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Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

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Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#61

Post by ezy »

gte910h wrote: post #57
ezy wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of these, with the possible exception of the feel of the book in your hand can be replicated by an ebook. Not ebooks in their current state, of course, but by a hypothetical electronic book that has more capability. I suspect paper books will become like vinyl, hobbyists and retro obsessed will still have a lot, but most people will only keep a few for sentimental reasons (e.g. your grandfather). There are some…

>with the possible exception of the feel of the book There are kindle covers that look and feel like a hardback book http://www.amazon.com/Verso-Prologue-Cover-Kindle-Fire/dp/B0...

I'd say it probably doesn't really replicate the feel because human tactile sense is so subtle, but it's cool to know these exist! I might pick one up.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#62

Post by ja27 »

johnnyn wrote: post #23
jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

IMO, the only way for physical books to exists alongside ebooks is by bundling the ebook with the physical book, similar to movies. It baffles me why publishers haven't already done this, but then again...publishers aren't the brightest people.

It's not a new idea. I had - among others - a SQL Server 2000 book that had the ebook (either HTML or CHM) on it.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#63

Post by potatolicious »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

Even without the romanticism of reading, there's one thing I can't do with a Kindle book, that I greatly enjoy doing:

Lending it to other people.

It doesn't matter how many fucking awful Facebook plugins you write, there is nothing as convenient as "Have you read [X]? I have a copy, here, let me get it."

Until I can lend my Kindle books to people - with no restrictions, I will continue buying physical books.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#64

Post by Tichy »

I love ebooks, but I hate the kindle way that ties me to Amazon and makes it hard for me to share my books. Effectively, I no longer own books, I only borrow them from Amazon.

Every now and then I get weak anyway and buy a kindle book. But often Amazon tells me I first need to switch my account from Amazon.com to Amazon.de. That is the reminder of what is wrong with it. Why does it matter where I buy my ebook? I want to buy my ebook wherever and whenever I want, and just have a device that can handle all my books. I know it is possible to get other books onto the kindle, but it is very cumbersome (I don't own a kindle, so the email transfer does not work). And they won't sync between devices, either, afaik.

I find this very depressing, because it seems unlikely to change in the near future. Everybody wants to own their customer, nobody is going to deliver a reader that is simply a good reader. Not the least because it would also require titanic negotiations with book publishers to make their content available somehow.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#65

Post by wahnfrieden »

potatolicious wrote: post #63
jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

Even without the romanticism of reading, there's one thing I can't do with a Kindle book, that I greatly enjoy doing: Lending it to other people. It doesn't matter how many fucking awful Facebook plugins you write, there is nothing as convenient as "Have you read [X]? I have a copy, here, let me get it." Until I can lend my Kindle books to people - with no restrictions , I will continue buying physical books.

To be fair, recommending a book to someone is easier now in a different way, with ebook readers. You can gift them the book or they can buy the book right there on their Kindle, without having to go to a store and locate a physical copy. This is part, though certainly not the entire appeal of being lent a book - reducing the friction of reading something you were recommended. It's just gotten more expensive to do this now.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#66

Post by pauljonas »

Tichy wrote: post #64

I love ebooks, but I hate the kindle way that ties me to Amazon and makes it hard for me to share my books. Effectively, I no longer own books, I only borrow them from Amazon. Every now and then I get weak anyway and buy a kindle book. But often Amazon tells me I first need to switch my account from Amazon.com to Amazon.de. That is the reminder of what is wrong with it. Why does it matter where I buy my ebook? I want…

I believe there should be a law, or at least some economic disincentive to motivate Amazon (and other ebook providers) to export/import collections from their proprietary readers onto competitors. Ereaders should not be tied to a given collection -- it is an insane state -- imagine buying a CD or DVD that could only be played in players belonging to a single company or an appliance that would only run on selected utility systems. Why is this considered a natural and beneficial state for books?

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#67

Post by wlesieutre »

ezy wrote: post #60
jaysonelliot wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't dispute anything in your first paragraph. The ability to preserve and distribute rare or unique documents and photos is amazing. I'm not talking about rare books and antiquities, though. I'm talking about something far more common and mundane, and (to me at least) far more special. The books I've inherited from my grandfather are not precious or valuable to anyone but me. They're precious because I know I'm t…

Fair enough -- the transient nature of electronic media kind of short changes the human nature of existing in a physical world. I have to say, I'm still pessimistic about bound books however. Perhaps future generations will be reading old books on their grandfather's Kindle and looking at old notes recorded on it -- interesting thought -- kind of bizarre to think about, even in this age.

But you'd be lucky if the ebook hardware keeps working even a decade after your death. And there's no way to inherit your grandfather's books to use them on another reader; he owned a license to read them and it's not transferrable when he dies.

This one aspect of the lack of ownership that I find problematic, but you don't see discussed as much. The way things are going, you won't even be able to inherit someone's kitchen table because they'd bought a $500 license for their immediate family to eat off of it. Died? Factory repossesses it.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#68

Post by WalterBright »

I've been running my old paper books through a scanner and throwing them away. The resulting pdf's are readable on the Kindle or my computer, or even on my ipod.

I've probably done around 500 books by now. There's a looong way to go yet :-)

I don't see much point in having physical books anymore other than coffee table books. I like having my library at my fingertips rather than scattered everywhere.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#69

Post by rogermugs »

from comment I made on the website:

Here's my thought. I don't read a whole lot of "crap fiction." I typically read the kind of books i want to reference later and would like to lend to people. If I could lend books an unlimited number of times (as i should be able to), I would never buy another hardcover again.

As it is, I often end up finding a book I think I'd like to lend out, since I can only lend once ever on kindle, i buy a hardcopy used book (giving nothing to the publisher) for a few dollars used, then download an ebook copy pirated and read it on my kindle....

ticks me off that this is potentially the best thing since sliced bread and I'm fearful the model will be broken for the rest of my life due to these fools.

if i could lend books i would buy books like crazy from amazon, everything from amazon, and the publishers would get something. as it is, i buy rights to the book used and then read it how i want.

annoying.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#70

Post by rogermugs »

davidf18 wrote: post #8

Novels and light non-fiction is easy to read on the Kindle but for non-fiction with lots of ideas that are new I often have to buy the hard copy as well and underline and notate. Still I like the Kindle version because I travel a lot.

i would agree, but the new kindle touch makes notations super easy... and more importantly, finding those notations even easier.
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