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Ask PG: Do you still own books?

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Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#21

Post by foobarbazqux »

unimpressive wrote: post #20

I buy most of my books from thrift stores, the major advantage of this is that I can spend less money, get things that may never be published electronically or that I didn't know I wanted, and don't have to make any record anywhere of what books I own. (On the receipt the purchases are charged in generic categories as opposed to specific titles. Even if I were paying with a credit card you wouldn't know what I have.)…

Paper books have search in three forms: flipping quickly to scan for information, a chapter index, and a concept index in the back.

There's nothing fundamental stopping e-books from being random access, type in the page number and there you are. Then again, e-books can sometimes lose page numbers altogether.

e-books don't come with DRM or a record of purchases if you torrent them or get them from Gutenberg, whereas you cannot conveniently steal a paper book.

Just some more pros and cons I thought of.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#22

Post by login1234 »

I own lots of books. I still buy books. I prefer to read books. e-readers have never won my heart.

If I were still in university I would maybe preferred those text books all be in digital form so I can carry less. However, that was long-ish ago.

still have all my old programming books and find it a lot easier to flip back to things.

30 yrs old; don't care for e-readers.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#23

Post by tjr »

lutusp wrote: post #16
chiph wrote: post #13

I gave all my books to Goodwill last year -- a lifetime of collected & curated sci-fi & fantasy paperbacks, plus some antique tech titles (the "Be Book" was in the pile) and went digital. I have maybe 20-25 books now. Nearly all of them are technical titles, because the typical reader device isn't large enough to display their diagrams/charts (Amazon doesn't sell the 10" Kindle any more, and iPad-like devices don't h…

> I gave all my books to Goodwill last year ... Why not a local library? Same tax advantage, but a much higher chance that the books will get into the hands of readers at no cost. I mean, assuming lending libraries even exist any more -- I haven't checked. :)

Looking to discard a bunch of paper books a few years ago, I discovered that local libraries often do not particularly want donations of books, and if they do, they have particular requirements of what they might want. E.g., if they accept anything at all, they might accept a novel in good condition, but probably not a first edition of "Just Java".

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#24

Post by hashtree »

Avid physical book reader, particularly for anything professionally related. For me, there is no substitute for a physical book. They are extremely durable, inexpensive, reliable, allow me to write in them (e.g. corrections and ideas), highlight in different colors, can be set on a book holder next to me for reference while coding, be easily shared, be easily gifted, can have several open at once for reference, last longer than I have been alive, etc. There is a beauty in their simplicity and barebones functionality.

TL;DR Give me physical books or give me death.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#25

Post by brador »

tjr wrote: post #14
brador wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ebooks and privacy? I'm not seeing the link, explain?

Things like: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230487030457749... And more generally, moreso from the free software angle: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/the-danger-of-ebooks.html Of course, there are suppliers of ebooks besides Amazon, or besides Apple, who do not infringe upon at least most such concerns.

Interesting. You can root a nook, root, load your ebooks through android apps, enjoy eink, with some privacy? Also, turn off wifi and load the ebooks through memory card.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#26

Post by chiph »

lutusp wrote: post #16
chiph wrote: post #13

I gave all my books to Goodwill last year -- a lifetime of collected & curated sci-fi & fantasy paperbacks, plus some antique tech titles (the "Be Book" was in the pile) and went digital. I have maybe 20-25 books now. Nearly all of them are technical titles, because the typical reader device isn't large enough to display their diagrams/charts (Amazon doesn't sell the 10" Kindle any more, and iPad-like devices don't h…

> I gave all my books to Goodwill last year ... Why not a local library? Same tax advantage, but a much higher chance that the books will get into the hands of readers at no cost. I mean, assuming lending libraries even exist any more -- I haven't checked. :)

I found the local libraries to be disappointing (Raleigh, Charlotte, Austin) in that they focus on romance and children's books. They have no interest in older sci-fi paperbacks, and certainly not in acquiring 4 cubic yards of them.

In tech towns like Raleigh, Austin, the Bay Area, I would think there'd be a market for a sci-fi/fantasy specific lending library, but I don't know if it'd pay to run it as a business.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#28

Post by [deleted] »

foobarbazqux wrote: post #21
unimpressive wrote: post #20

I buy most of my books from thrift stores, the major advantage of this is that I can spend less money, get things that may never be published electronically or that I didn't know I wanted, and don't have to make any record anywhere of what books I own. (On the receipt the purchases are charged in generic categories as opposed to specific titles. Even if I were paying with a credit card you wouldn't know what I have.)…

Paper books have search in three forms: flipping quickly to scan for information, a chapter index, and a concept index in the back. There's nothing fundamental stopping e-books from being random access, type in the page number and there you are. Then again, e-books can sometimes lose page numbers altogether. e-books don't come with DRM or a record of purchases if you torrent them or get them from Gutenberg, whereas y…

[deleted]

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#29

Post by unimpressive »

foobarbazqux wrote: post #21
unimpressive wrote: post #20

I buy most of my books from thrift stores, the major advantage of this is that I can spend less money, get things that may never be published electronically or that I didn't know I wanted, and don't have to make any record anywhere of what books I own. (On the receipt the purchases are charged in generic categories as opposed to specific titles. Even if I were paying with a credit card you wouldn't know what I have.)…

Paper books have search in three forms: flipping quickly to scan for information, a chapter index, and a concept index in the back. There's nothing fundamental stopping e-books from being random access, type in the page number and there you are. Then again, e-books can sometimes lose page numbers altogether. e-books don't come with DRM or a record of purchases if you torrent them or get them from Gutenberg, whereas y…

>Paper books have search in three forms: flipping quickly to scan for information, a chapter index, and a concept index in the back.

An E-book probably has the last two as well. These are almost ineffectual compared to direct word search.

>e-books don't come with DRM or a record of purchases if you torrent them or get them from Gutenberg, whereas you cannot conveniently steal a paper book.

Sure, but if you do buy a paper book at least you can sell it. You will never be able to recoup any of the money in your ebook library.

Re: Ask PG: Do you still own books?

#30

Post by nogoodnik »

Almost all of my books are on paper. I don't mind the space they're taking (six or so bookshelves throughout the house), and I'm past the stage of my life where I moved every other year, so there's no real incentive to get rid of them. They look good, are easy to take care of, and every so often I'll find myself with a few hours of free time and enjoy reading -- or rereading -- them. They are not clutter.

If my kids share my interests, they'll be happy I kept them (discovering my dad's stash of 1970s _Scientific American_ was a high point of my youth), and if not, they'll get rid of them when I'm gone. No worries.

Most of my books are non-fiction. I read a lot of fiction, but tend to use the library for that, except for a few authors I know I'll want to read more than once.

I've got nothing against ebooks (provided they have no DRM) but I guess I just don't need them.

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