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E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

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Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#141

Post by gnicholas »

fouric wrote: post #120

> If I wanted to borrow A Better Man by Louise Penny—the country’s current No. 1 fiction bestseller > Public libraries are engaged in one of the most valuable series of community services for all ages, for all audiences > If you think about equitable access to information for everybody, there shouldn’t be discrimination or anything like that Devil's advocate: the article (and many of the persons mentioned) seem to be…

I have found it nearly impossible to get any non-fiction titles that I'm interested in at my local library (San Mateo County Libraries). I have tried older titles, newer titles, popular titles, etc. The OverDrive app always autocompletes the title in the search bar, and then it tells me there are zero results.

I have tried dozens of books over a decade or so of living here. It is really frustrating, and only very occasionally (once or twice in that period?) have I actually been able to check out a title I was searching for.

So this is not just a fiction problem. It is definitely applicable to non-fiction books as well.

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#142

Post by jhbadger »

tus88 wrote: post #127
Freak_NL wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Some readers want e-books, so not facilitating them means losing readers.

Well I imagine people go to libraries as it's the only way to get physical copies of what they have. Ebooks are obviously more conveniently download from the internet. Or is this ebook a physical device not a download?

You use the Internet to check out a book from the library onto your e-reader, from home, allowing you to read it for free totally legally. The other ways of getting an ebook are generally only one of those last two.

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#144

Post by cwkoss »

shantly wrote: post #112
lonelappde wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Search deep-links from approximately every supported movie to the steaming provider that supports it. Just as easy as Popcorn Time.

Just tried it with Mission Impossible: Fallout, which I just watched the other day on Amazon Prime's streaming thingy. Google search results give me a list of purchase options across the top in a little box, including Amazon, so that's good. Doesn't say I can stream it but I guess it doesn't know I'm logged in & have prime, which it shouldn't, so that's fine too I guess, but it doesn't tell me I could stream it with…

Prime video has very user-hostile UX because they are simultaneously trying to provide an already-paid-for service and upsell other ones.

Video 'rentals' are grossly overpriced. I've never rented anything from Prime, and their prices would have to drop to about 10% for me to feel like I'm getting value. I think ~$0.25/hr would be fair.

Media companies are resistant to discounting the cost of discrete pieces of content despite the supply of entertaining free video exploding a thousand fold in the past decade.

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#145

Post by yellowapple »

falcolas wrote: post #90
johnchristopher wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The value provided by a physical map of a book is knowing how far along you are in the book No, it provides more. Actually your brain maps physical properties of the book to actual content, creating an overlay map over the story or the content (and our brain is really good at mentally mapping things). This is that map that is being used to know where in the book a particular piece of information is. Reading on e-re…

> your brain maps physical properties of the book to actual content Any resources detailing this? It's the first I've heard of it. > Besides, no e-reader today can let your riffle through pages as fast as paper book. True, though the iPad is actually somewhat faster than a physical book, in my experience. > you have to wait for visual feedback (screen refreshing). At least in my experience, the time required to flip…

> A well indexed ebook

That's a big "if".

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#146

Post by zknz »

8ytecoder wrote: post #137
tadzik_ wrote: post #8

> There’s a tension in e-book pricing generally between consumer expectations that a digital file will be less expensive than a physical copy and the reality that very little of the cost of making a book is tied up in the physical format There's more to this than the cost of making a book. As a consumer, a physical thing inherently has more value than a digital one because it keeps the value after I buy it. I can len…

E-Books have some convenience that physical books don't: 1. I can pick it up from any device I have at any time, 2. I can pick up any book depending on my mood at that point in time (I usually read one fiction, one non-fiction and one craft related simultaneously) 3. I can highlight and keep notes with the book that's in a form I can just copy-paste later. More than a few times I have now bought the e-book even thoug…

Kindle unlimited is absolute junk; it's not curated. It's just a muddied lot of self-published spam. I just gave up trying to find content.

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#147

Post by parliament32 »

fragmede wrote: post #60
Freak_NL wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People seem to instinctively feel that an e-book shouldn't cost as much as a real book. A paperback edition of a book often has multiple owners throughout its — sometimes considerable — lifespan. That's simply part of the deal, and it always has been. E-books lack the ability to share, sell, and pass it on. That's fine, but the market won't bear nearly the same price as a paper book that can do all those things. An e…

Video piracy's gone down specifically due to Netflix. As each brand stops allowing Neflix to host their content, and as long as income remains to flat for a large portion of America, I'm expecting video piracy to make a comeback as soon as people remember it exists. Subscribing to HBO, CBS, Disney, and whoever else, on top of Netflix, will soon become cost prohibitive. Doing without isn't a consideration, so illegal…

Video piracy is absolutely making a comeback. Most of the pirates I knew slowly drifted away from the scene over the last few years, just because Netflix was so easy and cheap. But with so many studios pulling their content, I keep hearing comments about people firing up their seedboxes again and getting back in with their old trackers.

It was a nice little golden age for a few years, shame things can't stay this way forever because of corporate greed.

Personally I think I'll cancel my Netflix soon. There really isn't much quality content anymore, there have been zero improvements to the recommender system despite users' griping, and the prices keep getting higher.

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#148

Post by codezero »

80mph wrote: post #131

With my local library (Santa Clara county), I've noticed that there is no requirement to revalidate my local address. After I move away, I would presumably join my new library, but I'd still have the option to log back in on my Kobo E-reader using my SCCL membership. I love Overdrive, but I think a lot of users abuse the system in this way.

they don't seem to care. my wife went around to about four libraries in the bay area so she could get easier access to some books which may not be available immediately in Santa Clara, but are available in San Mateo. I assume this is for the reasons stated in another comment: the licensing forbids individual libraries from sharing their copies with other libraries...

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#149

Post by JetSpiegel »

fragmede wrote: post #84
avar wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not claiming they're equal, I'm pointing out that the GP's "since I'm getting so much less, why should I pay the same price" point is subjective, and not a statement of fact. Sure, some people prefer hardcopies, good for them. But claiming that e-books being priced similarly is some market failure is taking it too far, for some of us it seems perfectly reasonable. If e-books were priced higher (even as much as 50…

The "market" has decided that Amazon deserves a near-total monopoly on the e-book reader market, which allows them to unfairly pressure publishers who have no realistic alternative if they actually want online sales. (Publishers are not a fan of Kindle unlimited.) Just recently Amazon released a book ahead of embargo and they will face zero repercussion for doing so. A market that had more than one way to "publish" b…

> Amazon released a book ahead of embargo and they will face zero repercussion for doing so.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49592021

Re: E-books at local libraries: a fight between publishers and librarians

#150

Post by johnisgood »

Freak_NL wrote: post #24
tadzik_ wrote: post #8

> There’s a tension in e-book pricing generally between consumer expectations that a digital file will be less expensive than a physical copy and the reality that very little of the cost of making a book is tied up in the physical format There's more to this than the cost of making a book. As a consumer, a physical thing inherently has more value than a digital one because it keeps the value after I buy it. I can len…

People seem to instinctively feel that an e-book shouldn't cost as much as a real book. A paperback edition of a book often has multiple owners throughout its — sometimes considerable — lifespan. That's simply part of the deal, and it always has been. E-books lack the ability to share, sell, and pass it on. That's fine, but the market won't bear nearly the same price as a paper book that can do all those things. An e…

> E-books lack the ability to share, sell, and pass it on.

How so? If you have the PDF file, it should be pretty easy to do all of these. Some or all of them may be illegal, but it is not the same as lacking the ability.

If it is DRM-protected, there are still ways around it.

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