I'm interested in:

1. Answer the poll.
2. For those who mainly get free content, what are your favorite sources?
3. How many hours per week do you read?
4. Do you enjoy audiobooks while reading?
5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?
6. Generally, do you read mostly free and/or public domain works or do you prefer paid content?
7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?

ME:
1. Ok
2. I prefer manybooks and librivox.
3. Probably 3-10 hours per week.
4. I really enjoy audiobooks when available.
5. Yes. I just got my Reader 2 days ago. I haven't spent much of my free starting balance yet.
6. I really like free content but always like being in the know of the latest books.
7. I hate buying new releases and am very unlikely to do so.

I can understand your enthusiasm, but that "MANDATORY" thing in the subject kinda looks arrogant. Please remove it.

BTW, your questions do not cover all the possibilites. The world of books for Reader is not divided between "free" and "Connect store". There are DRM-free ebook stores (like Baen), and there is a possibility of converting .LIT books into HTML and then LRF. There are probably other ways.

I've edited your thread title to remove the word "Mandatory". It really isn't - sorry!

Unfortunately I'm not able to answer your poll because although I do buy e-books, I don't buy them from Connect, but from Baen.

One suggestion - it's nice to include a "cop out" option in a poll; something like "Just show me the results", so that people who cannot or do not wish to vote can still see the results. It also gives you more accurate information, because it stops people just picking an option at random just so they can see the results.

I changed it to Suggested.
What a complicated ebook world. I didn't even realize there were good alternatives. Are there some big name books on that site?

Baen specialise in Fantasy and Science Fiction. They publish in open formats at sensible prices - they are one of the "good guys" of the eBook world.

I changed it to Suggested.


That is still strange. Why would you think either is appropriate? Your reply is mandatory! :p

You forget translated Web pages and PDF catalogs which I have a bundle of.

Are you doing a market research for some company? :)

5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?

I am thinking very hard how to spend $50 bonus I got with the reader. I will most probably buy some books just to get some money to some of my favourite authors. I dislike the way books in Connect store are formatted. Too wide margin, serrif font.
Those 99.50 bucks in Connect credit for "Classics" are ... and I will be VERY diplomatic here ... a Public Relation stunt. You can download all those books for free, LEGALY elsewhere. Then you can format them to your taste or read them on any device, or upload them here like quite a few people did.


7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?

those prices are INSANE for me

I would be very intertested to know how much money an author gets for a paperback, hardback and electronic version.
With electronic version, most of the money should end up in authors hands. There is no cost for paper, printing, warehousing, bookstore staff, printed but unsold books.
Yet I doubt very much that author gets significant cut of the price of Connect books that are in the 20 dollar range.

2. Well I use my own project for this: Feedbooks
3. 30-40 hours
4. Audiobooks is fine, but not on the reader, it ruins the battery, and I don't like the mp3 function of the reader that much
5. No
6. I love philosophy and russian authors from the XIXth, public domain books work fine for me. I also read books released under Creative Commons license.
7. No, e-books should cost a lot less than paper books.

I also read a few RSS feeds on my reader everyday (Techcrunch: http://www.feedbooks.com/news/rss/?id=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTechcrunch ) and even twice a day for Slashdot: http://www.feedbooks.com/news/rss/?id=http%3A%2F%2Fslashdot.org%2Findex.rss
They're automatically downloaded and synchronized using the software we're working on, before that I used to send them to my reader using libprs500.
I'm planning on using Dapper to extract the content from a few music websites that I read everyday: Pitchfork and Stylus Magazine.
This way I'll make my own custom PDF file, with these 2 websites + Techcrunch and Slashdot (well I already made a single PDF for these two: http://www.feedbooks.com/news/newspaper/1 ).
I'll read more and more RSS feeds on my PRS-500: I can concentrate on my reading this way, and e-ink looks better than any LCD screen.

