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Chopping up books when they're physically too big

attainablefelicity.mattkirkland.com

201–210 of 210 posts

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#201

I use an ereader a lot. They have glaring lacks that nobody seems to have addressed: 1. Two page layout. This gives you more context when reading. 2. Imperfect printing. Older books have imperfect impressions of letters. 3. Tan colored background, which varies across the page and from page to page. Grey is so sterile. 4. Cannot stick a thumb on a page and flip forward and backward with your other thumb.

Ereader software doesn't have bookmarks?

Yes, but it's just not as useful.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it could be because google sucks. Allegedly, the way google enshitifies their searches is to include parallel search terms in the query. Why does google enshitify their searches? Because people spend longer on the google site searching multiple times = more ad time. So, searching for either cryogenic or frozen individually on google may include the other search term, meaning that when searching for cryogenic an…

So the theory is now that Disney named one of their most successful films "Frozen", not because it's a good name for a story inspired by "The Snow Queen", but it's actually to stop people finding out the rumours that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen by having results about the film outrank results about the conspiracy theory, even though that's trivially overcome by asking about "walt disney cryogenic" instead of…

my theory is, that in hindsight it could look like a straight line from naming a film "frozen," and that in turn, at the height of frozen's popularity and due to googles policies, a search for "disney cryogenic" could return results for the movie frozen, which could lead to the suspicion that it was done on purpose. i am very surprised to find that my search results for "disney cryogenic" almost match yours perfectly.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, really, Barnes & Noble marketing is missing a beat by not printing that as a bookmark to include with new book sales after asking the question at the register, "Has the person you are buying this hardcover for ever opened a new book correctly?" Oblig. XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1053/ (which I kind of wish was comic #1,000 so it was easy to remember/link)

A better solution would be for them to just pre-open the books so you don't need complex rituals to read them.

If I buy a new, unread book, I expect to be the first person to open it.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#204
post #20

This seems like a lot of work for not a huge payoff. I get that the feel and experience of a physical book has a certain nostalgia, but for me, I'd just leave the big monster on the shelf and grab an epub from Anna's Archive. You have already ensured the author and publisher get paid, you might as well read on an e-reader, which is in my opinion superior in nearly every way to a physical book. Ebooks sync across devi…

Not one of the things you mentioned about ebooks actually interests me. On the other hand, physical books are more comfortable to read, enjoyable to hold in your hands and flip the pages, don't ever run out of charge, and look nice when you put them on a shelf. For me, they are vastly superior to ebooks. I say all this not to try to convince you that you're wrong (it's all a matter of taste after all), but to point o…

Some people might actually prefer physical books and are making an informed decision, but I suspect more simply haven't experienced e-books, or only have tried on a suboptimal device like their phone and just assume that e-books are an inferior experience. While I still have hundreds of physical books, as I age I much prefer reading on an e-ink device where I can choose the font size I prefer.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#206
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would assume that the photo includes the page number.

It's still O(log n) to find the right page from a closed book. Compare that entire rube goldberg machine with one button press on an e-reader.

OTOH, a paper book never runs out of battery :^)

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#207

It’s going to tire out your hands to hold up an 850-page book for the time it takes to read an 850-page book. If you read in bed, it’s going to tire your arms out, trying to hold this giant tome over your head. If you can't figure out how to read a large book in comfort that seems like a you problem. It's up to you what you do with (or rather, to) your books but don't ask me to applaud you for being clever.

> If you can't figure out how to read a large book in comfort Isn’t that exactly what he did?

No, he found a way to read 3 smaller books in comfort

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#208
post #183

20ish years ago I complained to my college roommate that my math book was too big. He asked if I was gonna sell it back, and I said I couldn’t—they had a new edition out, so mine was worthless. Cut it, he said. It was something I had never considered. Not for a moment. Books were sacred to me. Cut one? Blasphemy. But he was right. And so I cut it. And it fixed all of my complaints. What I learned is that some folks h…

Do you mean you cut the excess margins, or cut out specific sections, etc?

We studied the book in order starting from chapter 1 in the first calc class up to the last chapters in calc 4. I was in the last class when he gave me the idea to cut it, so I cut out the last few chapters and carried a very thin volume of what I needed for the last class.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#209

20ish years ago I complained to my college roommate that my math book was too big. He asked if I was gonna sell it back, and I said I couldn’t—they had a new edition out, so mine was worthless. Cut it, he said. It was something I had never considered. Not for a moment. Books were sacred to me. Cut one? Blasphemy. But he was right. And so I cut it. And it fixed all of my complaints. What I learned is that some folks h…

I agree this dichotomy exists and find it useful to ponder for balancing your life. But there is another more specific one in your context: objects are to be respected vs objects are to be useful. My mother takes a lot of care of her objects. Her stuff lasts for very long. Mine don't, but my life is much easier than hers because I don't think twice about making something dirty or worn. It's not alive; it's meant to m…

That’s mostly where I’ve wound up as an adult. I think a lot of it comes down to financial stability. I spent a lot of my own money on books when I was younger. They embodied that cost in perceived value. But I learned that they might have more value than their cost if you’re willing to make them more useful.

Re: Chopping up books when they're physically too big

#210
post #164

20ish years ago I complained to my college roommate that my math book was too big. He asked if I was gonna sell it back, and I said I couldn’t—they had a new edition out, so mine was worthless. Cut it, he said. It was something I had never considered. Not for a moment. Books were sacred to me. Cut one? Blasphemy. But he was right. And so I cut it. And it fixed all of my complaints. What I learned is that some folks h…

cue https://youtu.be/kYfNvmF0Bqw?t=12 :)

I hadn’t seen this before, but he’s near the top of my list as an example of this. One the common characteristics I see of people with this mindset is that they have high risk tolerance. Things are replaceable, and they feel safe exploring that trade space.
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