Will e-book readers eventually go back to paper books?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by theducks

I was thinking EMP also.

Huge Solar flare wipes out e-readers.
All the info needed to rebuild technology was only available for viewing on electronic devices

Keep a spare reader in a Faraday Cage?

(Note: most Safe Deposit boxes make dandy Faraday cages...)

[anamardoll]

I'd be interested to know how "all the info needed" to rebuild technology would be only available in eBooks and not, say, the heads of the authors who wrote those books.

It's like the old panic button question about losing all of Shakespeare if all the books were destroyed: it forgets the fact that there are a lot of people who have that data in their heads.

[TFeldt]

There's entirely too many areas that are safe from not just EMPs but also rated to withstand an indirect nuclear strike. Not sure if anyone is building an ark per say but with the digitizing efforts in the EU and the fact that much of its data is stored in nuke withstanding data centers I'd say we'd be fine even if the EMP would strike the entire world at the same time. Fairly confident that Google's data centers (for their digitizing efforts) are also EM shielded.

Now we just have to figure out what to do when the inevitable zombie outbreaks hits. That's the real problem. Got it on good authority that zombies prefer paper books (what, you think there'll be toilet paper after the zombie apocalypse?) and will react violently to anyone with a kindle.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by TFeldt

... Fairly confident that Google's data centers (for their digitizing efforts) are also EM shielded.
...

What? That warehouse in Poughkeepsie?

[Billi]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Wouldn't you think that would just keep the market for e-ink alive and well?

I would hope so, but I'm not sure. In the same spirit: I am convinced that there is quite a huge market for very simple mobile phones that are only able to perform three things: make and get calls, write/receive messages/have a phone number book. But you can't buy such a mobile phone anymore. Nowadays phones are all overloaded with many "useful" additional functions. And I could imagine that ereaders will develop into the same direction and on the way might lose two of their plusses, the screen and the battery performance.

[Jhary]

Back to Topic. I read incredibly many books. The Problem is with Ebooks where i Live they cost the same or even moore then Paper one. Then you don´t get new Titels as Ebooks.

[TFeldt]

Originally Posted by kennyc

What? That warehouse in Poughkeepsie?

More along the lines of http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/a...ta-center-faq/

I'm not even going to speculate how Google maintains the integrity of their data but considering I'm a tiny one man company and I have both redundant on-site and off-site backup (with a company in an ex-nuclear bunker, as coincidence would have it http://www.valvea.se/datacenter) I'm confident that Google far exceeds my own efforts.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Billi

I would hope so, but I'm not sure. In the same spirit: I am convinced that there is quite a huge market for very simple mobile phones that are only able to perform three things: make and get calls, write/receive messages/have a phone number book. But you can't buy such a mobile phone anymore.

I'm not convinced that that market is that huge...but google motofone f3 for a phone that meets those criteria...and has an e-ink screen!

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Billi

I am convinced that there is quite a huge market for very simple mobile phones that are only able to perform three things: make and get calls, write/receive messages/have a phone number book. But you can't buy such a mobile phone anymore.

Sure you can. You just don't see service providers hawking them anymore. Either that or you usually find them in the realm of prepaid. Heck, I think Verizon's actually paying people to trade in their dumbphones for a smartphone (and corresponding $30/month data plan for 2 years)

[Giggleton]

The problems I have had with ebooks are that of format, and my reader not being able to adequately display my books in the format that they are uploaded in. This formatting problem has not been big enough to get me to switch back to paper though, landscape mode is good enough.

[wyndslash]

since i can't get a simple phone, i'm getting my old one repaired :P

but on topic, i enjoy both paper and ebooks, though i do find myself reaching for the latter more often, simply because i know i won't "damage" the pages, if that makes any sense :P

[laughingdragons]

Having an ereader has turned me into a reader again. I got my reader for flying a couple years ago and haven't stopped reading since.

I've read more ebooks than pbooks.

The convenience of getting ebooks has made me really get into reading again. I hated having to go to a store and search for a book or 2 to read.

The only books I refuse to buy in ebook are cookbooks. Reader is too small for those.

A few months ago I tried reading a pbook and put it down quickly and got it in ebook. I've gotten so used to holding my reader it felt weird holding an actual book.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by laughingdragons

...

A few months ago I tried reading a pbook and put it down quickly and got it in ebook. I've gotten so used to holding my reader it felt weird holding an actual book.

Been there, done that.

I buy mostly used from Amazon or ebooks, or ebook check-outs from the library....

My only bitch is that not ALL books are available as ebooks, but two of my all time favorite non-fiction books became available as ebooks this year and I held a small party of celebration - Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World and Loren Eiseley's - The Immense Journey! Yeah!!

[Skip Wyona]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I have largely abandoned e-books and gone back to paper.

For one, I travel much less than I did, so the convenience factor doesn't loom as large. I read mostly at home, and it's no problem to pick a book off the shelf.

Secondly, I was tired of fighting the battle of getting the specific title I wanted in e-book format.

Thirdly, I swap computers often, and hated the hassle of de-registering and re-registering computers / accounts (granted, this is only a problem with my particular Reader, the Sony PRS-505).

Lastly, partly in order to solve THAT problem, I'd need to get a Kindle and thus be locked into a vendor and pricing model I abhor.

In short, working with ebooks was just too much of a hassle for me. Nowadays, I'd rather just pick up a book or borrow one from a friend... no flicker, no format shifting, no DRM to remove, battery to charge, USB cable to relocate, etc.

Plus my local library is a very cool place and I often meet interesting people there.

You have mentioned many of the problems with the e-book format and I totally agree. The publishing industry has a long way to go to convince me that the e-book format is better than, or even a good substitute for paper. Therefore, for myself, the e-book format is a sometime thing that I use to read books that are difficult or impossible to obtain readily in a paper format. Foreign publishers are an example.
When given a choice, and I see that the price differential between an e-book and a paper book is only a couple of dollars, the choice is obvious - paper wins every time.

[mldavis2]

No disagreement here, just a couple of points:

So far, I have found only a few books in my preferred genres not available in eBook format, mostly older works from past decades. In addition, I have yet to find a book not available in my "restricted" Kindle format that was available in an alternate (ePub, etc.) format that I couldn't use. I have and use Calibre for conversion but seldom need it.

Second, if I limited myself to pBooks and threw away my eReader, I would eliminate thousands of independent authors who write some excellent material in electronic format but who do not have the backing of publishers for printing. That, in and of itself, is sufficient to make my Kindle an item of essential hardware.

It's not "either, or," it's "which one do I need to use today?"