Essay: Why are people so resistant to e-books? - Page 2

binzer · 03-14-2008, 02:35 PM

Well there's two groups of resistance imo. There is educated resistance, and non-educated. For example, there are people who still refuse to use e-mail under any circmustance because they feel it is impersonal (even though they know all the advantages).

I figure it's the same with ebooks. There are people who know all the advantages but stubbornly stick to exclusively paper, and then people who are just ignorant and pretend like e-reading sucks although they don't really know. Although there are definitely more of the latter currently, I'm sure there will always be more of the former

TheJohnNewton · 03-14-2008, 05:09 PM

Sure there will always be holdouts for various reasons. Ponder this though, I see the day coming when the standard Amazon store lists the electronic book and the specialty store is for the paper book. I also see the days of the physical bookstore being numbered. How many record stores still exist? How many dvd rental stores are still around? The change will come. I just can't tell you when.

mores · 03-14-2008, 05:15 PM

What's this continuous talk about "cuddling up"?
How many muscles are necessary to keep a heavyweight like Harry Potter open AND in a slant that lets you read it.
Reading on a PDA is a whole lot easier as far as the "cuddle up" factor goes.
I haven't read in bed until I started with ebooks!

The rest of the essay is just crap. It sounds like a desperate attempt to explain her own unwillingness to go digital.

As for her not owning an ebook of her own book ... did she type it with a typewriter?

The future of bookstores could be, that you walk into a bookstore, check out the covers in a sort of Wurlitzer, or pseudo-books with excangeable covers, and then use some kind of mechanism to get the book beamed to your phone, PDA or ebook reader.
I'd like that! Because even with "Cover Flow" (© Apple Inc) you just cant beat the browsing sensation you have when you walk through a bookstore.

TheJohnNewton · 03-14-2008, 05:32 PM

I agree I like browsing in bookstores but I really doubt it will be worth it for a store owner to pay for a physical store just so a few people can browse there. I could see small specialty or used book stores lasting but not the big Borders/Barnes and Noble types. I can already buy books and even download free ones right on my Kindle from anywhere with a sprint signal. Why even bother to get out of my lounge chair on the beach :-) People are already very comfortable buying and browsing for books online.

Years ago I used to browse for hours in record stores. At that time I could never fathom that they would go away. I've not been to one in years now and can only think of places like Walmart and a small shop in the mall that even carry cds anymore. My entire cd collection is ripped to my hard drive and the physical cds are in boxes in my garage just wasting space. I guess Virgin still cd stores? All the other big ones around here closed.

I totally agree on your the cuddle up comments. Anyone who doesn't think they can cuddle up with an ereader has not tried it. I wouldn't want to cuddle up with a laptop computer but then I wouldn't want to read a book on a laptop computer either.

Justy · 03-14-2008, 06:26 PM

About the only point she makes that is valid is the one about reading "Green Eggs and Ham." While my 4 yr old LOVES the idea of me reading him a story off my Cybook, he really wants to see the pictures. Current ebook readers aren't quite there yet. For a small child, colourful pictures make a big difference, the PDA screen is too small for this and I'm not willing to read a book with my son from the laptop! Until we have a larger screen with colour pictures the youngest readers will be happiest with pbooks.

However, I know my son will be switching over to an ebook reader just as soon as he learns to read books without pictures! I will probably give him my Cybook and by the newest best one for myself at that point.

delphidb96 · 03-17-2008, 08:00 PM

I had communication with Ms. Marjanovic over this article. Things got heated enough that I won't post either part of the conversation, but I find it interesting to note that her 2004 opinion decried the need to be tied to a clunky laptop or immoveable desktop for reading, yet she clearly didn't fight hard enough for ebook device-independence enough to have her publisher release her books in either eReader, Mobipocket or Kindle formats. Nope. They're in, of all things, Adobe PDF format. Oops! And while they're quite reasonably priced, they're only available on BooksOnBoard (as far as I can find out).

So while she states her views have changed, she's not acting on that change of view.

Derek

Cthulhu · 03-17-2008, 09:44 PM

Derek:
Kudos for actively conversing with the author of that spurious article. So many of these type of musings just make me shake my head. Things are really great with neat technology and all the promise of our shiny, jet-pack future, but really I am a luddite, but I want to keep that quiet, so I'll merely rail against how technology is impinging on my worldview, couching it in such terms that I just sound like a fuddy-duddy, which seems more forgivable than being an implacable moron.

Based on interactions on a thread here, I think the one about TOR free content, tracked down an author whom I admire and asked him his opinion of our coming Digital Overlords. While he expressly thanked me for supporting his lifestyle, and while lauding every possible technological advance in the world of pleasure sailing, he called everyone who downloads or purchases a digital text a potential crook. Said author will only release electronic forms of his manuals when absolutely forced to, and sees such formats as too tempting for all the lowlifes(lowlives?) out therer with internet access.
Such a brilliant technical mind, and the guy acts like the people WHO PAID FOR HIS BOAT want nothing but to rip him off.
Absolutely amazing.

As for embracing new formats, am nearly to the point that I refuse to read from those big bundles of paper with ink printed on them. Find my SONY Reader so much more cozy and convenient. When they make a colour, coffee-table sized Reader, will be pleading with "The Warden" to get one.

