I'm about to read my first Paper Book for some time

[Cyberman tM]

Hm.
Reading a paper book - I did that a short while ago, I wanted to read something in german, all my ebooks are english.

It was quite nice - until the brutality began. Although the book was innocent enough, but it was far too fat - I had to break its spine...
Otherwise I couldn't have read the words in the middle, the binding was so close to the words that the middle part was hard to read.

(I don't really think I broke its spine, but it was uncomfortable enough forcing it apart that wide.)

[Dr. Drib]

Thank you, kalwisti, for reminding me of this wonderful bit of humor.

I remember reading this when it first came out, and it was outrageously funny then - and even now, in my opinion.

These spawning techno-geeks*, with their peevish mind-sets and limited vocabulary datum-dumps, really do write like this example.





* = If you are a techno-geek, I do not mean you. Do I?

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I wish you luck.

I just discovered that one can increase the font size with the device shown below. It's apparently quite simple to operate.

I need the opposite of this device! The last time I read a paper book (after reading exclusively on my ereader for a long time) I was frustrated because I couldn't reduce the font size.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Thank you, kalwisti, for reminding me of this wonderful bit of humor.

I remember reading this when it first came out, and it was outrageously funny then - and even now, in my opinion.

These spawning techno-geeks*, with their peevish mind-sets and limited vocabulary datum-dumps, really do write like this example.

I recently described the memory loss that seems to come with age as "needing a defrag on my brain". Luckily, the person I was talking to was computer savvy enough to know what I was talking about.

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by darryl

Can anyone enlighten us on the financial consequences to the Author and the Publisher if this becomes a more widely spread practice?

Pirating will never go away.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

Pirating will never go away.

Nor will library books. I agree on piracy and I think Publishers persisting in this type of garbage are in fact promoting it. But I was more wondering about the financial implications for Authors and Publishers if more people borrow from the library rather than buying.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by darryl

But I was more wondering about the financial implications for Authors and Publishers if more people borrow from the library rather than buying.

Are you asking about the financial implications of price sensitive readers borrowing rather than buying? The answer is that, without all the data the publisher had when making its pricing decision, it is impossible to say. Publisher incompetence can't be ruled out. However, they have the data -- meaning historical sales from all vendors, not just Amazon -- to make a reasonable statistics-based decision.

I don't think you were referring to the financial implication of borrowing eBooks for publishers. But the ability to charge libraries differently than individuals obviously is a financial plus for them.

Here's my most recent book-buying experience, and it does represent an loss for the publisher. I recently saw the following praised in a book I was reading, and decided I wanted to read it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/381/dp/B0041...keywords=Blitz

Turns out it is not marketed in the US. This means that the paper book is unlikely to be in US libraries, although I guess I could have gotten it on interlibrary loan. And it means that the eBook is likely unavailable to me through legitimate outlets*, and certainly not available for the reasonable price I am seeing from Amazon UK (equivalent to US$4.56).

So I bought a used paper copy for US$5.59, shipped from Liverpool.

I've argued before for there being a small indirect benefit to author and publisher from used book sales. But my purchase obviously was not as good for the publisher as if I bought the eBook, or, for the author, if she has earned out her advance.

I guess that there is a financial benefit to the publisher in being able to charge differently in the US and EU, since consumers in the various countries have varying price sensitivity. But obviously there is no benefit in the eBook being unavailable to US-resident purchasers. Looking at openlibrary.org, it doesn't even seem available, to visually impaired Americans, as a Daisy eBook.

Is there any movement going on that would allow an exception, so that you could buy an eBook marketed in another country, when it isn't available in your own?

_____________________________
* I say unlikely because, at least in the past, legitimate ePUB vendors, in Europe, might not always enforce geo-restrictions. But probably they would.

[barryem]

I'm all for authors making money and I do buy the books I read. But I'm not going to worry that they might not make enough money.

In the USA (I don't know enough about other countries to comment) copyright was established in the Constitution and if I remember correctly the original term was 7 years with an option to renew for another 7 years. This was written by James Madison and I vaguely recall reading his communications with Thomas Jefferson, who had been expected to write the Constitution but he was out of the country so they consulted. Anyway what I recall, and this is from when I was in college decades ago, was that they discussed copyright as a short term arrangement to give creative people a head start. I hope I remember that correctly. I doubt I have the phrasing right but that was the idea.

That's been extended over and over by pressure from lobbyists representing publishers to ridiculous terms. Publishers think of ownership of intellectual property and that was never the intent.

