
Did technology kill the book or give it new life? - joshcrowder
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33717596
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toyg
I love ebooks and I'm way too prone to impulse-buying them on my Kindle, but
recent price movements are trying hard to kill the market.

I'm not going to pay £15 for a text file, sorry. I honestly don't care how
good your editing is, chances are it's awful anyway: one I got recently, by a
mainstream author from a mainstream publisher, has "renaissance" spelled "re
nais san ce" (with spaces) throughout the entire book, clearly an hyphenation
fail (and let's not go into "wrong" words you can clearly recognise as
spellchecking fails).

So in the end, you publisher-and-author are just shuffling a text file from A
to B and you want me to believe your profit is the same as when you were
cutting trees, pressing ink and transporting heavy boxes around the land. I
just feel insulted. I know cost and price are different and what the market
will bear and yadda yadda, I just don't think a text file is worth more than a
few quid.

~~~
saturdaysaint
I believe that the right book at the right time can change your perspective,
maybe your life. £15 is a pretty small price to dive into a well-written book
on a subject, practically the moment your interest is sparked in the subject.
Other conveniences - the fact that you don't have to trudge hundreds of pounds
of books every time you move, the ability to read on any device - arguably
make them more valuable than their physical counterparts to me, at least.

~~~
mkaziz
I would pay 15 pounds for a life-changing book, but not for my next pulp
fantasy. That's just way too much, especially when the paper book costs around
the same or less.

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tenfingers
For me the only "ebook" that truly exists is a PDF/file that I can handle the
way I want. I never considered the kindle-amazon combo to be an option. From
amazon I only buy physical books, and will continue to do so until the stuff I
buy can be used the way I want, on linux, with the reader I want.

There's no point in buying inferior media, especially when the price
difference is so small.

An mind, I regularly use PDFs for searching/references, but I still read books
just fine. I would need 4-5 e-ink readers to be able to do what I currently do
with regular books, they would need to be A4 size at least, and will never
settle for anything which is not a dumb PDF visualizer with no strings
attached.

Until then, books will continue to live strong on my bookshelf.

~~~
Turing_Machine
PDFs are horrible when it comes to different screen sizes, though. I mean,
horrible to the point of near unusablility.

The ebook formats (both EPUB and Kindle) work very well indeed on devices
ranging from a small phone screen to a large desktop monitor. They're not
"inferior" to PDF in the slightest in that respect.

There are still niches where PDF wins, but that's certainly not the case for
casual fiction.

~~~
tenfingers
I don't care so much about the format. I never used epub because nothing I
ever used came in epub. I usually get PDFs along with books I buy (which is
ironic, but appreciated), but never epub so far.

My main complaint is that these readers come with DRM. As far as the format is
concerned, I would be fine with almost anything.

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gizi
I stopped buying technical books approximately 15 years ago. Nowadays I much
prefer (online) tutorials along with the (online) reference manual with user
comments. In fact, you could quite easily crowd author and publish these
things. We could use better software for that, though, because Wikipedia's
mediawiki is only so so for that purpose. Furthermore, most reference manuals
and tutorial collections do not sufficiently solicit user commenting and other
user participation. Books printed on paper do not allow for user involvement
at all. Even for novels, I would prefer to read them with user involvement in
one way or another. I cannot imagine one type of book that would not benefit
from user interaction.

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verisimilidude
For adult fiction, I doubt any of us care how or where people read. It's an
uncomplicated example. Instead, consider something like scientific research.
The possibilities seem endless when it comes to putting research online:
richer _multimedia_ , raw data sets, crowdsourcing, timely publication, etc.
But paper (and parchment) is still a more reliable archival format, which
could be crucial on some unfortunate day in the (hopefully distant) future.

For content that matters, I wonder how long paper will be able to keep up with
digital, and what the long-term effects will be either way.

~~~
6d0debc071
Scientific journals haven't done diddly with the internet but use it as a
glorified magazine printing device in the time they've been on it so far. It's
possible that's just because they're stupid, but I wonder how much of it is
creating scarcity. e.g: You don't make money by sharing your raw data with the
world and having it networked with other data to make it easily searchable,
you make money by keeping a stranglehold on the data and charging £20 a pop to
read a summary with the analysis you want people to have of it stapled to the
front.

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larrik
The only thing I miss when using my kindle is going to the used bookstores and
hunting for treasures (generally obscure sci-fi for $1 per paperback).

But my kindle 4 lets me stay in sync with my phone (which I can use in the
dark and outside the house unprepared, both of which come up a lot). So I tend
to read kindle books still, despite a rather large collection of unread
fiction.

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bmelton
While I used to be the guy that would carry a book on my mass-transit commute,
I found that the (admittedly minor) headaches of doing so were contributing to
my reading less and less.

Having to carry a book around is fine if it's a small paperback, but for books
I just couldn't wait for, I found that my laptop bag was cramped enough
without trying to carry the hardback Game of Thrones, so I ended up
prioritizing taking smaller books on the commute, which meant that I had books
at home that I wasn't reading. Meanwhile, the Kindle is smaller than a
paperback. Advantage: Kindle.

If I was nearing the end of a book, I would just stop taking it, because (for
me at least), the idea that I might take a book into my commute, finish it,
and not have a book to read on the way home was a hassle. Moreover, I had to
carry the already-read book around for the rest of the day. With the Kindle, I
could finish one book and start the next. Advantage: Kindle.

Bookmarking / placeholding doesn't need much discussion, but I definitely
found that on the Metro, I lost my place a lot more often than reading on my
porch. Advantage: Kindle.

Goodreads integration. I like sharing my thoughts on books, but more
specifically, I like sharing my ratings of books... mostly for myself, so that
when I'm looking for a new book and nothing is jumping out at me, I can check
out my Goodreads review, find other books by authors I rated highly, and just
grab the next book from an author I previously enjoyed. With paper books, I
found that I would often forget to update my rankings, while my Kindle asks at
the end of every book. Advantage: Kindle.

To those who suggest that paper is better on the eyes than e-ink, I can't
assert scientifically either way, but as a programmer who spends too much time
in front of a screen, I can only say that having begun with the Kindle
software on an iPad, and eventually moved to the Kindle hardware, the Kindle
is MUCH better on the eyes than the iPad. On the scale of paper to iPad, the
Kindle feels like it comes closer to paper than iPad, if it's not exactly the
same.

While I acknowledge that the above quibbles are in fact quibbles, and possibly
unique only to me, on the whole, I've found that keeping my Kindle on me just
means that I end up reading more, which is the far better alternative.

