MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Opinion: Would you destroy physical book in exchange for a electronic version?

mbagsh55 · 05-02-2011, 07:59 AM

I read many of the "I shudder at the thought" comments with a somewhat wry smile, being in the same position years ago.

My situation now is that I live in Japan, in a country with a very controlled ebook market where it is near impossible to buy ebooks (in Japanese). When they can be bought it is usually in a format that cannot be read on my Sony eReader (ePub, BBeB).

In reaction to this controlled market, there are probably 5 or 10 businesses that will accept your paper-book by mail and cut and scan it for around a dollar. I have used one such service on a 'test' book and was impressed with the result.

I am still cleaning up the OCR output which is far from ideal, but I will definitely put some other books through the same process. In my case it mostly Japanese language learning materials, but a half dozen fiction novels will be going the same way.

Were there the option to buy the ebook versions for a few dollars I probably would not bother with this, but since this is the only option it serves my needs well.

I also have no qualms with 'killing my paper books' since I feel the live on in the electronic version I have had made.

05-02-2011, 07:59 AM	#34
mbagsh55 Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 196 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Kanagawa, Japan Device: Sony PRS-700/Zaurus SL-3100	I read many of the "I shudder at the thought" comments with a somewhat wry smile, being in the same position years ago. My situation now is that I live in Japan, in a country with a very controlled ebook market where it is near impossible to buy ebooks (in Japanese). When they can be bought it is usually in a format that cannot be read on my Sony eReader (ePub, BBeB). In reaction to this controlled market, there are probably 5 or 10 businesses that will accept your paper-book by mail and cut and scan it for around a dollar. I have used one such service on a 'test' book and was impressed with the result. I am still cleaning up the OCR output which is far from ideal, but I will definitely put some other books through the same process. In my case it mostly Japanese language learning materials, but a half dozen fiction novels will be going the same way. Were there the option to buy the ebook versions for a few dollars I probably would not bother with this, but since this is the only option it serves my needs well. I also have no qualms with 'killing my paper books' since I feel the live on in the electronic version I have had made.