My journey into the darknet

[Fat Abe]

Originally Posted by Ea

And as I have learned from other earlier threads, from professionals in the industry, anything older than five years old (today) is likely not existing in electronic format, nor was it saved after publication. Publishers are (apparently) notoriously conservative.

Conservative or lackadaisical? It all depends on the publisher, and the software they used to create the document. After many years of writing papers, I've learned to always print out a copy on acid free paper, using ink and not laserjets. Then I back up the document on an optical disc, a gold-layered cd-r, and dvd-ram. Here's is a good article on the longevity of digital media:

http://www.jts2004.org/english/paper...FinalPaper.doc

In spite of this, I'm sure I'll have problems retrieving the file one day, because it may have been edited in Word Perfect, Framemaker, or some other program that has since fallen out of favor. (At least I should thank the legal profession for keeping Word Perfect alive.) This, I call the Tower of Babel dilemma. As software and operating systems get upgraded, you run the risk of losing backward compatibility. Call this the Fickle Computer problem.

One good thing about the eBook revolution is epub. Hope this standard lasts a long time. But, maybe this is wishful thinking. Someone always has to reinvent the wheel, don't they?

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Logseman

Ebooks are still a minority niche, filled with geeks, Fan-Sci fans, public domain, darknet users and a Kindle dominion.

The iPad cometh.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Ea

And as I have learned from other earlier threads, from professionals in the industry, anything older than five years old (today) is likely not existing in electronic format, nor was it saved after publication. Publishers are (apparently) notoriously conservative.

It's "conservative" not to keep stuff?

Maybe the word you were looking for is "reactionary."

[random50]

Originally Posted by Harmon

It's "conservative" not to keep stuff?

Maybe the word you were looking for is "reactionary."

I think you're both being entirely too generous. The correct word is "stupid".

(Venting after searching reveals the availability of ebooks remains pathetic. So now I'm off to investigate this darknet thing.)

[Ea]

Don't shoot the messenger! I don't care what you call it, I was just relaying information from earlier discussions that you might not be aware of.

[Logseman]

Turns out one of my fansub's scanslations was self-attributed by another bunch. Guess who the translator was?

Originally Posted by Harmon

The iPad cometh.

Maybe. maybe not?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2361906,00.asp

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Maybe. maybe not?

Mine's here. <g>

It has replaced my Sony Reader. Well, maybe "displaced" is a better word. So far, there's no Sony App, so on the faint chance that there's something I want to read that's only available from Sony...

I'm waiting for Ephemera or Calibre to let me download separate epub articles from Instapaper. When that happens, my Sony 300/505 become portable Instapaper readers, going where I really don't want to carry my iPad, namely, to work, and to lunch.

It has replaced my laptop. Well, actually, my number 4 son had his laptop up & die on him, just weeks from graduation. So he's taking my MacBook back to school with him. I still have a desktop Mac to sync the iPad & my iPhone. But the around the house portable internet connection device will be the iPad.

It has not replaced my iPhone. It's sort of synergistic with the iPhone. The iPhone is my iPad-on-the-Go.

It has not replaced paper books. But then, neither did my other ebook reading devices.

And it will go with me on my business travels.

[random50]

Originally Posted by random50

I think you're both being entirely too generous. The correct word is "stupid".

(Venting after searching reveals the availability of ebooks remains pathetic. So now I'm off to investigate this darknet thing.)

Surprise, surprise, 15 minutes searching showed up more than 80% of the titles I was looking for. This may not sound impressive, but there's quite a few out of print titles on the list.

However, most are only available as part of a download of many
*thousands* of books. I haven't downloaded yet because frankly I'm not sure I trust myself not to abuse this by reading books I might otherwise have bought instead of (as is the intent) just using it to obtain electronic copies of books I already own.

It seems these large collections are fairly commonplace. A damn good reason, I'd have thought, for publishers to get their act together to satisfy their customers as soon as possible.

[mores]

Originally Posted by Logseman

I am the terror... that flaps in the night!
I am the superhero that every culture and every world needs!
I AM DARKWIIIING DUCK!

Let's. Get. Dangerous!

[MV64]

You know...as someone who wants to be a writer someday (though certainly doesn't expect to be one as part of a career), I really have become anti-piratical. That being said, I wouldn't buy their book anyway at the expensive costs so the lure of buying on the darknet is certainly strong. At least then I can recommend their book to people. I never, ever loan books or share online, which I guess is "unethical" in the unethical world of illegally sharing things, haha. I have been known to leech a bit, when I can't find a certain ebook or am unwilling to pay twice as much as the hardcover version.

[fugazied]

hehe interesting post. I used to go on the darknet all of the time when I was a student. Now that I work and have a pretty healthy income I do the right thing.

However, just like the original poster, when books I want are not available as an e-book, I will venture back into the darknet and can often find a copy.