People with Kindles are like robots in another world

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I used to read while riding my bike too! until the day I tried to put the kickstand down as i was still moving, without losing my place, and sliced into my Achilles tendon. (didn't *quite* sever it all the way through, thank heavens!)

WoW! Amazing we made it out of childhood, all this riding around while reading.

Of course, today's kids text while walking, and walking behind them, I think that is even more dangerous!

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

This of course is a personal opinion and does not change how others live their lives but it drives me crazy.

Wonderful sentiment. I need to adopt this. K coming your way!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by twowheels

In elementary school I perfected the skill of walking while reading. I used to go from my classroom, through the swarm of other kids, out to the schoolbus, ride the bus home, get off the bus, and then walk home without ever taking my eyes off of my book, and that was long before 99.9% of the population had heard of ebooks. :-)

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I used to read while riding my bike too! until the day I tried to put the kickstand down as i was still moving, without losing my place, and sliced into my Achilles tendon. (didn't *quite* sever it all the way through, thank heavens!)

That was then, this is now

[QuantumIguana]

Independent bookstores are going to have to learn to coexist with e-books. Among those who read books, there are those who read only paper books, those who read only e-books and those who read both. The first two groups don't matter. Those who read only paper books are already customers, and those who read only e-books aren't going to be customers. No amount of berating them will change this. But those who read both are potential customers. Berating them simply drives away potential sales.

Bookstore owners are, of course, free to sneer at customers who only give part of their business to them. Doing so hurts their sales, but that's their concern. The bookstore owners who learn to coexist with e-books will have a much better chance of surviving than those who simply berate e-reader owners. Paper books will make up a smaller share of the book market, but aren't likely to go away. Independent stores will be better positioned to meet the demand than will the big box stores, but they can only respond to the market, not dictate it.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

i love print books but some people have an unhealthy, almost sexual obsession with the printed page. my love for print goes out the window when i'm laying in bed and trying to find a comfortable position to read a trade paperback in.

I could say that same thing about e-readers. I've seen message threads where people talk about the names for their Kindle. Treating your Kindle like a person seems a bit extreme.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I could say that same thing about e-readers. I've seen message threads where people talk about the names for their Kindle. Treating your Kindle like a person seems a bit extreme.

Hey, my precious doesn't need a name

[ProfCrash]

Mine is named Tavar. And I bought him a pretty cover that I like very much.

[John F]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Independent bookstores are going to have to learn to coexist with e-books. Among those who read books, there are those who read only paper books, those who read only e-books and those who read both. The first two groups don't matter. Those who read only paper books are already customers, and those who read only e-books aren't going to be customers. No amount of berating them will change this. But those who read both are potential customers. Berating them simply drives away potential sales.

...

I'm not sure I agree. I only read ebooks. I could picture myself going into an independent bookstore, browsing the selection, finding a book I like, bumping my phone against it to purchase it, and it shows up on my reader later.

Of course, I've probably only been in one independent book store in the past 20 years.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by John F

I'm not sure I agree. I only read ebooks. I could picture myself going into an independent bookstore, browsing the selection, finding a book I like, bumping my phone against it to purchase it, and it shows up on my reader later.

Of course, I've probably only been in one independent book store in the past 20 years.

Sure, you might use a bookstore as a showroom. But as you say, you only buy e-books. There really are people who buy both. Even if someone is using the store as a showroom, it doesn't actually cost the store owner anything, and even this person is still a potential customer. People are more likely to use the big box stores as showrooms than they are independent stores, as the big box stores are more faceless.

[ProfCrash]

I would be thrilled if there was a bookstore that I could walk into, talk to someone with a clue, find some new authors, and buy the books there. Honestly, I would use that and be excited. I stopped shopping at bookstores because the people at Borders and Barnes and Noble were clueless most of the time and the Indie stores that I had shopped at went out of business.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I would be thrilled if there was a bookstore that I could walk into, talk to someone with a clue, find some new authors, and buy the books there. Honestly, I would use that and be excited. I stopped shopping at bookstores because the people at Borders and Barnes and Noble were clueless most of the time and the Indie stores that I had shopped at went out of business.

Uncle Hugo's in Minneapolis is like that. Granted, science fiction and mystery aren't what everyone is looking for, but they know their stuff. I took a friend there, and he was looking for a book, but didn't know the author or the title of the book. He had only a vague description, but he had that book in his hands in about a minute. That's how independent bookstores have to survive, being snobbish leads to failure.

[John F]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Sure, you might use a bookstore as a showroom. But as you say, you only buy e-books. There really are people who buy both. Even if someone is using the store as a showroom, it doesn't actually cost the store owner anything, and even this person is still a potential customer. People are more likely to use the big box stores as showrooms than they are independent stores, as the big box stores are more faceless.

I thought you meant:

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

... and those who read only e-books aren't going to be customers. ...

I'm saying I only read ebooks, and if they (the independent bookstore) had a convenient way to sell me ebooks while I was in their store, I would be one of their customers.

I do like going into a book store and browsing the pbooks. I just want to be able to buy an ebook.

And again, I'm not a frequent independent bookstore shopper, so maybe it is safe to ignore me.

[QuantumIguana]

The person who reads only e-books is not going to be a customer of the independent bookstore. The person who reads both paper books and e-books might be. I doesn't seem very practical for independent bookstores to get into selling e-books. I suppose Amazon could have bought Borders, and then they would have a physical presence as well as an on-line presence.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Uncle Hugo's in Minneapolis is like that. Granted, science fiction and mystery aren't what everyone is looking for, but they know their stuff. I took a friend there, and he was looking for a book, but didn't know the author or the title of the book. He had only a vague description, but he had that book in his hands in about a minute. That's how independent bookstores have to survive, being snobbish leads to failure.

Let me clarify, buy the e-book.

If DRM is removed and indie bookstores are able to do this it would be great. Have an indie bookstore website that they are associated with. Let me buy the e-book at their store and move it to my Amazon account there or side load it to my Kindle there. They get the sale and I get my e-book.

[DMB]

I think a lot of bookshops were being killed off by Amazon and other net stores before e-readers became very popular. I have gone seamlessly from buying most of my dt-books from Amazon to buying most of my kindle books from them.