03-14-2008, 05:15 PM	#18
mores Guru Posts: 834 Karma: 102419 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: iPhone	What's this continuous talk about "cuddling up"? How many muscles are necessary to keep a heavyweight like Harry Potter open AND in a slant that lets you read it. Reading on a PDA is a whole lot easier as far as the "cuddle up" factor goes. I haven't read in bed until I started with ebooks! The rest of the essay is just crap. It sounds like a desperate attempt to explain her own unwillingness to go digital. As for her not owning an ebook of her own book ... did she type it with a typewriter? The future of bookstores could be, that you walk into a bookstore, check out the covers in a sort of Wurlitzer, or pseudo-books with excangeable covers, and then use some kind of mechanism to get the book beamed to your phone, PDA or ebook reader. I'd like that! Because even with "Cover Flow" (© Apple Inc) you just cant beat the browsing sensation you have when you walk through a bookstore. Last edited by mores; 03-14-2008 at 05:18 PM.

03-14-2008, 05:32 PM	#19
TheJohnNewton Addict Posts: 256 Karma: 144599 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Boox Nova 2	I agree I like browsing in bookstores but I really doubt it will be worth it for a store owner to pay for a physical store just so a few people can browse there. I could see small specialty or used book stores lasting but not the big Borders/Barnes and Noble types. I can already buy books and even download free ones right on my Kindle from anywhere with a sprint signal. Why even bother to get out of my lounge chair on the beach :-) People are already very comfortable buying and browsing for books online. Years ago I used to browse for hours in record stores. At that time I could never fathom that they would go away. I've not been to one in years now and can only think of places like Walmart and a small shop in the mall that even carry cds anymore. My entire cd collection is ripped to my hard drive and the physical cds are in boxes in my garage just wasting space. I guess Virgin still cd stores? All the other big ones around here closed. I totally agree on your the cuddle up comments. Anyone who doesn't think they can cuddle up with an ereader has not tried it. I wouldn't want to cuddle up with a laptop computer but then I wouldn't want to read a book on a laptop computer either. Last edited by TheJohnNewton; 03-14-2008 at 05:36 PM.

03-17-2008, 08:00 PM	#21
delphidb96 Wizard Posts: 2,999 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Citrus Heights, California Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V	The times they are(n't) a-changin'! I had communication with Ms. Marjanovic over this article. Things got heated enough that I won't post either part of the conversation, but I find it interesting to note that her 2004 opinion decried the need to be tied to a clunky laptop or immoveable desktop for reading, yet she clearly didn't fight hard enough for ebook device-independence enough to have her publisher release her books in either eReader, Mobipocket or Kindle formats. Nope. They're in, of all things, Adobe PDF format. Oops! And while they're quite reasonably priced, they're only available on BooksOnBoard (as far as I can find out). So while she states her views have changed, she's not acting on that change of view. Derek

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03-14-2008, 02:35 PM	#16
binzer Zealot Posts: 114 Karma: 195 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Victoria BC, Canada Device: Cybook Gen3	Well there's two groups of resistance imo. There is educated resistance, and non-educated. For example, there are people who still refuse to use e-mail under any circmustance because they feel it is impersonal (even though they know all the advantages). I figure it's the same with ebooks. There are people who know all the advantages but stubbornly stick to exclusively paper, and then people who are just ignorant and pretend like e-reading sucks although they don't really know. Although there are definitely more of the latter currently, I'm sure there will always be more of the former

03-14-2008, 05:09 PM	#17
TheJohnNewton Addict Posts: 256 Karma: 144599 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Boox Nova 2	Sure there will always be holdouts for various reasons. Ponder this though, I see the day coming when the standard Amazon store lists the electronic book and the specialty store is for the paper book. I also see the days of the physical bookstore being numbered. How many record stores still exist? How many dvd rental stores are still around? The change will come. I just can't tell you when.

03-14-2008, 06:26 PM	#20
Justy Fanatic Posts: 547 Karma: 27509 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver Area, BC, Canada Device: Nexus 7, Sony Xperia z3 tablet, Kobo Glo, Boyue T63	About the only point she makes that is valid is the one about reading "Green Eggs and Ham." While my 4 yr old LOVES the idea of me reading him a story off my Cybook, he really wants to see the pictures. Current ebook readers aren't quite there yet. For a small child, colourful pictures make a big difference, the PDA screen is too small for this and I'm not willing to read a book with my son from the laptop! Until we have a larger screen with colour pictures the youngest readers will be happiest with pbooks. However, I know my son will be switching over to an ebook reader just as soon as he learns to read books without pictures! I will probably give him my Cybook and by the newest best one for myself at that point.

03-17-2008, 09:44 PM	#22
Cthulhu Technologist Posts: 488 Karma: 585237 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: I'm between Cities Device: SONY Reader PRS-500	Derek: Kudos for actively conversing with the author of that spurious article. So many of these type of musings just make me shake my head. Things are really great with neat technology and all the promise of our shiny, jet-pack future, but really I am a luddite, but I want to keep that quiet, so I'll merely rail against how technology is impinging on my worldview, couching it in such terms that I just sound like a fuddy-duddy, which seems more forgivable than being an implacable moron. Based on interactions on a thread here, I think the one about TOR free content, tracked down an author whom I admire and asked him his opinion of our coming Digital Overlords. While he expressly thanked me for supporting his lifestyle, and while lauding every possible technological advance in the world of pleasure sailing, he called everyone who downloads or purchases a digital text a potential crook. Said author will only release electronic forms of his manuals when absolutely forced to, and sees such formats as too tempting for all the lowlifes(lowlives?) out therer with internet access. Such a brilliant technical mind, and the guy acts like the people WHO PAID FOR HIS BOAT want nothing but to rip him off. Absolutely amazing. As for embracing new formats, am nearly to the point that I refuse to read from those big bundles of paper with ink printed on them. Find my SONY Reader so much more cozy and convenient. When they make a colour, coffee-table sized Reader, will be pleading with "The Warden" to get one.

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