books I want, checking out the books, and catching the bus back hiome. All this takes me about two hours. It takes me less than 30 second to downlad a book.

3) Because I am often ill I would have to end up paying fines for not returning books on time (plus the cost of bus-fare)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

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

 

[RoJoHen]

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.