I used to read about 10 hrs a week, but now all my free time gets sucked into developing libprs500, so that other people can read! The sony reader was the worst disaster to happen to my reading since the time I got acid in my eye ;-)

You forget translated Web pages and PDF catalogs which I have a bundle of.

I totally thought that as I was writing it...lol.

I'm interested in:

1. Answer the poll.
2. For those who mainly get free content, what are your favorite sources?
3. How many hours per week do you read?
4. Do you enjoy audiobooks while reading?
5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?
6. Generally, do you read mostly free and/or public domain works or do you prefer paid content?
7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?


Ok, I'll bite.

1. Done

2. The usual places found here for older titles and freely released titles; e.g., creative commons, released to the wild stuff, plus usenet for PB/HB books I already own that I want digital editions of (hey, it's my ethical dilemma and I'm fine with it :shocked3: ).

3. Probably 2-3 hours a night, so 14-21 hours a week.

4. While I thoroughly enjoy audiobooks (been an addict for over 10 years, not recovering :) ), I don't listen and read at the same time since I'm in pretty deep when I'm enjoying a good read. Audiobooks, for me, are a great way of shrinking the commute time down to an enjoyable frame that I don't mind. BTW I use my iPod for this, since it has a ton more space and I can carry multiple titles of good quality.

5. I spent the $50 Connect credit on a good quantity if books, and have read several of them. I have not spent any more through Connect, since I believe their prices are way out of whack(!).

6. I prefer what I enjoy reading, where ever it may come from; i.e., free sources of PD material, creative common licenses, free use titles, pay titles, and of course, all the PB & HB titles I've purchased over the years (generally too much to carry for too long, but I hate having to get rid of any book that was interesting for me; call me a packrat).

7. Paying stupid crazy prices a digital edition is just that, just plain crazy. I will buy a physical HB or PB edition of a book before I ever pay the same price for a digital edition. I have dealt with all the price hikes on PB books over the years and refuse to succumb to the belief that they (you know who they are) can charge this for a product that costs little to nothing to produce in bulk. I cannot believe the price for PB's are up to $7-10 for a book that used to cost only $2.50-3.00 a few years back, they were pretty sneaky slowly hiking prices over the years so we wouldn't really notice it and balk at the ordeal. I used to prefer to order from book clubs, to avoid high prices or I'd pick up books with heavy discounts from discount shelves at retailers, or (and still do) grab them from the NY Times Best Seller lists so I get at least a 25-40% discount.

In my opinion, a reasonable price for digital content should:

Never exceed the PB edition (and under no circumstances ever exceed the HB edition)
Be at a fair discount from their PB/HB counterparts, taking into account the ratio for creating digital vs. physical content.
While publishers can charge whatever they feel their product is worth, they need to understand that consumers, for the most part, are not idiots and will call them on it if they feel they are being taken advantage of; i.e., won't buy/support their products and will let them die a short death.

Heheh, looks like I'm about ready to publish a short-story here, as it stands now, so I better quit.

One last thing... To all of the complaints/suggestions for the original post (which I didn't see since it was edited already); remember, there are no physical tones to your remarks, but there are perceived ones and it came across to me as being quite a bit on the aggresive side, which isn't good. :shocked3: At least pretty up the comments with an emote so you don't alienate anyone too soon or run off people who are interested but lurking. I don't think there are any elitists here (or haven't heard any yet), so why start now? Just my impression. :thumbsup:

Ok, I'll bite.


4. While I thoroughly enjoy audiobooks (been an addict for over 10 years, not recovering :) ), I don't listen and read at the same time since I'm in pretty deep when I'm enjoying a good read. Audiobooks, for me, are a great way of shrinking the commute time down to an enjoyable frame that I don't mind. BTW I use my iPod for this, since it has a ton more space and I can carry multiple titles of good quality.


That's exactly when - and how - I listen to audiobooks too. They make my 45 minutes commute each way to and from work enjoyable and are GREAT on long drives too - because, unlike music, they require a certain amount concentration, they keep me alert and stop me from falling asleep. I regard them as a completely different "experience" to reading; I'd certainly never mix the two.

