01-25-2014, 03:44 AM | #31 |
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01-25-2014, 05:00 AM | #32 |
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E-books have one other advantage over paper that hasn't been mentioned yet. Some of them (especially the PD titles) are available for free online. For an older person on a limited income or who isn't able to get out and about like a younger person such is a distinct advantage of e-book reader tech. I would think. Paper books on the other hand are almost always an expense (unless loaned by a friend or from the library).
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01-25-2014, 05:46 AM | #33 | |
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01-25-2014, 05:56 AM | #34 | |
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01-25-2014, 06:01 AM | #35 |
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On the wider issue, I don't know what will happen but a couple of things occur to me.
First, display technology will evolve. A lot of discussion right now is around eink vs lcd, ereaders vs tablets. And there have been various attempts at colour eink that haven't really taken off. I think when they finally get something like that right it'll be used across the board and separate ereaders will disappear because they're no longer needed. In other words I think the future is tablets but the displays will be much better. Second, I'm wary of extrapolating from things like movies and music - even though it's the natural thing to do. The way MP3s replaced CDs which replaced Vinyl, and DVDs replaced VHS so easily was because they were an easier way to get to the contents and use it. There's a significant amount of people who like books as books, as objects. I think they're a much bigger proportion of book buyers than the vinyl lovers, and as for movies - I don't know anyone who likes VHS tapes as desirable objects. The closest equivalent would be people who would only want to see movies in a theatre but not also on DVD/TV. Now I still think the number of people I'm talking about is a minority but they are big book buyers (though often second hand), so I think they'll slow the takeover of digital considerably and affect exactly what proportion paper books eventually settles at. |
01-25-2014, 06:05 AM | #36 | |
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I also expect that the price on initial release of the ebook will be quite high still, dropping after a year or so, even though there'll be no paperback release. I expect that ereaders will have gone the way of the PDA and the dedicated MP3 player. That is, subsumed into a more general device, with a few specialist models left for the few who want them. |
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01-25-2014, 07:42 AM | #37 |
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You know I never really thought about how ebooks could enhance reading for certain groups of people. However last week I saw an elderly lady at a bus stop reading on a kindle with enlarged text. It made me smile.
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01-25-2014, 08:09 AM | #38 | |
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Last edited by OtterBooks; 01-25-2014 at 08:15 AM. |
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01-25-2014, 08:39 AM | #39 |
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That's not ink in the traditional sense though. I can't see anything that eInk shares with ink that isn't also shared with other display technologies (basically a means to make a contrasting set of hues/shades thereby making images, specifically characters, possible). There's liquid involved in both I suppose but they work in totally different ways.
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01-25-2014, 09:24 AM | #40 |
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It's amazing how new technologies can enrich people's lives. Without her Kindle this lady would have to look for large print editions of books.
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01-25-2014, 09:51 AM | #41 | |
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Another often overlooked benefit of ebooks is accessibility to books in remote areas. Rural areas, small towns, and even remote cities (think Alaska or the North West Territories) have access to a limited selection of books in libraries and book stores. Ebooks are available anywhere there is an internet connection. That said, there is one thing that I do wish to point out about the more extreme predictions about the demise of print books. We are over emphasizing the word technophobe. We also need to recognize that many of the people on this forum are technophiles. Since we have an inherent bias towards technology, it is difficult for us to make reliable predictions of the future. |
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01-25-2014, 10:24 AM | #42 | |
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Also, digital growth will rely heavily on access to the net. As prices drop and access becomes more widespread, adoption will quicken that much faster. |
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01-25-2014, 10:44 AM | #43 | |
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I don't know how it is on other European countries or the US, but in the Netherlands, almost everybody has internet at home. If you have the most basic internet+TV+Phone subscription, the internet part costs around €5 a month. It's slow, granted (something like 128 or 256 kbyte down and 32 kbyte up), but it's still fast enough for all tasks required. You'll just wait longer. Having a notebook/computer and internet is seen as a primary requirement. Finding a job apart from local manual labor is very hard, maybe even impossible without internet. If you really don't have internet, you can pick up a second hand notebook for €50, take it to the library, and get free Wifi as long as you want. If even that is not possible, you can reserve a library computer. (I don't know if you're allowed to connect devices to it and run portable software... maybe you can, under supervision.) Last edited by Katsunami; 01-25-2014 at 10:56 AM. |
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01-25-2014, 11:03 AM | #44 |
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01-25-2014, 11:56 AM | #45 | |
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This is the only Apple device I've ever owned, because there just wasn't any other option. Now that I've changed over to FLAC an listening full albums again instead of shuffle, I've sold it because it can't hold my entire library anymore, and it can't play FLAC. (At this point in time, there is only one 256GB SDXC card available in The Netherlands, and it costs €500.) |
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