11–20 of 59 posts
There is one general problem I have with ebooks that limits them for me when it comes to technical books, but is generally not a problem for things like novels. There is also a problem specific to Amazon ebook readers that holds me back from many technical books I would otherwise buy in ebook format. First, the general problem. Suppose I am reading a 200 page mathematics book. I'm on page 150, and to understand somet…
There is one general problem I have with ebooks that limits them for me when it comes to technical books, but is generally not a problem for things like novels. There is also a problem specific to Amazon ebook readers that holds me back from many technical books I would otherwise buy in ebook format. First, the general problem. Suppose I am reading a 200 page mathematics book. I'm on page 150, and to understand somet…
On the other hand reading magazines on kindle is painful, because they're meant to be viewed on a larger surface.
I read technical books (programming) on my computer/ipad.
If you intend to use the book as a reference, kindle is hard. The ability to go back and forth highlight take notes, remember what you thought by looking at the page these are very important.
For example I cannot study efficiently without printed codexes. I tried converting the laws into org mode and they became somewhat manageable. But I still prefer printed copies.
The first paragraph is alread bullshit: Ebooks have full-text search, of course you have bookmarks and a progress bar (not as "nice" but does the trick) and usually pages render always the same on one device. For literature I also doubt I remember less, why would I. Where paper actually excells: - good for advanced layouts - you can find something you know was "somewhere arround XY" but don't have a clear keyword for…
>you don't look like a mid 50s housewife in the train Stay classy. I far prefer reading real books (on the train and off) myself - but am already having storage issues due to city living...
The last one was a joke :) (And I have no shame sitting in the train with my reader).
> "Here are some things that you can’t do with a Kindle. You can’t turn down a corner, tuck a flap in a chapter, crack a spine (brutal, but sometimes pleasurable) or flick the pages to see how far you have come and how far you have to go. You can’t remember something potent and find it again with reference to where it appeared on a right- or left-hand page. You often can’t remember much at all." I don't care about cr…
Agreed, but also, is that really not a problem with physical books? Lots of them have backmatter with preview chapters, indices, and "questions for bookclubs".
I wish they gave more clarity to this stat * Overall digital sales up 6% to £1.7bn despite a continuation of the drop in eBook sales down 3% I personally doubt that ebooks have 'lost their shine', I think this is more a matter of a journalist not being able to read into the numbers. I haven't bought the report, but what little I know about the book market, I know that in 2016, adult colouring books became a BIG thing…
When I first bought my kindle, I could get tons of ebooks for a dollar or two less than paperback. Now the ebooks are often a dollar or two more than the paperback. Occasionally, I have run across books where the hardcover was cheaper than the ebook.
Fortunately, I can just use Overdrive[0] via my library to get books delivered to my kindle now.
However when it comes to pleasure reading, I usually like to buy a physical copy.
> "Here are some things that you can’t do with a Kindle. You can’t turn down a corner, tuck a flap in a chapter, crack a spine (brutal, but sometimes pleasurable) or flick the pages to see how far you have come and how far you have to go. You can’t remember something potent and find it again with reference to where it appeared on a right- or left-hand page. You often can’t remember much at all." I don't care about cr…
> > "You can’t tell whether the end is really the end, or whether the end equals 93% followed by 7% of index and/or questions for book clubs." > I guess, not that it's a real issue for me. Agreed, but also, is that really not a problem with physical books? Lots of them have backmatter with preview chapters, indices, and "questions for bookclubs".
I find ebooks useful if the book is meant to be read from start to finish. I have yet to find ebooks useful for technical books, where I need to flip through chunks of pages and go back and forth between sections of chapters as well as where I need to search by figure or equations rather than by text.
Alternatively, there are some really interesting 13" epaper tablets coming out soon that might fit the role more aptly.
> "Here are some things that you can’t do with a Kindle. You can’t turn down a corner, tuck a flap in a chapter, crack a spine (brutal, but sometimes pleasurable) or flick the pages to see how far you have come and how far you have to go. You can’t remember something potent and find it again with reference to where it appeared on a right- or left-hand page. You often can’t remember much at all." I don't care about cr…
I'm betting has more to do with it than romantic notions of people preferring physical books. Given the choice of a fiction book for $10 in hardcopy or $9 as an ebook, I'll take the hardcopy.
If ebooks (and movie downloads come to that) were priced the same as the physical copy minus the true costs of printing, distribution, warehousing, shipping, etc. they'd (I'm guessing) be closer to $2-5 and would sell far more.