91–100 of 157 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're talking about piracy, do you only read books from dead authors? Or do you pay them via alternate channels? Or are you just fine with enjoying their content without paying them back a cent?
If we're talking about used bookstores, the author makes just as much on a pirated book as a book purchased at a used bookstore.
One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…
I agree, but I can also see a future of smaller web-based bookshops with specialised algorithms based on more uncommon, specialized parameters. Think "books about philosophy that used to be popular in the '70s".
One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…
I wonder if it’s just a quirk/phobia of mine? Library books gross me out too.
How many page turns between butt wipes?! How many picked noses leaving through?
I never used to be bothered as a kid but this feeling has grown over the years culminating in a general ickiness.
The number one benefit of ebooks to me was that I could get old/cheap books that hadn’t, indeed, couldn't be handled by people.
it ain’t easy being weird!
No attention-grabbing adverts. No video walls.
It is refreshingly relaxing to be able to drop the cognitive load of "anti-advert filtering" and simply look...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You do realize that time will eventually grind down even the memory of every last thing you have ever known or loved, right?
Not necessarily... this rests on the assumption that God does not exist. And not everyone believes that assumption is true.
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rrW7yf42vQYDf8AcH/timeless-p...
One thing I appreciate about second-hand bookshops and libraries is that they are not curated for me. I read a lot of non-fiction, and I find that websites like Amazon and Goodreads do give decent suggestions, but they are books about topics I already know, sharing ideas I am already familiar with, in a style I like. I can feel the customer profit gradient descent maximization breathing down my neck. Looking at you,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If we're talking about used bookstores, the author makes just as much on a pirated book as a book purchased at a used bookstore.
...we’re talking about public libraries.
Yet the japanese second hand book/game/CD/DVD/hadware company Book Off is as successfull as ever, with stores pretty much everywhere in Japan and starting to expand overseas: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_Off Its really an amazing rxperience there - clean orderly stores with bright illumination jam packed by books at lidiculously low prices & you can find total gems there if you look for a while - like the fir…
I would be interested to know how much the Book Off model depends on the fact that manga is a huge market in Japan. Every time I've been into a Book Off, there's always been a huge manga section and it's always packed with people because (a) manga is really popular and (b) they don't shrinkwrap the manga to prevent people reading them in the shop the way a lot of places do. In a market like the UK or US where (comics…
And its kinda necessary to find what your are lokking for, especially if you are a foreigner with shaky levels of reading Japanese. :) Also you can find interesting stuff you did not know existed just by picking a random book and looking inside. More so as each Book Off store seems to have different gems hidden inside - we visited quite a few (Kagoshima, Kawasaki, Akihabara) and each one had something special. :)
I have fond memories of those shops, but, they had their quirks. Inventory systems were typically non-existent, and some of those shops were a mess.
But you know, even those things had their charm. Reminds me of the older mom'n pop stores and shops that didn't have the 100% cleanliness or neatness of modern big-box stores, where everything has been designed and optimized to perfection, and just looks...sterile. The modern stuff is excellent when your only goal is to go in, find your stuff, and get out - as fast as possible. But it's not that great when you just want to exploring/treasure hunting.
The old and unorganized stuff was great for that - treasure hunting. You didn't get the flippers or re-sellers that would swoop in 9AM on a daily basis to get the most valuable stuff, because their inventory trackers had notified them that store XYZ just got in rare item ABC.