I've just bought a new car which has a built-in iPod interface - it plugs into a docking port in the glove box, and I can fully control it, see all my books, etc, on the display of the car radio. Works great! The world's most expensive iPod accessory :grin:.

In my opinion, a reasonable price for digital content should:

Never exceed the PB edition (and under no circumstances ever exceed the HB edition)
Be at a fair discount from their PB/HB counterparts, taking into account the ratio for creating digital vs. physical content.
While publishers can charge whatever they feel their product is worth, they need to understand that consumers, for the most part, are not idiots and will call them on it if they feel they are being taken advantage of; i.e., won't buy/support their products and will let them die a short death.


Speaking for a moment as an author who has had quite extensive dealings with publishers, do bear in mind that the price the publisher sets for the book is not particularly related to the cost of printing it. Most of the price for the initial run - whether it be on paper or electronic - is there to recoup all the money the publisher has spent in advance of publication and (hopefully) give both them and the author a reasonable profit.

People who've never had dealings with publishers perhaps don't realise just how much work is involved in publishing a book, and the cost of all that work does have to be recouped, whether the book is published on paper or electronically. I think it's unrealistic to expect the initial e-book release of a book to be significantly less than the price of the equivalent HB. A bit cheaper, yes, because there are savings on printing cost, but not dramatically.

I'm interested in:

1. Answer the poll.
2. For those who mainly get free content, what are your favorite sources?
3. How many hours per week do you read?
4. Do you enjoy audiobooks while reading?
5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?
6. Generally, do you read mostly free and/or public domain works or do you prefer paid content?
7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?


1. already done
2. Project Gutenberg, silkpagoda.com
3. 30-40 hours/week
4. not at all -- why would I want to hear somebody else reading the words aloud as I read them, forcing their interpretation upon my mind. I don't like audio books at all, even when I'm not reading.
5. No, I bought too early for that -- I got the $50 at the connect store. I am spending between $0 and $20 per month, same as I always have done for paper books. I'm very satisfied so far although I wish more of my favorite authors were represented at connect.com. But that's not entirely Sony's fault -- some authors don't want e-books, some publishers are dragging their feet.
6. Generally I'm enjoying reading the long-out-of-print books which Project Gutenberg has made available once again. There was some terrific stuff written 100 years ago! But I also enjoy reading my favorite current authors as well.
7. If you want accurate responses to a poll, you should NOT follow the poor model set by political pollsters and add judgemental language to your question. Who's to say that $12-$25 prices are "way out of sight?" When computer books cost $40 to $100 in paper while fiction books of the same size run $20-$40, calling $12-$25 prices for e-books "way out of sight" is just silly!
Authors get between 10% and 20% of the retail price. They do not get a fixed amount, such as $1.25, for each book. So when the prices are higher, authors get more money. When the price drops to paperback level, the authors get less money per book, although they get the same percentage. Of course, that drop in per-book-amount is hopefully more than offset by the increase in numbers of books sold. In a fair and free market, you don't have to pay any price you don't like. There are other authors, other publishers, you can buy instead. Or you can read PG free books if you don't want to pay the prices the publishers ask. But copyright gives monopoly protection, which means that publishers can set whatever amount they wish. So when a book comes out in e-book format at hardback prices, the author makes the same money per sale as for a paper book. The publisher and the bookseller make larger profits, however, due to the huge reduction in printing, shipping and storage and display costs. The only way it will be fair to authors and to readers is when the publication contract gives a fixed amount per sale to the author, and then the publishers and retailers can lower what they take in, to offset the vastly lower distribution costs for e-books. But as long as authors get a percentage, wanting lower prices is asking them to take a cut in pay.

There is a lot of content that is neither free or Connect store. Your poll is incomplete & will have skewed results. I get most of my content from Baen.

