21–30 of 74 posts
On top of all the extremely valid points about the ad-driven cognitive friction inherent to modern device usage: print books can’t get yoinked off my shelf because a rich person with political connections wants that.
Yes except where rich people fund political book-banning groups to do that.
ref: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/books/book-bans-libraries...
Even though print books are by far the minority of my reading, I still purchase print copies of books I enjoy, for discoverability. I’ve loved reading since childhood because I grew up in a house filled to bursting with my parents’ books. Nobody told me to read Tolkien, or Heinlein, or Verne, or Jack London, or Greek mythology—I simply took those books off the shelf and read them. And when we visited friends and family, I would read books from their shelves too. None of my young relatives have access to my ebook or audiobook history, and I’m not going to hammer my own interests into their heads… but I’m lucky enough to have lots of space, so I keep my bookshelves overflowing.
Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…
I cannot relate to this experience at all. I can open up the TV app on my phone/tablet/laptop/TV and watch almost whatever I want pretty quickly, without ad breaks. It is far more convenient than the old set top box situation. I would say I wait a maximum of 60 seconds, and probably 30 seconds most of the time, to start watching what must be a considerably large portion of all professionally produced media in the US.
This is the reason I buy physical media, rip it to my home server and use Plex. No suggested bullshit. No ads at all.
How do you do that with paid services? What does your setup look like? Because I can't figure out how to do that using commercial products.
Physical books are irreplaceable to me. I love the feel, the smell, and having a house full of them. Just went to a library sale this morning and got even more. I also really need a break from screens, and reading a book is a great excuse to not be on my phone or watching tv.
Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…
That's our new norm too. We still subscribe to a number of streaming services - but we count on piracy to get the experience that we pay for.
I read about two dozen books a year, the majority as audiobooks, most of the rest as ebooks, and typically one or two in print. I quite like print books, but favor ebooks for the minimal size and weight. I prefer ebooks to audiobooks too, but have far more opportunities to listen to an audiobook than to sit down and read an ebook. Even though print books are by far the minority of my reading, I still purchase print c…
Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…
> Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add Sounds like you just chose the wrong device. My Boox does none of this. I just put the epub file in the device and read it.
So; I cordon off time every day to read and not touch my devices. Even though I subscribe to streaming music, I prefer to read while listening to vinyl. I have absolutely NO PROBLEM with anyone choosing to read ebooks or do audiobooks; they're just not my preferred way to do it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cannot relate to this experience at all. I can open up the TV app on my phone/tablet/laptop/TV and watch almost whatever I want pretty quickly, without ad breaks. It is far more convenient than the old set top box situation. I would say I wait a maximum of 60 seconds, and probably 30 seconds most of the time, to start watching what must be a considerably large portion of all professionally produced media in the US.
How do you do that without ads? Every single service has ads, even on paid tiers. And sponsored content that is recommended regardless of my actual tastes. This is the reason I buy physical media, rip it to my home server and use Plex. No suggested bullshit. No ads at all. How do you do that with paid services? What does your setup look like? Because I can't figure out how to do that using commercial products.
The ads at the beginning of a show can be skipped pretty easily.
I can mentally ignore sponsored content, but you are right that it is an ad that. I almost never browse though, and just use the search function.
Apple tv+, Amazon prime with the extra $5 per month or whatever, and peacock’s higher tier paid through Apple don’t have ads breaks in the middle of the media for me. Neither did Max when I had it a couple years ago.
Other shows or seasons that are rented with a lifetime license from apple (what they call “buying”) don’t have ad breaks either.
Watching TV/Movies through any device is a bother, I have to sift through all the advertisements/brand placements for that device to find anything, and most of the time it's the same 20 movies repeated over and over in every section. Reading on a E-device is a bother, I have to sift through all the "sponsored" books and whatever other crap the ebook reader company decides to add, and be at the whims of whatever they…
My fellow, you are on Hacker News. Think like a hacker, not a consumer.
Plenty of savvy e-book customers here don't have the experience you just described. Look up how to put KOReader ( https://koreader.rocks ) on your current device, and learn how to get your books without DRM. Your e-reading experience will be so much better.