~~~
johnchristopher
I have a Kobo but that doesn't matter (correct me if I'm wrong). I really miss
the ability to flip pages to re-read relevant passages before getting back to
where I left off my reading. I also like the weight of the books and visually
and mentally mapping where I am in the book by comparing read pages and unread
pages.

I don't know how it is on the Kindle but I have a small notebook where I jot
down thoughts and notes. The Kobo software sucks for that (and 2 Kobo crashes
deleting my notes and everything else taught me not to use the note taking
feature, bookmarking and getpocket integration).

I think e-reader are convenient but paper is still a better experience. Except
for lying in bed on one side :). And page turning makes no sound.

~~~
bmelton
The Kindle has highlighting and note-taking ability built-in.

The responsiveness on the e-ink keyboard isn't fantastic, but it's decent
enough for short note-taking, and highlighting is dead simple.

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blakeja
Other than the occasional technical book, I refuse to buy e-books when reading
for pleasure.

After spending all day in front of a screen, the last thing I want is another
screen in my face when trying to relax with a good book at the end of the day.

~~~
h_o
I understand where you are coming from, really, I do. My eyes are strained too
and I recently got a Kindle (purposely without the backlight) and it is
amazing. I'd recommend to give it a try - but I can't really speak for the
backlit versions.

~~~
mryan
Seconded. My (non-backlit) Kindle really doesn't feel like I'm reading from a
screen. It's a totally different experience from reading on my phone or
laptop.

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sxcurry
What about audio books? I've read more in the last few years than the decade
before, since I switched almost entirely to audio books. In many cases they
are much better than the printed version. Case in point, Ulysses by James
Joyce. The audible.com spoken version is a masterpiece, and this is definitely
a book that's meant to be listened to.

~~~
sadkingbilly
Audio books has made "reading" a hobby for me. I never thought I was the type
that really enjoyed reading a good book. After switching from radio to audio
books while driving, traffic has almost become enjoyable (not quite, but you
get the idea). I've read so many books the past few years, it's amazing. It
feels like it increases your brain's learning rate, or at the very least, it
gives you some very interesting topics to talk about.

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stephengillie
> _Adult fiction - particularly romantic and erotic - has migrated strongly to
> the e-book, whereas cookery and religious books still do well in print, as
> do books with illustrations. All for fairly obvious reasons._

Like writing on a notepad, reading a physical book does a good job of
communicating with body language what you're doing. And if you believe in
judging books by their cover, the book cover provides further information
about its subject. And you can leave physical books in public places to start
conversations.

Additionally, large books like cookbooks and illustrated books often come in a
large form factor that tablets struggle to match. That's not too surprising,
given that humans have been making books for about half a century, but only
making tablets for maybe a decade.

And it's mostly the books we don't want others to know we're reading (adult
fiction) for which we use the e-reader, where others can't tell what we're
reading.

~~~
delecti
Slight correction, but humans have been making books for over half a
millennium. We've got way more experience making them than tablets.

I use my kindle for everything though, I like that it doesn't give strangers
any starting point for a conversation, regardless of what I'm reading.

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georgefrick
I have multiple readers, including a Kindle DX and a Sony PRS-505 (still works
like new!).

Print books are still awesome though, and I just pulled a few off the shelf
for re-reading. But now there is freedom of balance. We have a whole carload
of books on its way to the Good Will. There isn't an inherent reason to simply
hold on to them anymore. So now we can keep what we want to keep; and let the
rest be digital (which is easier to archive anyway).

I can't see being extreme either way. My Kindle DX works great for technical
books; and I can keep another copy ready for viewing on the computer while I'm
coding. My little Sony will show whatever fiction/non-fiction I throw at it
(after conversion) and the battery is somehow still healthy. I'm looking to
get a used Nook Glow though; as I'm tired of providing my own light.

But I'll still stop in the book store and browse the fiction. It's not only
easier that digital browsing, but more fun.

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mitchty
Both for me.

For good or ill there are books that only exist in dead tree form. I still buy
them. I don't entirely miss them to be honest, but for casual reading or it
seems super technical things from ages ago, dead tree is where its at.

For recent things though relating to programming, I honestly can't be arsed to
use dead tree form. Being able to have updates to books, sync
notes/highlights/blah electronic books beat regular books entirely.

In my mind technology just expanded the definition of what a book is.

