Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
By the time I drive 15 miles to the nearest large city where there's a decent bookshop, find somewhere to park, pay an extortionate fee for the parking, walk 20 minutes from the carpark to the bookshop, spend a frustrating time trying to find the book I want, walk 20 minutes back to the carpark, and finally drive home again, I really couldn't give a damn if the paperback is £1 cheaper  . |
But that's *exactly* why paper books have more value according to some people: you have to put some effort into it to get them. Even when ordering online, you will need to research if you *really* want that book, because it is going to take storage space: if you decide you don't want it, or don't want to read it right away, you'll still have to store it. With digital, there is no effort involved. I want... click... I have. Even if I don't read a book for years (there are some I may actually never read...), it only takes the effort of downloading it and putting it into calibre. There, it can basically be forgotten forever without getting in the way; this is almost impossible to do with paper books, except if you throw them into your basement or attic, but at some point, even that will become full. You'll never in your lifetime fill up a 1TB HDD with books. (I hope, or you need some serious help. Look into the "Hoarders" series
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Me too; I've bought every "Webscription" release since they started. Was it 1999? I had a vague feeling it was a little earlier, but you may very well be right - it was a long time ago!
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In 1999, I only had internet for about one year. Even if I had been able to buy Baen books (no credit card at that time, Paypal existed for less than a year, etc), I wouldn't have read them as I don't read books from laptop or desktop screens.
I did find all the official free BAEN CD's online, and ripped all series from them, and then completed each of the series by buying the remaining books. There are many doubles on the CD's though, and some series are a mess to sort out.