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How ebooks lost their shine

theguardian.com

21–30 of 59 posts

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#22
I buy hardcopies. If they are heavy on graphics (as an example Krampus by Brom) or have a lot of code listings.

For fiction? No way. I sometimes read 5 books in a month. I really don't want to open up a private library or bother reselling them. When I travel I don't want to add several kilograms of books. When I reach the end of a book in a series, I don't want to have already bought the next part and have it lying next to me, instead I prefer to just click two buttons to instantly but it.

And for now, Kindle unlimited gives me some great value.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#23

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…

I really don't get why ebooks are so pricy. If they were half the price of a book, I would actually consider buying them instead of borrowing them or only using Amazon Prime's free offerings.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#24
As I read the article I remembered that I would rather read a magazine article online --- an ezine? --- than flip through a real magazine. The same goes for newspapers. And I remembered I would much rather look up a function in an online reference than a thick, heavy book. I would rather get my mail electronically. But I would rather read a novel in paperback.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#26
I prefer PDF files rather than ebook formats. I don't like the idea of being locked into a particular technology, be it Apple's or Amazon's.

I consider PDF viewers to be superior to the experience offered by ebook viewers. For example, Having to tap the left and right side of the screen to move between pages is a pain compared to swiping up or down in a fluid motion.

Another issue is the waste of space by trying to simulate paper. On my iPad both Apple's and Amazon's ebook readers display almost an inch of white space margin all around the page. On the same device PDF viewer will zoom text to use the entire screen with a double tap of a paragraph.

And then there's zooming.

PDF's are easier to view on multilple devices. I keep all my books on Dropbox. They are instantly available no matter where I might be.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#27
Because they are e- so you never own them. You lend them- and the day the library is on fire- your books turn to ashes in your bag.

I also regret showing up at a friends place and at partys near his book shelve, and get the guy/girl to recommend me the books they lend from me and no returned.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#28
For practical reason, I prefer e-book nowadays. They don't take much physical space, easy to search, and so on.

The only reason I buy hardcopies these day is photography books, which rely heavily on graphics.

Re: How ebooks lost their shine

#30

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…

I really don't get why ebooks are so pricy. If they were half the price of a book, I would actually consider buying them instead of borrowing them or only using Amazon Prime's free offerings.

Even when they are cheaper to purchase, ebooks often make more money for the publisher[1], as the author's share tends to be smaller. It's interesting to see that the costs to produce a hardcover book are only a very small part of its total price.

1: http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/06/a-publishers-perspectiv...

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