I personally go through different genre's at times. Right now I'm into history, but I also usually read multiple books at the same time. As for where I get them I do use lot's of free public domain content, but I purchase all my new books from fictionwise in the secure lit format. I then use BD with some tweaking to convert that to lrf for the reader. All of my copyrighted content is purchased, but converted to the reader format. I never post or share copyrighted material.

enough of what i love is posted here

As of now, I am reading The sixth Harry Potter Book. I do own the hardcover. The First Spencer novel, and The first (I think) Dragonlance book s well as a couple of Star Trek books. All on the reader.

Speaking for a moment as an author who has had quite extensive dealings with publishers, do bear in mind that the price the publisher sets for the book is not particularly related to the cost of printing it. Most of the price for the initial run - whether it be on paper or electronic - is there to recoup all the money the publisher has spent in advance of publication and (hopefully) give both them and the author a reasonable profit.

People who've never had dealings with publishers perhaps don't realise just how much work is involved in publishing a book, and the cost of all that work does have to be recouped, whether the book is published on paper or electronically.
This part of HarryT's post is spot on target. Printing costs are NOT the majority of the publisher's cost for a book. Over at Baen's Bar various authors have shared with us sales and royalty numbers for some of their work. Jim Baen occasionally wrote on the subject as well. Here're a few tidbits.


The single biggest bite out of the cover price (from a publisher's point of view) is the mark-up for the retailer and distributer. This can run upwards of 50% of cover price (sometimes well upwards).

Production costs include editing, proof-reading, overhead (e.g. running the office, etc.), development of new authors (that is: mining the slush-pile, guiding the newby's who get bought, guiding the wanna-be's who almost made it, etc.), typesetting, and lots more. None of this goes away for a digital edition.

Printing and warehousing do cost money. Significant money. So do inventory taxes. Books that didn't sell out completely typically go out of print when these costs threaten to outweigh ongoing sales.


Baen has clearly demonstrated that both the publisher and authors can make money -- good money -- on electronic sales. While pricing the books moderately below paperback, and way below hardcover. They charge $6.00 per book (single copy price), or $15 for a bundle of everything they published in a particular month (that they have electronic rights for).

So, when HarryT wrote...

I think it's unrealistic to expect the initial e-book release of a book to be significantly less than the price of the equivalent HB. A bit cheaper, yes, because there are savings on printing cost, but not dramatically.

...I have to disagree. A Baen author's royalty on an electronic sale is pretty good, even at their low prices. Royalty on a single-copy sale is about like the royalty on a trade paperback -- more than the mass market paperback royalty, but less than the hardcover royalty would have been. Likewise for the publisher's take. I should note that Baen's accounting for electronic sales charges a pro-rata portion of the fixed costs for a book to the electronic sale -- and eSales are still quite profitable. In fact, electronic sales are higher than all non-US sales (of dead-tree books) combined (including Canadian sales).

But... They've also found that many electronic sales are incremental sales that do not replace dead-tree sales. That is, not only is the sum of electronic and dead-tree sales a good bit higher than dead-tree sales alone were before Webscriptions, but electronic sales have also been a driver for increased dead-tree sales. This means that the author's royalties are up too -- both from eSales, and from increased dead-tree sales. What's not to like?

So, HarryT, we have an existance proof that it is extremely realistic to expect initial electronic sales to be substantially cheaper than the hardcover price. It's just that its mostly due to cutting out two levels of middle-men, not due to cutting out the printing costs.

