Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I don't think people are putting enough value on their time and are overvaluing something that was free to start. This is JMHO, of course.
Freebies take time, cataloguing them, organizing them, stripping them if that's what you do, and then having to read a precis when you're looking for something to read, because who could remember what thousands of freebie titles represent? I don't see the point. Far better to decide up front what one's tolerance for freebies is, in the sense of which books resonate sufficiently that you're likely to read them, and keeping a fairly close watch on amounts and proportions--as well as acknowledging that freebies aren't going anywhere in at least the near future.
I'm squarely in the time is precious camp; I don't have enough time to read the books I really do want to read. Why spend some of it tending a massive library of books that I never wanted to read and never will?
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I agree with this. I spend quite some time on metadata and book layout, to get it just the way I want it. If I decide to fill out the metadata for a book correctly (in my "Workspace"-library in Calibre, and then export it), fix the cover image, and fix the layout so it's the way I like it best (both in Sigil), you can be pretty sure that this book is one that I'm going to read in the near future.
I'd never do this for a book that I'm not 100% sure of reading.
While I spend quite some time on making ebooks exactly the way I want them, both with regard to metadata and even markup, I would NEVER do this for even one book that I'm not 100% sure of reading in the near future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theinfamousj
Someone once said on this forum that s/he was hoarding books for a time in the future when his/her income would be restricted (retirement, I believe). When retired, I know that I will have more time to read the books I have acquired, but also less money to buy them.
I view building up my collection now as a way of saving for my retirement. I don't keep the books on my reader, and I don't stress myself out in trying to organize them now. I just dump them all on to backup media. I know that I will have free time in my distant future to deal with the organization.
So in short: no, never too many books, but it is entirely possible to have too many on your active reader.
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Interesting points... my retirement is still decades away (30-35 years or so). I'll not be rich I assume, and my retirement won't net me huge amounts of money, but I do hope to be able to afford 1 or 2 books a week. If not, that'd mean that I would need to save up for WEEKS only to be able to buy myself a new computer keyboard if I spill coffee into it, and I hope that that's not going to be the case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP
Yes, I put books I actually pay for in Calibre right away, and I use a Time Capsule back up. Amazon can keep all my freebies for me; if I lost them all tomorrow, I would cry for five minutes, and then start amassing a new freebie collection. That's how much they mean to me.
eP
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Ah, ok. As long as you download, un-DRM and backup your paid-for books, then all is fine. I can imagine leaving the freebies online, if you don't really care about them and only search them if you really haven't got anything else to read.