MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - if you don't read library ebooks , why not?

Fat Abe · 08-15-2022, 08:56 PM

I'll give you a few reasons why some people, including me, occasionally prefer paper books and magazines. First my brother-in-law hates computers and e-readers. For years, he resisted the conversion of hospital records to digital. When James Kestrel's novel, Five Decembers, was released, I could not get him to read an epub or kindle version of the novel. He had to wait for a paper version of the novel to be ordered by his library. Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries. It is doubtful that any novels bound under the constraints of DRM and sitting inside an e-reader will survive for more than one or two decades. The reader will die before then, or the user will lose access to the book. It means your ownership of the book will be like a subscription, i.e., finite. Even if you back up the file on numerous usb drives, this does not guarantee you can retrieve it. I love Amazon, but who says they will always be in the ebook distribution business? Third, I abhor digital magazines. The human eye can discern images of 8000 pixels resolution. Yet, a page from any digital magazine seems to be presented with at most one-eighth of this limit. Now Playboy isn't around in any form, but I would sorely miss reading the magazine if it were only offered in digital. (There are still people like me who read the articles).

08-15-2022, 08:56 PM	#98
Fat Abe Man Who Stares at Books Posts: 1,826 Karma: 10606722 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: 50th State, USA. Also, PA, NY, CA, and elsewhere. Device: All of the Above	I'll give you a few reasons why some people, including me, occasionally prefer paper books and magazines. First my brother-in-law hates computers and e-readers. For years, he resisted the conversion of hospital records to digital. When James Kestrel's novel, Five Decembers, was released, I could not get him to read an epub or kindle version of the novel. He had to wait for a paper version of the novel to be ordered by his library. Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries. It is doubtful that any novels bound under the constraints of DRM and sitting inside an e-reader will survive for more than one or two decades. The reader will die before then, or the user will lose access to the book. It means your ownership of the book will be like a subscription, i.e., finite. Even if you back up the file on numerous usb drives, this does not guarantee you can retrieve it. I love Amazon, but who says they will always be in the ebook distribution business? Third, I abhor digital magazines. The human eye can discern images of 8000 pixels resolution. Yet, a page from any digital magazine seems to be presented with at most one-eighth of this limit. Now Playboy isn't around in any form, but I would sorely miss reading the magazine if it were only offered in digital. (There are still people like me who read the articles).