I hope any author who writes a book that I enjoy, or that others enjoy, makes a pile of money on it. And that the publishers who make it available to me do the same. I'm perfectly willing to pay. But not forever. Copyrights should expire after a reasonable time and until they do we're all being cheated.

Barry

[darryl]

What I am thinking is a bit more simplistic. If I buy an book the Author gets X, the publisher gets Y. II I pirate it, neither the Author or the Publisher get paid. But what does the Author and Publisher get if I borrow a paper book from the Library.. Do they get so much less that they would suffer significantly if EBooks were priced so prohibitively that large numbers of readers chose to borrow from the library instead of purchasing.

[darryl]

Just a quick update. I'm now most of the way through the paper book concerned and am enjoying it. It is the second in a series. The first was the authors initial publication, and I thought showed some potential. Already the second book is much better, and reading it on paper of course makes no difference to the story or fortunately to my enjoyment of it.

However, I have realised how spoilt I have become with e-readers and e-books. Firstly, my eye-sight is not getting any better. The front-light on an e-ink reader makes reading virtually anywhere a delight. I had forgotten just what a pain it could be to get the lighting level right for reading a paper book. Even a backlit screen on a notebook or tablet is preferable if correctly set-up. Adjustable fonts and font sizes are also wonderful. I was fortunate to borrow the book in a large print version, which I can read acceptably. Whilst I can probably still read a book with a standard size font I don't think I would be very comfortable doing so for long periods, particularly without taking great care with the lighting. Another disadvantage is fragility, particularly so in the case of a library book. Certainly ereaders can have their own problems with fragility. Displays can easily break and if they do so are much more costly to replace than a paper book. On the other hand, I have had a number of Kindles over the years and have not had a single problem, despite carrying one with me everywhere. My Kobo H2O professes to be waterproof! And, of course, instead of carrying one neatly sized electronic device with 10's or 100's or even more ebooks, I had the pleasure of carrying around a single fairly bulky volume constituting but one single book. And finally, of course, that one book has, as most do, a very prominent title. Not a terrible problem, but one thing I haven't missed about paper books is the propensity for virtually everyone who sees you reading to glance at the title before enquiring "What are you reading?", or "What is that about?" or even "Is it good?" For some reason this seldom seems to happen to me when reading an ebook. Needless to say, when engrossed in the middle of a good book these are not welcome questions, though then again one commentator actually suggested recently that this was one advantage of paper books as it presented an opportunity to "hook-up" on public transport and in other public places.

I love reading, and would do so on a papyrus scroll or a piece of bark if I had to. For most of my life, paper books have provided the best reading experience available. For me, that is no longer the case. Give me a Kobo or a Kindle any day. Even an Android or an Apple phone or tablet with suitable settings. If these better alternatives are not available, I will read a Paper Book, and enjoy the story just as much. The experience a paper book provides is still acceptable. As I mentioned earlier, I just feel I have been spoilt by my e-readers.

Finally, I do not have a problem with those who do prefer paper books. I simply do not see it myself. But then again, each to their own. Hopefully there will always be suitable alternatives to satisfy all of us.

[booklover6]

Hey, I'm reading a hard cover book from the library! It's non-fiction and has never been released in ebook. (Exodus 1947 by Ruth Gruber). I'm finding the experience of reading a print book quite enjoyable! Now if it was a mass market PB it would be a different story, but this is a nice large book with print I can read.

Maybe I'll take my paper back copy of Flu by Gina Kolata to the beach with me next week. (It weighs less than the stack of readers/tablets I am also taking). Since I don't have a Kobo H2O, I can take that book out to the beach with me. No worries about sand on that!

[patrickt]

The discussion is silly. The OP wants to read a paper book because he thinks ebooks are too expensive. Fine. Go for it. I still use paper books when paper is required. An example would be books of photographs. You can't check out Leonard Nimoy's excellent photographs on an ereader. I suppose other books with graphics would justify paper.

But, for reading, I'll stick with my Kindle.

[Katsunami]

"You just download this from your mailbox [...] If it's not there, just try refreshing the next day. Or, you can upload yourself to the Ikea store and find one there."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOXQo7nURs0

I think it's a brilliant spoof.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The discussion is silly. The OP wants to read a paper book because he thinks ebooks are too expensive. Fine. Go for it. I still use paper books when paper is required. An example would be books of photographs. You can't check out Leonard Nimoy's excellent photographs on an ereader. I suppose other books with graphics would justify paper.

But, for reading, I'll stick with my Kindle.

And what is wrong with using a tablet ereader app for those books?

[booklover6]

I'm reading a hard back from the library, and seeing the yellow smudges on many of the pages is not a pleasant experience. That's nasty.