Xenophon

1. Answer the poll.
2. For those who mainly get free content, what are your favorite sources?
3. How many hours per week do you read?
4. Do you enjoy audiobooks while reading?
5. Did you get the $150 bonus on Sony Connect? Do you spend other money on Sony Connect? How much money per month? How satisfied are you?
6. Generally, do you read mostly free and/or public domain works or do you prefer paid content?
7. Are you likely to buy new releases which are priced way out of sight--$12-$25?
1. Done
2. MobileRead, Gutenberg, Baen
3. 30+ although work and family sometimes get in the way
4. Never
5. Nope. Ony $50. Less than $20 a month or about 1 book a month from there
6. Where ever my interests take me
7. Poor question formation. $12 to $25 is not "way out of sight" to some of us. Sure I can pick up a Steve Jordan for $5 or a Baen for $6 but a copy of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Crystal Zevon was a great deal at ~$15 for a just published book.

Oh yeah... there's a poll here. :o

I spent my original $50 at the Sony store. I haven't bought anything else from them. I can't. They don't support my computer and OS (Mac OS X).

Too bad for Sony! I spent about $400 on eBooks and eMagazines in the past year. None of it with Sony. Their store won't let me in the door -- it's like they don't want my business. :angry: :angry: :angry: I have easy access to a Windows box (that isn't work's) about twice a year when I visit my sister's family on vacation. I have no intention of purchasing a copy of Windows (even to run on an Intel Mac), so I really wind up feeling like Sony doesn't want my business.

Instead, I've done most of my eBook purchasing at Baen, with a little bit through Fictionwise. And a bunch of PG texts too, of course.

What you can do is purchase LIT format files, use CLIT 1.8 to strip the DRM, and then use Book Designer to load and format and voila. All nice and converted.

17. Poor question formation. $12 to $25 is not "way out of sight" to some of us. Sure I can pick up a Steve Jordan for $5 or a Baen for $6 but a copy of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Crystal Zevon was a great deal at ~$15 for a just published book.

psst... Psst! My books are only $2.50 each (plus local sales tax if applicable), not counting the FREEbies!

1. Done
2. For free content, I mainly download book collections from torrent web sites (illegal I know, but :D )
3. betweem 10 - 15 hours, wish it could be more, but time does not allow
4. I can't get away with audiobooks.
5. I am in the UK and missed out on all of the free connect offers.
6. I read some free stuff, but mainly read comercial content that I have not paid for.
7. Absolutly not, I shall wait till someone cracks/hacks or scans them in

Do I sound dishonest, probably, I am a man on a tight budget and can't afford to buy books

However, Mr. Steve Jordon, I am probably going to consider buying your books, as at $2.50 a book, seems a bit of a bargain. So I am not all bad.

I'm with quite a few other posters. My wife and I used the $50 connect store credit, but after that we get our books from other sources, like BAEN.

However, Mr. Steve Jordon, I am probably going to consider buying your books, as at $2.50 a book, seems a bit of a bargain. So I am not all bad.

:2thumbsup 10-Q!

What I plan on doing sometime in the near future is reading the two free books you have out and if I like them, I'll buy another.

:thumbsup: 10-Q 10-Q!!!

(And maybe :gossip:?)

That way I'll know if I like your work without paying and if I do, then I'm ok paying for it.

psst... Psst! My books are only $2.50 each (plus local sales tax if applicable), not counting the FREEbies!
Sorry about that, missed it by that much....

What the hey, even at $5.00 they would be a great deal for the ones I have read, even a better deal at $2.50.

Where's that humble smilie when you need it?...

Forget that, just go for the "smug" one. :smug:

(actually, that's kind of what I really look like when I smile)

Round and yellow!?!!???!?

:laugh4: No, I meant the big chin. :laugh4: (and I'm not bald either ... not yet, anyway)

since I don't live in the USA I can't use that 50 dollar credit...

98% of the time I'll be using/I'll use my reader to read manga and comics which I convert myself from widely available scanlations.

1% is used for reading technical ebooks.

The remaining 1% is used for written fiction, although due to time restrictions, this has not occured yet. Planning to use it on the next harry potter release though.

since I don't live in the USA I can't use that 50 dollar credit...

Sure you can. All you have to do is check the "I live in the USA" box when you register the Reader!

