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Kindle MatchBook

amazon.com

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121–130 of 189 posts

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#121

Post by acjohnson55 »

Most of my Amazon print book purchases are from used book resellers like BetterWorldBooks. I wonder if this offer is available for all book purchases through their marketplace? If so, bravo! Finally, we're starting to get services that begin to match what our technology offers.

I'm a firm believer that people pirate not because "digital=free" in their minds, but because they know that getting sold hobbled products for the same price (even though they cost far less to distribute digitally) is a bum deal. It seems like the media industries are finally starting to recalibrate themselves.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#122

Post by WalterBright »

dragonwriter wrote: post #109
WalterBright wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father lost a great deal of his physical books in a flood. If they were bits, he wouldn't have.

Unless they were DRMed and the provider had gone out of business, or cut off his access for other reasons, or...

In general, I don't buy DRMed books that I want to keep long term for just that reason.

I buy the physical book, cut the back off, scan it to a pdf and throw the book into the recycling bin.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#123

Post by dublinben »

dsuth wrote: post #115
mikevm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I hate the most about reading books is holding them up while reading. eReaders have solved this problem for me, and now I am a happy camper!

You... don't have to hold an eReader up? One of the worst things about reading ebooks on my iPad 2 is the weight.

Well the iPad weighs 1.3 lbs, and the Kindle weighs less than half a pound. Only the smallest paperback books are lighter than a small ereader.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#124

Post by WalterBright »

IanCal wrote: post #110
ctdonath wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The value proposition of a physical book is that is a physical artifact with concrete ownership; you can sell it, lend it, put it on a shelf for guests to see, forget it and rediscover it a decade later, or have your grandchildren find it in your attic in 80 years. This. I have a bookcase filled with "me". Those books constitute what molded me, and (if unread) what I hoped would. My longevity being in some doubt, my…

Having said that, I can't back-up my bookshelf. Some fire or water damage, and they're gone.

I'm also tired of "I know I have that book here somewhere..." and then searching for hours for it. My back is tired of moving all those boxes of books. My nose is tired of the mildew smell from when they wicked up moisture from the basement floor. My (old) eyes are tired of squinting to read small print.

I welcome the advent of better and better ereaders.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#125

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

WalterBright wrote: post #101
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Charles Stross writings on ebooks is interesting and insightful. He should know: he's a tech-savvy best-selling author. (He hangs around here too: [1]) He wrote a couple of posts a year and a half ago, they still apply. In them, he explains how Amazon is making itself a monopoly, and that isn't good for anyone but them. What's been most informative to me is how tiny publishers actually are, and how little mon…

Since it's trivial for an author to sell his works on his own website (and I've bought ebooks from such author sites), it's hard to see how Amazon could make itself a monopoly. Also, selling an ebook via Amazon does not preclude you from selling it yourself or through other venues.

That might work well if you're a known author or for buyers willing to spend time digging around but it doesn't help new authors reach a mass market.

Self publishing will have some sort of a positive impact on things but the reality is that large aggregators will still have a very significant role for discovery and in the mass market.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#126

Post by dsuth »

mratzloff wrote: post #99
apalmer wrote: post #31

I am turning on Amazon, it just feels fundamentally unfair that they destroyed the brick and mortar book industry precisely because they operate on the principal of never having to turn a profit. Its almost a monopolist abuse of the market...

Amazon is a wasting disease. It is shuttering small businesses, putting thousands out of work, and filling a fraction of those jobs it destroys with sweatshop warehouse jobs. And in return, the president of the United States praises them for creating those jobs. To say nothing of the negative impact they are having on authors. As with the music industry, it is becoming a superstar machine: either you quickly become a…

What is the negative affect they are having on authors? Isn't Amazon the reason we have access to such amazing new talents as Hugh Howey (Wool series)?

The ability to independently publish into an established marketplace is a pretty great boon for aspiring authors.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#127

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

dsuth wrote: post #115
mikevm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I hate the most about reading books is holding them up while reading. eReaders have solved this problem for me, and now I am a happy camper!

You... don't have to hold an eReader up? One of the worst things about reading ebooks on my iPad 2 is the weight.

Which is why I have a Kindle eReader and an iPad.

I agree that the eInk Kindles are one of the best bits of tech I've ever owned and the best reading experience I've had.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#128

Post by cdjk »

dsuth wrote: post #115
mikevm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I hate the most about reading books is holding them up while reading. eReaders have solved this problem for me, and now I am a happy camper!

You... don't have to hold an eReader up? One of the worst things about reading ebooks on my iPad 2 is the weight.

War and Peace, Anna Karenina, any recent book by Neal Stephenson - those are all much more pleasant on a kindle than in paper form.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#129

Post by dublinben »

apalmer wrote: post #31

I am turning on Amazon, it just feels fundamentally unfair that they destroyed the brick and mortar book industry precisely because they operate on the principal of never having to turn a profit. Its almost a monopolist abuse of the market...

Borders and Barnes & Noble killed the independent bookstore long before Amazon became a force in the publishing industry. I shed no tears for their defeat of the big box 'book stores.'

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#130

Post by WalterBright »

ianstormtaylor wrote: post #119
WalterBright wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father lost a great deal of his physical books in a flood. If they were bits, he wouldn't have.

Yeah, but ask your father (or more realistically, anyone who has a book collection) if they'd trade all of their physical books for a kindle. The answer will almost alway be no, because there is a reason they've lugged those books around with them every time they've changed houses or gone on trips, because the physical artifact means something to them, and a eBook isn't going to cut it.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. My own physical book collection is a shadow of its former self, as I've scanned and tossed the rest.

I can't ask my dad anything anymore as he has Alzheimer's, but he had given me his book collection and I've been scanning them, too. (Of course I don't cut up the sentimental treasures, but there are only a handful of those.)

Also, years ago, he got low vision and couldn't read comfortably anymore. If it was today, I would set up a projector to throw the pdf pages on the wall so he could keep reading.

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