The Deep Space of Digital Reading • Hacker News Board

Re: The Deep Space of Digital Reading

#41

Post by kakarot » Sun, Apr 23, 2017, 7:10 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #40

vivekd wrote: post #36

I find LED screens hard to read on for long periods of time, but I don't have this problem with e-readers. At this point, I think the attachment that people have to analog books is purely emotional. There is no practical reason to have books over e-readers. People mention things like the feel of the book, the feel of the paper in your hands, etc. Well I don't particularly like the way paper feels, particularly old pa…

> It automatically keeps your page for you. If you're reading a PDF on most e-readers, it automatically remembers that you're still on page 1 if you made the mistake of opening 2 or 3 other PDFs in the meantime. This applies to every PDF reader I've tried except Foxit and the older Kindles.

Foxit sometimes does it. Sometimes it even remembers multiple tabs. I don't understand why it doesn't always remember, though.

Re: The Deep Space of Digital Reading

#42

Post by WalterBright » Sun, Apr 23, 2017, 7:12 AM UTC

kakarot wrote: post #41

WalterBright wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It automatically keeps your page for you. If you're reading a PDF on most e-readers, it automatically remembers that you're still on page 1 if you made the mistake of opening 2 or 3 other PDFs in the meantime. This applies to every PDF reader I've tried except Foxit and the older Kindles.

Foxit sometimes does it. Sometimes it even remembers multiple tabs. I don't understand why it doesn't always remember, though.

It baffles me why the newer Kindle models have regressed on this.

Re: The Deep Space of Digital Reading

#43

Post by kakarot » Sun, Apr 23, 2017, 7:17 AM UTC

vivekd wrote: post #38

kakarot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're confusing your own motivations with the motivations of others. Why do I read literarary works? For the information inside. Why do I read physical books? I like all of the things you mentioned people shouldn't care about. The look, the feel, the physical manifestation, and most of all the smell of a stale book after a few decades. It's lovely. Books fundamentally serve a different purpose for me. Is this prefer…

>Why do I read physical books? I like all of the things you mentioned people shouldn't care about. The look, the feel, the physical manifestation, and most of all the smell of a stale book after a few decades. It's lovely. I doubt this is true for everyday reading. Because if that were true you would just open up old books and sniff them and rub them in your hands from time to time. And yet I have never once seen any…

> Because if that were true you would just open up old books and sniff them and rub them in your hands from time to time.

Slow down, mister. That is EXACTLY what I do. And it's why I love visiting libraries. Maybe you need to get out more, or at least stop assuming the world operates the same way as the extremely limited sample of people you have encountered.

It's like you think I'm making this shit up just to argue with you or something. "If that were true"... really?

I'm not trying to convince you to have the same preferences as me. Nor am I condemning your preference of digital media. But again, why are you condemning my own preferences, and why are you trying to convince me to have yours? I love digital media as much as the next guy and I've got lots of ebooks so I clearly understand the value in them.

But there's no "justification" as to why I also like owning physical books. Who do I need to justify myself to? No one. In fact apparently I have to defend myself, if anything.

> Lets face it, we read books for the words not for the feel for the books.

Let's face it, you are attempting to speak for the motivations of everyone on planet Earth, when you have no right or authority to do so. That is a downright ignorant thing to say.

You should try going to an old book sale, the kind with tons of 50 cent bins. I could spend hours in places like that. It really might change your perspective on the legitimacy of the preference for physical media.

What, should I stop buying vinyls, too? Just like books, their physical manifestation are symbolic of the material within, and best of all, absolutely no DRM.

Re: The Deep Space of Digital Reading

#44

Post by kakarot » Sun, Apr 23, 2017, 7:20 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #42

kakarot wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Foxit sometimes does it. Sometimes it even remembers multiple tabs. I don't understand why it doesn't always remember, though.

It baffles me why the newer Kindle models have regressed on this.

Do you think it was just a massive oversight or do you think they somehow, some way, stand to make money from removing the feature?

Re: The Deep Space of Digital Reading

#45

Post by yellow_postit » Sun, Apr 23, 2017, 3:06 PM UTC

hoodwink wrote: post #17

yellow_postit wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The inability to loan a book and to curate a library are the biggest issues which brought me back to physical books after 3 years of being a devoted eReader. My Kindle gathers dust until a trip comes up and I read few things of meaningful value on it because of the aforementioned issues. I do think much of this could be addressed by software and legal/copyright, lending & reselling being the most straightforward albe…

Have you seen Kindle MatchBook? https://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/ep-landing-page Or Shelfie? http://www.shelfie.com/

I hadn't seen MatchBook before, thanks for the referral. Only got about a 10% match rate on books I purchased as physical copies through Amazon and only one direction (physical -> digital) but that's better than nothing. I hope they're investing in building up this service.