Hard copy vs EBOOK

[rabbie]

Why are we using ebooks at all when we can generate £2-£3 per book for charity when we have finished with our hard copy books.?? I donate all my books to the British Heart Foundation who then sell them for the above sum. They are the purchased and read by someone who hopefully takes them back so that they can be sold again. You cannot do this with ebooks so therefore we should bin all the ebook readers and get back to print. The fact that a lot of ebooks are the same price or more expensive than the printed copy only makes this argument more vaid

Comments please!!

[bevdeforges]

Some of us are not in parts of the world where we can donate our English language books like that. E-readers have been a god send to me, as my office booksshelves are groaning with my collection of books that, in the past, I could have weeded out to donate to library or charity sales.

But here in France, the libraries don't want English language books (I've asked), and getting them into Paris for the American library book sale is impractical at best. One British friend will take cast-off books and run them up to Oxfam when she heads up that way, but I've literally filled her car at least once on just a casual weeding of my current collection.

Add to that, the fact that I no longer have to haul books back from my travels to the US, nor wait to order from the UK until I have an order that "merits" the shipping costs.

[Worldwalker]

If I want to donate to charity, I'll write a check.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by rabbie

Why are we using ebooks at all when we can generate £2-£3 per book for charity when we have finished with our hard copy books.?? I donate all my books to the British Heart Foundation who then sell them for the above sum. They are the purchased and read by someone who hopefully takes them back so that they can be sold again. You cannot do this with ebooks so therefore we should bin all the ebook readers and get back to print. The fact that a lot of ebooks are the same price or more expensive than the printed copy only makes this argument more vaid

Comments please!!

Somehow I do not think so.

I have little room as it is for my paperback and hardback collection, buying more dead tree versions is not feasible for either my wife or myself.

If you do not like the price of ebooks, do not buy them. Pretty simple really.

I shop around and read a lot of indie author ebooks which rarely cost more than US$7-8, which is roughly $10 cheaper than a new or used paperback.

Digital books are the future, not bulky hard cover books.

[neilmarr]

Like Bevdeforges, I'm in a neck of the woods where I can't give English language books away. No hospitals and charities will take them, and since I became housebound, I can't even drop them off in hotels and guest houses for tourists as I used to (and these places won't take the trouble to pick them up from my home -- even though I have several hundred gathering dust). Several local pals who rent out summer apartments to tourists, though, do now have well-stocked libraries for their guests.

Hospital libraries, in my experience, have always been terriblly poor. Perhaps -- because there's no doubt that relaxing reading aids recovery -- hospital authorities might do better to accept Worldwalker's cheques and put them towards some reading devices with a subscription to an ebook library. This, of course, would have the side benefit of eliminating any danger of cross-infection between sick patients, using paper books that have been breathed upon and handled by others in the hospital. Reading devices can very easily be made sterile before being passed on to someone in another ward.

Best wishes. Neil

[Bremen Cole]

Originally Posted by rabbie

Why are we using ebooks at all when we can generate £2-£3 per book for charity when we have finished with our hard copy books.?? I donate all my books to the British Heart Foundation who then sell them for the above sum. They are the purchased and read by someone who hopefully takes them back so that they can be sold again. You cannot do this with ebooks so therefore we should bin all the ebook readers and get back to print. The fact that a lot of ebooks are the same price or more expensive than the printed copy only makes this argument more vaid

Comments please!!

Because it is none of your business what WE buy. There are some like myself who are visually impaired and if it were not for ebooks would have to for the most part give up reading. Plus what I choose to give to in charity is my business.

I assume you mean "ban" and not "bin" in your statement. It is not for elitist like yourself to decide what products are available to me.

And why do you want to continue destroying trees, when an easy alternative is available?

[Sweetpea]

Donating books? I've never heard of that in this country. At all. Besides, I'd not even sell my books, let alone give them away... which is why I adore ebooks...

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

I assume you mean "ban" and not "bin" in your statement.

He's British; he means "bin", as in "throw in the dustbin", the way an American would say to "trash" something.

[rabbie]

I should have clarified that I was refering to the UK where we already have charity shops on the high street that generate a lot of money by recycling good books. I would not be persuaded to buy an ebook reader until the cost becomes more competitive. With ebooks there is no distribution cost and nocost for raw material in my view the price at the moment is a complete rip off.

[DixieGal]

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by rabbie

I should have clarified that I was refering to the UK where we already have charity shops on the high street that generate a lot of money by recycling good books. I would not be persuaded to buy an ebook reader until the cost becomes more competitive. With ebooks there is no distribution cost and nocost for raw material in my view the price at the moment is a complete rip off.

Why are you on an ebooks forum then?

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by rabbie

Why are we using ebooks at all when we can generate £2-£3 per book for charity when we have finished with our hard copy books.?? I donate all my books to the British Heart Foundation who then sell them for the above sum. They are the purchased and read by someone who hopefully takes them back so that they can be sold again. You cannot do this with ebooks so therefore we should bin all the ebook readers and get back to print. The fact that a lot of ebooks are the same price or more expensive than the printed copy only makes this argument more vaid

Comments please!!

I wouldn't pay £3 for a second hand book unless it was coming through the post, or it was something I knew I could sell on Ebay for a profit.

[AlbertaCowboy]

It seems quite an assumption that ALL used treebooks end up being sold. It seems a ridiculous assumption that the sold used treebooks are resold ad infinitum. It just seems dumb to post this flawed theory on an ebook forum.

[HamsterRage]

This thread feels a little trollish to but it does point out a fundamental difference with the ebook model: that you can't really resell an ebook.

To me, that just adds fuel to the idea that an ebook should be way, way cheaper than a physical book. Like maybe 20% of the price of a paper book.

Maybe avid readers could afford to donate a little extra money to their favorite charities then.

[rabbie]

Thank you Hamster Rage you get the point unlike some others who are only interested in postings negative comment