Will Digital Books Stagnate?

[tomsem]

Increasingly, that is the case for me. I still have not managed to stop buying books as well (knowing I'll probably not read most of them).

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Then the next question--by those who can't relate (of which I'm not one)--is: "then why do you buy at all? Why not just use the library?" (as if the library had every title you might want to read at the time you might want to read it. )

Oh, I do utilize my library's Overdrive service with 72 titles currently on my wishlist. Therefore, I can be patient and wait on sales/promo codes for those titles not available at the library. For 2015 I set a loose budget of $500 but spent only $18.74 on 23 books (avg 81 cents). Out of the 23 only two were self-published.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by conan50

That's what I was thinking. If I was a 'read it only once' person I could save some big bucks and just use the library, Overdrive, or one of those subscription services.

For me it's all about convenience. When I decide I want to read something, I want to read it right now. I have no time to see if it's available at the library, or if it is, to see if the waiting list is a mile long. Subscription services are too limiting: books that catch my eye are often not available. I want to spend my time reading books, not wasting time finding out whether or not the book's even available to BE read right now.

I don't read things just because they're free and/or available, I read them because they interest me. And I find that even books I thought were only OK are quite worth the price for a single reading. Four or five evenings-worth of engrossing entertainment?? Yes, please. I find that a bargain even at $16.

Buying means my reading schedule is entirely MY reading schedule. I don't have to worry about dropping what I'm currently reading because I just popped to the top of a library waiting list on a book that I was interested in reading three months ago. I already read it three months ago--and four or five like it since.

And no ... I'm not independently wealthy. I just know that if I DIDN'T spend sixteen bucks on a book to sit at home and read, I'd be leaving the house to go do stuff that's going to wind up cost me a heck of a lot more than that. It costs $50 just to walk out the door these days.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't read things just because they're free and/or available, I read them because they interest me.

Give me free. There's always something there that will interest me.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Give me free. There's always something there that will interest me.

I can understand that. But my problem is sort of the opposite: I can't become UNinterested in a book just because I find out it isn't free/cheap. And since I've no problems with buying books at current prices, why would I only peruse the free stuff (or only stuff that's available for lending)?

[Katsunami]

The person who wrote that article doesn't love reading specifically; he loves physical books and handling them, and thus got turned off from digital books.

I did buy some (large) physical books, because they are either not available on an e-reader (most of the "History of Middle Earth" series by Christopher Tolkien), or are better on paper (illustrated books), but... it's... difficult.

Because I wanted to read the illustrated version of the Hobbit, I did so on paper, and it's a fairly large book. While I love reading, I didn't enjoy reading that book after having an e-reader for four years now.

I even start to wonder: should I have spent all that money on those favourites I wanted an illustrated edition of? Should I have bought the "History of Middle-Earth" books sight unseen? All of these books are huge, and around 4 inches thick.

Will I ever read them, now that I have discovered that I don't like handling those large books any longer? The only paper books I still like are those you normally read at a desk, which is mainly study material.

The things I need from a digital book are the following:
- An open format, widely supported and convertible into other formats
- Flawless technical execution and good markup/layout
- Correct metadata
- No DRM

Given those four points, it's almost certain a book will convert into whatever format will be used down the line.

So yes, at some point, I *hope* ebooks will stagnate and get 'stuck' technically. IMHO, EPUB2 can already stay as it is. I don't need video's and other stuff in my books. It's a book, not an interactive movie or a website.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Then the next question--by those who can't relate (of which I'm not one)--is: "then why do you buy at all? Why not just use the library?" (as if the library had every title you might want to read at the time you might want to read it. )

That's the same thing I always think when people say that they don't reread a book or rewatch a movie. Then why buy it at all?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I can understand that. But my problem is sort of the opposite: I can't become UNinterested in a book just because I find out it isn't free/cheap. And since I've no problems with buying books at current prices, why would I only peruse the free stuff (or only stuff that's available for lending)?

Some people just abhor spending money.

I do know several people who are always "out of money" despite having several thousands in the bank (not counting savings), and never "can do anything because it's so expensive."

If they keep this up for the next 50 years (they're around my age), they will have done nothing, bought nothing, experienced nothing, and they will die with tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of euro's in their bank account.

Money is of no use after you acquire enough to keep up a fairly comfortable life. What is the difference if I have €5000, €50.000, or €50 million in the bank if I'm loath to spend a single dime and it just stays there until I die?

I always say: "If you want something and can afford it, then buy it."

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Some people just abhor spending money.

