Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
TV is alive and well here. The question is the delivery medium.
Broadcast TV still exists, but is way down.
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With broadcast TV, I meant everything: antenna and cable, i.e. 'programs for which you need to stay home at a specific time.'
Most people my age and younger only have a TV for DVD/Blu-Ray, Netflix, and casting the occiasional YouTube video. If they have cable at all, it's because it comes as a package with internet. (Can't have cable internet without basic cable TV with most providers here.)
After I move (again...), I'm going to look into internet without cable TV again, but up until now, the speed wasn't good enough. I don't need huge speeds, but 40-50 MBit (5+ MB/s) would be preferable. Up until now, the price for a 50 MBit DSL/Fiber connection was higher than a 100 MBit cable/TV combo.
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About the book swap: so you send out 8 books, get nothing in return, and then get asked 'what the hell your problem is' after you complain about it? I think I've seen a new low in human behavior.
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Publishers are asking why people don't read a lot anymore, and lament that book stores are going on the fritz? How could that be?
Well, maybe because reading isn't affordable in the Netherlands?
While doing some christmas shopping, i ended up in a book store.
An average (new) paperback in Dutch, 250 pages long in largish print, costs between €20 and €25. The same books as e-books cost €8-12.
Hell, even The Hobbit (in Dutch), which is also around 250 pages, costs €20 in paperback, and €25 in hardcover.
If you're the least bit technically inclined and/or have some help with ebooks, you can save like 60%-70% right there; The Hobbit in Dutch is about €10, in English it costs around €8). For €25, you can get The Hobbit and all three Lord of the Rings books (in Dutch); if you shop around, they can be cheaper.
(The three paperbacks making up The Lord of the Rings cost €20 a piece in Dutch... in book stores.)
People who think that ebooks are more expensive than paper books are sadly mistaken, at least in the Netherlands. I'm not even taking coupons into account.