what's the catch ?

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Enkidu of Abydos

...This is most puzzling, so if you happen to be a capitalist anti-pirate pig please enlighten me as to your reasons for buying an e-reader ?

Let me paraphase, for you the only real reason to buy an ereader is so you can pirate books? And you asking those of us if we are really willing to pay for books and why.

The reason is convince, portability, and features. I'm not sure if you actually read ebook. But in my experience most folks that read ebooks have a hard time going back to paper. There advantage of eBooks far exceed those of paper.


As to why we are willing to pay, well here in the states we value intellectual property as much or more than physical substance.


@andrew/pablo

From the dictionary:

American:

1. of or pertaining to the United States of America or its inhabitants: an American citizen.
   
2. of or pertaining to North or South America; of the Western Hemisphere: the American continents.

no use arguing about who's right, your both right and wrong.

I will say this Andrew, cross the border to Mexico and on the way back to the States declare yourself and American. They most likely won't allow entry until you declare yourself a "U.S. Citizen" or show valid proof of residency. Because to the agents "American" means def no 2.

=X=

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I never said that you cannot call yourself "American". You of course can call yourself whatever you want. I just said that I refuse to call U.S. citizens "Americans", even though that is the accepted convention in english.

That's a silly argument. You've said yourself that you call yourself an American, because you live on the American continent. Why should not a citizen of the United States call themselves an American for precisely the same reason?

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's a silly argument. You've said yourself that you call yourself an American, because you live on the American continent. Why should not a citizen of the United States call themselves an American for precisely the same reason?

Maybe I didn't express myself clearly. When the OP said "most of the prospective market are probably Americans", he was clearly referring to U.S. citizens, not Americans in general. It is in cases like this that I prefer to use "U.S. citizens" instead of "Americans", even though the latter is common use in the english language.

[lustyd]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Barriers to buying ebooks (to me):

3. Not available in my country.

I hope you realise how ridiculous it is that ebooks might not be available from the internet in your country

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by lustyd

I hope you realise how ridiculous it is that ebooks might not be available from the internet in your country

I do, but a surprising number of publishers don't.

[mikeayers]

books not taking up space is my reason. Plus you don't break the spine of the books either.

[leebase]

I certainly hope that Americans aren't the only ones who believe in paying for something. Just because a book or song is in digital form doesn't make it free. But to the question asked...I prefer to read ebooks and it has nothing to do with the books being cheaper or free.

I am in a darkened room right now and have no problem reading (I use an iPad). I can set the font size larger. I can look up the definition of a word just by pressing on it. I can find and buy books instantly. No having to drive to a store or to the library. I have an iPhone and can pick up from where I left off when I am out and about. And yes, there are lots of free books like the Baen Free Library or Project Gutenberg. My iPad is a lot easier to take around with me than a hard back and my iPhone easier still.

I read only 3 paper books last year, all from the library. Each time it just reminds me how much more pleasurable I find reading on my iPad or iPhone is to reading a paper book.

Lee

[Baldrake]

I got my first ebook reader when I was abroad and didn't have easy access to English pbooks.

Now I mainly love how much easier it is to find the books I want online. Pbook stores rarely have volume 4 in stock of whatever series I'm currently reading.

[lene1949]

I started reading ebooks from Fictionwise, when I got my Palm Zire 72 - 5-6 years ago... I loved the portability, the price was cheap, compared to pbooks, and they didn't take up shelf space in my house.

Buying an ereader is really no different from buying a new book case for your books... Just because you bought a new book shelf/case, you wouldn't expect your books to be free?

I remember in the olden days, when I had book shelves/cases, they easily cost $200 each, averaged 30 books per shelf - 5 shelves = 150 books.

This IS a much cheaper alternative, even when, as I do, you pay for your books...

This IS a much safer alternative, as you save on the environment, saving the trees used to make both paper and furniture.

This IS a much better alternative, as you can put all your book shelves in your bag, and read whatever you like when you have time.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Most urban Americans earn their living from some sort of intellectual property. Few of us actually MAKE anything you can hold in your hand any more. Paying others for THEIR intellectual property is a form of enlightened self interest. We consider people like you, a common thief. Sorry for being so blunt, but that's true for a significant number of Americans.

I suspect that as the economy of your country develops, your peoples attitudes towards intellectual property will change as well.

So, in other words, Americans have found a new way to scam the rest of the planet: intellectual "property." You can no longer dominate the world via industrial production, so you (i.e. American capital) plan to dominate it by controlling key "IP" in crucial sectors such as the military, medicine (think of patents used to profit off the suffering of millions in the third world), and communications. Your lifestyle has been subsidized by the blood of countless other people inside and outside of your country, a country founded on the conquest of land from indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, and the exploitation of its own working class, and loot plundered from abroad. You have no right to speak to anyone of thievery.

[elemenoP]

My reason is pretty specific: my local library is closed for 2 years for renovations, but they are part of a large system that has a great ebook collection.

I think there is another reason for ereader sales: giving as gifts, to people who may or may not use them in the long term. Just because it's a new and fun gadget.

eP

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

My reason is pretty specific: my local library is closed for 2 years for renovations, but they are part of a large system that has a great ebook collection.

I think there is another reason for ereader sales: giving as gifts, to people who may or may not use them in the long term. Just because it's a new and fun gadget.

eP

Two years?!? Is that a way to "soft-close" the branch? I would be seriously miffed if the county tried to pull that with my local branch.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

think of patents used to profit off the suffering of millions in the third world

Those medicines would not exist if drug companies did not invest billions in research, most of which doesn't work out to anything. Unless companies can make a reasonable return on investment from those few drugs that do work, the research won't happen at all.

[DMSmillie]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

So, in other words, Americans have found a new way to scam the rest of the planet: intellectual "property." You can no longer dominate the world via industrial production, so you (i.e. American capital) plan to dominate it by controlling key "IP" in crucial sectors such as the military, medicine (think of patents used to profit off the suffering of millions in the third world), and communications. Your lifestyle has been subsidized by the blood of countless other people inside and outside of your country, a country founded on the conquest of land from indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, and the exploitation of its own working class, and loot plundered from abroad. You have no right to speak to anyone of thievery.

Laughable!

Intellectual property is hardly the invention of the US - see Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. And have a look at the history of pretty well any country in the world, and you'll see the oppression and displacement of one cultural group or another, enslavement, exploitation. There are plenty of places where it's still happening. The notion that these things are unique to the US (or even to the "Western World") is one of the biggest ideological scams of the current age.

If you want to find justifications for ignoring the rights of authors around the world, you'll have to come up with something a bit better than that.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Those medicines would not exist if drug companies did not invest billions in research, most of which doesn't work out to anything. Unless companies can make a reasonable return on investment from those few drugs that do work, the research won't happen at all.

But is that corporate infrastructure even necessary for the production of new drugs? Much of the basic research occurs at publicly funded institutions such as Universities. Basic research is hard to justify to a bottom-line conscious corporation, so the public funds it. Then Big Pharma swoops in, appropriates the products of publicly funded research, and figures out ways to monetize it. I'm not saying that they contribute nothing to the research, but that the keystone they contribute is added to a broad foundation of publicly funded research. That being said, it is not all clear that a lack of IP would mean that there would be an insufficient return on investment: a large amount of money is made simply by being first in the market.

Luqman