Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I tend not to keep track of ebooks after I'm done reading them (and I only buy them when I'm ready to read them). So which store is hosting a copy of a particular ebook I bought is of very little relevance to me. I realize that may not be a typical use case, though. But I have found I'm not entirely alone. Not all readers are book curators.
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I think ereaders (the people, not the devices) of the voracious type have been very slow to adapt their buying/hoarding habits to the new reality*. Back in the paper day, you needed a backlog, so you always had something to read on hand. There also was the factor that you had to pick something up when you saw it, as it might not be available later**. Both of these factors have been largely obviated by digital books so there's no reason to have a huge virtual stack of unread books, but old habits die hard, as they say. Huge sales (Kobo!) were also a factor, but much less so now; there's especially little reason to cross platforms.
Yeah, I know, rereading. To the extent you do, it would make
some difference, but that's when platform matters. And after the huge shakeout, I don't think anyone's library is at a big risk with Kindle or Kobo or Google. (I can hear it now, "I wouldn't trust any seller to keep my books." My own reaction is, "That was then; this is now.")
I guess my personal bottom line is that I can't see myself not being able to find books to read. Even if Kobo and Kindle simultaneously went belly up overnight, I'd dust myself off and make a quick side trip to OverDrive or Project Gutenberg while I regrouped. Curating a large elibrary seems less and less worth the effort to me, compared to the benefits of on-demand reading. And I suspect most who have large elibraries are still in the red when it comes to money spent, as compared to what they'd have spent on each book purchased at market price when read.
*I include myself.
**Yes, some digital books cease to be available, but it's not a significant factor.