The remaining 1% is used for written fiction, although due to time restrictions, this has not occured yet. Planning to use it on the next harry potter release though.

Er, no Harry Potter book is legally available as an e-book. The only e-books that are available for HP are naughty illegal ones!

2) I get some free content (Project Gutenberg) , but most of my content, I either get from Baen books (vast majority) or from Connect. I do have a few books that I have either purchased from the author directly or purchased and then converted to lrf.

3) I read perhaps an hour a day during the week and several hours a day on weekends or days off.

4) I don't listen to audiobooks while reading, but I do enjoy audiobooks while in the car.

5) I got the $50 bonus when I bought my eReader at Christmas. I've purchased about 40 books from sony since then. Personally, I would be happy if I could buy all my books for the eReader, but there isn't enough content yet, so I continue to buy some 10-15 books per month from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

6) I do have some PD books (mostly classic), but most of what I'm interested in is more recent works, thus paid content. I also keep in mind that if we don't pay for it, then the authors won't write it and that people who refuse to pay for a book are eating the seed corn.

7) Given that I have bought ebooks in that price range, I would say the answer is yes. Right now, the market says that books first come out in hard back, then paper or trade and that ebooks sale for same price of what you can buy in the bookstore. I would not pay hard back prices for a work that is available in paper.

Er, no Harry Potter book is legally available as an e-book. The only e-books that are available for HP are naughty illegal ones!

Maybe he's thinking about the P-version (Looks Like perversion doesn't it? Paper is now!) due this summer. I have it budgeted too!

I'm still reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have not yet budgeted for the new book. because I expect to find it cheaper at Costco before the year is out.

Heh, mine's already pre-ordered at Amazon. Can't help myself. It's pathetic, really. :smug:

I am enjoying the H Beam Piper books that have been posted here.

I also like westerns. There is a lot of Zane Grey available.

Adventures, medical thrillers, Spy stories, character-based serials (e.g. Travis McGee), and science fiction.

New books on new ideas: On Intelligence by Hawkins, anything by Richard Dawkins, evolutionary theory as applied to practically anything, artificial intelligence, new ideas on computing and hardware.

Sure you can. All you have to do is check the "I live in the USA" box when you register the Reader!

I thought they do a credit card address confirmation too?


Er, no Harry Potter book is legally available as an e-book. The only e-books that are available for HP are naughty illegal ones!

I know, isn't internet great? ;)
The last few times, my pre-ordered paperback always comes a few days later after the initial release. That's when I've finished reading the digital version on my PDA.
This time I want to read it on the sony reader while I wait for the paperback again (at least people can't see what I'm reading now :) )

You need a US address to buy books from the Connect store, but not to use the initial credit. You can also use Connect gift vouchers without a US credit card.

I've got my HP7 on pre-order from Amazon, too :grin:. In fact I've ordered both a "reading" copy, and a couple of spare ones as "investments", too. Have you seen what 1st editions of even the later HP books are selling for on eBay these days - silly money! I figure that if I keep the spare ones for a few years, I'll make a considerable profit from selling them :grin:.

New books on new ideas: On Intelligence by Hawkins, anything by Richard Dawkins, evolutionary theory as applied to practically anything, artificial intelligence, new ideas on computing and hardware.

We obviously share the same tastes! Dawkins is one of my favourite authors - one of the most intelligent "thinkers" around in today's world.

I've got my HP7 on pre-order from Amazon, too :grin:.

Ditto.
Although I am going to use Sony Reader :book2: anyway...go figure :o

You need a US address to buy books from the Connect store, but not to use the initial credit. You can also use Connect gift vouchers without a US credit card.

I've got my HP7 on pre-order from Amazon, too :grin:. In fact I've ordered both a "reading" copy, and a couple of spare ones as "investments", too. Have you seen what 1st editions of even the later HP books are selling for on eBay these days - silly money! I figure that if I keep the spare ones for a few years, I'll make a considerable profit from selling them :grin:.

unfortunately, i usually like the US-version more than the UK-version, so they have to be mailed to me. In this 2 days timeframe I'd have finished the digitized version...

