Opinion: Would you destroy physical book in exchange for a electronic version?

[Nawpkin]

Originally Posted by Cpl Punishment

Id rather have the physical copy.....

Same, I only buy the electronic copies to save money or if i know i am going to be reading it on the go.

[Quexos]

Destroy ? why destroy anything. I'd sell some paper books I have when I decide to get their electronic counterpart.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Destroy ? why destroy anything. I'd sell some paper books I have when I decide to get their electronic counterpart.

In the hypothetical example, no legit digital version is available.

[Aladyleyna]

To be honest, I actually wouldn't mind such an idea, and in fact, it only occurred to me after reading this thread. I have a huge ass load of books on my shelf, and it would be nice to convert them to e-reading format, so that I can free up the space. Plus, some of the books in my local bookstores are not available in e-reader format too. I used to prefer physical copies too, but that was before I jumped on the e-reading bandwagon.

Except for those that have sentimental value of course. My old Three Musketeers copy was taped together by my grandfather before he came down with dementia and there's no way in hell I'm letting that book be destroyed.

[Quexos]

Well it does not change much to the fact that you end up with 2 copies of the same book. I suppose if you own a print version it is because you meant to read it so at that point why bother finding the e-version whether legit or not ?

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

In the hypothetical example, no legit digital version is available.

[Todd Young]

I'd keep the physical copy because I like the look and feel of print books.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Well it does not change much to the fact that you end up with 2 copies of the same book.

There's where the trouble comes in.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Well it does not change much to the fact that you end up with 2 copies of the same book.

Originally Posted by Anthem

There's where the trouble comes in.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with that. According to US law, as long as you do it yourself, it's perfectly legal. Distributing them is where the trouble comes in.

[astrodad]

I don't see the point of destroying the paper version. Let's take the Harry Potter books, for example. If a friend had them in electronic version (how he got them doesn't matter), and they were of good quality, I would go out and buy them to support JKR (not that she needs it, but it's due to her) and then ask him for the electronic copies.

If I already had the paper version of the book in my possession, I wouldn't feel bad about getting the electronic version, but only if that version is the same as the one I own. I wouldn't go along with it if the electronic version came from a special edition or different version of what I own.

All of this changes if there IS an ebook version of a paper book I own. I would feel more inclined to buy the ebook version in order to show my support of ebooks. So..to summarize:

1. If I own a pbook copy for a book that is NOT available as an ebook, I would go ahead and take the ebook version.
2. If the electronic version is different than mine, I would buy the other version in paper and take the ebook version.
3. If there is already an ebook version of the book, regardless of whether I own the pbook, I would buy the ebook version if I REALLY wanted to read this book again.

In all of these cases, I don't see the need to destroy the paper version.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I've chopped-and-scanned books I bought for that purpose. I suppose that counts as "destroying" the physical book; it's certainly not particularly readable afterward.

I usually look on Amazon for a used copy for this--which means I pay a penny + postage, and the author & publisher receive nothing.

Same here. If an electronic version of a book is unavailable, I'd buy a used copy specifically to chop and scan. I lost pretty much all my pbooks when I moved to the US. That was pretty painful and I'm rebuilding my collection again, this time in electronic form. I'd rather have an electronic version of the content which I can back up on multiple mediums than a physical copy that can be lost (again).

[lunixer]

Originally Posted by askyn

Here is the scenario:

This is totally hypothetical, I’m not offering to do it etc etc, just starting a discussion on it.

You "know" someone or have a friend that has an ebook version of current best seller that isn’t offered electronically, for arguments sake we say that they bought the book / scanned / formatted etc all for their use ONLY.
Would you buy a physical copy, and exchange it for a copy of the ebook version, as long as the physical copy was destroyed?

So:
1) Electronic copy was made destroying physical copy.
2) You buy physical copy to be traded for ebook version
3) The physical book is destroyed to prevent “extra” copys / in exchange for the ebook verison.

As long as the digital copy has no DRM- absolutely. Every book in my collection. (I'm in the process of donating all of my physical books to the local library anyway)