I do know several people who are always "out of money" despite having several thousands in the bank (not counting savings), and never "can do anything because it's so expensive."

If they keep this up for the next 50 years (they're around my age), they will have done nothing, bought nothing, experienced nothing, and they will die with tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of euro's in their bank account.

Money is of no use after you acquire enough to keep up a fairly comfortable life. What is the difference if I have €5000, €50.000, or €50 million in the bank if I'm loath to spend a single dime and it just stays there until I die?

I always say: "If you want something and can afford it, then buy it."

Well now I am cheap but we do buy things and go on vacation a few times a year. Note our last vacation including meals and all was right around $500.

On broke people I have usually ran across exactly the opposite.
Example: "Hi. Can I borrow some money to buy groceries? We went to the WWE show last night and hubby spent $75 on tshirts and other souvenirs." Note the tickets were something like $50 each.

I have heard other just as stupids.
I don't know about anyone else but I could buy a lot of groceries for that $175 or even the $75.

By the way I collect cookbooks. I think that is fixing to stop though. Running out of room.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The person who wrote that article doesn't love reading specifically; he loves physical books and handling them, and thus got turned off from digital books.

I did buy some (large) physical books, because they are either not available on an e-reader (most of the "History of Middle Earth" series by Christopher Tolkien), or are better on paper (illustrated books), but... it's... difficult.

Because I wanted to read the illustrated version of the Hobbit, I did so on paper, and it's a fairly large book. While I love reading, I didn't enjoy reading that book after having an e-reader for four years now.

I even start to wonder: should I have spent all that money on those favourites I wanted an illustrated edition of? Should I have bought the "History of Middle-Earth" books sight unseen? All of these books are huge, and around 4 inches thick.

Will I ever read them, now that I have discovered that I don't like handling those large books any longer? The only paper books I still like are those you normally read at a desk, which is mainly study material.

The things I need from a digital book are the following:
- An open format, widely supported and convertible into other formats
- Flawless technical execution and good markup/layout
- Correct metadata
- No DRM

Given those four points, it's almost certain a book will convert into whatever format will be used down the line.

So yes, at some point, I *hope* ebooks will stagnate and get 'stuck' technically. IMHO, EPUB2 can already stay as it is. I don't need video's and other stuff in my books. It's a book, not an interactive movie or a website.



That's the same thing I always think when people say that they don't reread a book or rewatch a movie. Then why buy it at all?

The author seemed hypercritical of the format limitations of Amazon, and I think that was correct to a degree. But I also agree with you that Epub 2 can just freeze in time right now and I'll be content.
I've come to the conclusion that the best time for ebooks was right at the Kindle Keyboard and nook Simple Touch. Once they put lights on those things and ruined the contrast, removed the page turn buttons, my reading experience on them got worse rather than better, plus battery life suffered. If I buy another Kindle it will likely be without the light, and if they wanted to seal the deal they could put page turn buttons on a slightly wider bezel than current Kindles. When my old nook Simple Touch has better contrast and clearer text than my Paperwhite--there has been some stagnation. And that is without all the light/color/shadow issues people have complained of with the lighted e-ink devices.
I would like to see Amazon incorporate text-to-speech in their Android tablet app. I can't see any good reason for it not having that feature as Moon+ and Fbreader have that function. I shouldn't have to buy a crippled Fire Android tablet to have Amazon's Kindle text-to-speech function, again, the old Kindle Keyboard even had that. So have we stagnated with Kindles, I think so. We lost features from Kindle Keyboard onward on e-ink. As for files, Kobo seems to do a better job allowing format changes than Kindle.
Mirky contrast with lighted Kindles compared to those without lights, no more page turn buttons, no more text-to-speech on e-ink or mp3/audio, shorter battery life, and with the first Paperwhite less battery and storage, yes, some stagnation overall.

[HarryT]

Conan, you're obviously entitled to your opinions, but I think you're in a tiny minority in not regarding front-lit readers as an improvement.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Conan, you're obviously entitled to your opinions, but I think you're in a tiny minority in not regarding front-lit readers as an improvement.

You may be right. I like the contrast better with unlighted e-ink, or I should say using my own external light.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by conan50

You may be right. I like the contrast better with unlighted e-ink, or I should say using my own external light.

While an unlit reader may be better for you, it's not due to the contrast between the screen and the text. A lit e-reader has a brighter screen than an unlit one, while the text stays just as dark (assuming the text is actually black in the book), so by definition, it must have better contrast than an unlit one.