/me going to order some books with the 50 dollar credit then :D

unfortunately, i usually like the US-version more than the UK-version, so they have to be mailed to me.

It interesting how tastes differ.

To me, the HP books are so "obviously" set in the UK that reading the US editions is just "jarring" to me, with their edited terminology - "mail slot" instead of "letter box", "parking lot" instead of "car park", etc. It just feels "wrong" :grin:.

It interesting how tastes differ.

To me, the HP books are so "obviously" set in the UK that reading the US editions is just "jarring" to me, with their edited terminology - "mail slot" instead of "letter box", "parking lot" instead of "car park", etc. It just feels "wrong" :grin:.

I was actually talking about the cover art, as I don't notice the difference between US and UK-english anyway :o

And as far as I know, the pre-ordered versions are all UK-english I thought. It's always after a few months that the US and other languages versions are out.

Oh, OK, I see! Yes, the US versions are quite significantly edited from the British English versions. It's very noticeable to a British reader (and presumably to an American reader, too).

Oh, OK, I see! Yes, the US versions are quite significantly edited from the British English versions. It's very noticeable to a British reader (and presumably to an American reader, too).

I'm just wondering if that counts for the pre-ordering. I think i've read somewhere that the initial release are all the same version (except for the cover art and binding)

At 49% off, I might consider ordering a copy from Amazon if I can find other stuff to get me free shipping. So what else do I want from Amazon?

At 49% off, I might consider ordering a copy from Amazon if I can find other stuff to get me free shipping. So what else do I want from Amazon?

condoms?

Food is always good. They sell some nice cakes and stuff these days!

Do they sell cars yet? I haven't checked for a while and they seem to have everything else ....


Personally, I do notice the variations in the English and American versions, but I'm one of those (probably minority) on this side of the pond who just isn't bothered by it. But then again, when you read enough SciFi, and enough Victorian literature, you get used to seeing terms that you don't encounter in "real" life, so that probably contributes to my ability to figure out what 'trainers' are, for instance, just as many British folks would have no trouble figuring out what sneakers are. :shrug:

condoms?
No need. and yes I am fertile and have not been snipped.

Food is always good. They sell some nice cakes and stuff these days!
We have a really nice bakery located a nice maybe 15 min walk away from here. So if I want a nice piece of cake, I'll go there.

What I might order from Amazon is the Verilux (sp?) light for the reader. Two of them. One for me and one for my wife. I'm waiting for photos of that music stand light someone mentioned the other day to see which I'd like better.

I've got my HP7 on pre-order from Amazon, too :grin:.
I need to be a little more careful when I check on a thread. I browsed upward from the bottom and found the above comment. I wondered what an "HP7" was. Is HP making a reader now? That will teach me to read from the top!

I googled "HP7" and found a Sony stereo and a Harry Potter novel (http://www.scribd.com/doc/80370/HP7-The-deathly-hallows) on a site called Scribe. I looked at it quite a bit before reading the comments below. It looked like the real thing to me.

The comments indicate it is a work of fan-fiction. I haven't read it. I hope JK doesn't mind :oops2:

There's LOTS of Harry Potter "fan fiction" out there. All totally "unauthorised", but I think the publishers turn a "blind eye" to it because nobody's making any money out of it.

I need to be a little more careful when I check on a thread. I browsed upward from the bottom and found the above comment. I wondered what an "HP7" was. Is HP making a reader now? That will teach me to read from the top!

I googled "HP7" and found a Sony stereo and a Harry Potter novel (http://www.scribd.com/doc/80370/HP7-The-deathly-hallows) on a site called Scribe. I looked at it quite a bit before reading the comments below. It looked like the real thing to me.

The comments indicate it is a work of fan-fiction. I haven't read it. I hope JK doesn't mind :oops2:

:laugh4: