Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
You can't afford to spend $10 on an eBook, but you can afford a computer???
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i certainly can't. not when i fact it's 10$
per week, or in fact more (i read at least 5 books a month on average). that's at least 50$ per month, or 600$ per year, which is a considerable sum. i *wish* i had that much extra cash but i don't.
a computer on the other hand is essential to me since i work freelance and it's how i get my work done. if i don't have a computer, i can't work, never mind all the rest. despite that, i still don't spend 600$ per year on my computer. i upgrade only when i have to, and i upgrade piece by piece when possible and replace the components myself. it's really not comparable at all. i did just change the complete heart of my computer and buy a new tower as well, and that cost me about 600€ (i kept my old hard drives and dvd burner, which i installed myself in the new tower) ; i plan to amortise that over about 5 years, like i did with the one i replaced.
i know people who have very old computers because they have no reason to upgrade for what they do on it. a couple of years ago i helped a friend choose a new portable computer to replace her old one, which was still running Windows 3.1 (i think the screen was in black and white in fact). i also know people who use the computer at their job, but don't have one at home at all, because they don't need one enough to justify the expense.
used bookstores and libraries (and now, project gutenberg et al.) have been invaluable to me ; without them i certainly could never have afforded all the books i've read, and i would never have discovered all the brilliant authors i've taken chances on. for free, i'll try anything. for 1€, i'll try something that looks interesting even if i'm not positive i'll like it. for 10€, i want to be sure.
i do buy books new sometimes, if it's an author i know and appreciate and i'm sure i'll love the book and want to keep it. that means i've first read something by that author i got at the library, or used for 1€ (i can't even count how many ancient paperbacks i have which are still marked with a price of 5 francs in pencil inside the cover, not to mention the ones i've given away as i replace them with ebooks), or that a friend lent me. i certainly can't and won't buy *all* of my books new. conversely, if i couldn't buy some books used, there are plenty of books that i *have* bought new that i would never have bought at all.