Do some publishers have any idea?

[barryem]

Originally Posted by GlennD

I'm of the opinion that at some point publishers will begin to go the same way as video and music - we'll all just subscribe to a service that provides unlimited access to large libraries of books. I'm pretty sure that Kindle unlimited is sort of a test of that idea already. It's clear to me that media providers in general are highly interested in consumers no longer believing that we own the media that we buy/rent/license, so that we can pay monthly fees that for most users will be more than they would have spent on the media anyway.

I think it's entirely possible that things will go that way. Personally I prefer to buy my ebooks but I'd be okay with a subscription service if it included all the books I might buy.

With one caveat. I'm 78 years old now and I have a few health issues, not major ones, but they're enough to make me wonder when I'll end up in a nursing home or something like one, instead of the kind of retirement home I'm in now. I can buy books at the moment. My money is my own. Those places keep your money and give you an allowance and at that point the only books I might have available are ones I already own. That makes a subscription service a bit scary.

Barry

[Deskisamess]

Those places keep your money and give you an allowance...

Only if you're on Medicaid. If your "self-pay" no one controls your money but you or the person who has your POA. I've had family members in nursing homes under both scenerios.

Those on Medicaid can't have more than a certain amount of their own money, and have to keep the balance below that amount.

[barryem]

The term "piracy" was used on the news when I was a kid in the 1950s from time to time to refer to people caught selling illegally printed books. I didn't see that on the news often but there were a couple of times when fairly large scale arrests were made and they made the news. I suspect I'd heard the term used before that because I knew just what they were describing.

Later, in the days before MP3 and before ebooks, piracy referred to the illegal copying of software. It was the common term in tech journals and whenever it made the news. Programmers often discussed the possibility of piracy.

I think it was natural, when MP3 and ebooks came along, to use the same term to describe the same activity.

Barry

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by barryem

I think it's entirely possible that things will go that way. Personally I prefer to buy my ebooks but I'd be okay with a subscription service if it included all the books I might buy.

With one caveat. I'm 78 years old now and I have a few health issues, not major ones, but they're enough to make me wonder when I'll end up in a nursing home or something like one, instead of the kind of retirement home I'm in now. I can buy books at the moment. My money is my own. Those places keep your money and give you an allowance and at that point the only books I might have available are ones I already own. That makes a subscription service a bit scary.

Barry

Of course, you can still buy music and movies. I generally still buy my favorite albums and movies. I would not be surprised if ebooks eventually turns out the same way. I do think that one of the big differences between books and music/movies is that a very large percentage of the book reading public don't buy very many books over the space of a year. There is a lot of book buying for vacations (thus the term beach book) and travel. I'm not sure that the economics of a subscription service really matches that dynamic.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I'm not sure that the economics of a subscription service really matches that dynamic.

I think the problem with a subscription service (that included all publishers) is that it would be taken up by those who would otherwise be spending FAR more on books, leading to greatly reduced revenues for publishers and authors.

Those who only buy a book or five a year probably don't feature in the ebook stats anyway.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

We're all overthinking this stuff.

Welcome to every thread on every message board ever

Loaning our friends and families books we've paid for is a good thing. It may or may not be illegal. It may or may not be a contract violation. It may or may not be a sin. It's certainly the decent thing to do. Not doing it is selfish and immoral.

I agree. I'd have no problem adding one of my ebooks to my better half's ereader if she had the same bad taste in literature I do. That it happens to be given the green light by Amazon is incidental to my decision to do it.

I wouldn't take a book I bought and upload to a pirate site for any and all to download. But loaning a book to a friend or family matter doesn't bother me a whit. I understand ebooks are different than physical books according to their licensors. But then there's the real world and how people actually behave and that's where I live.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Welcome to every thread on every message board ever



I agree. I'd have no problem adding one of my ebooks to my better half's ereader if she had the same bad taste in literature I do. That it happens to be given the green light by Amazon is incidental to my decision to do it.

I wouldn't take a book I bought and upload to a pirate site for any and all to download.But loaning a book to a friend or family matter doesn't bother me a whit. I understand ebooks are different than physical books according to their licensors. But then there's the real world and how people actually behave and that's where I live.

To be clear...in order for Amazon to sanction it, the book has to be on a reader that is registered to your account. You can't take a book that is registered to your account and put it onto a reader that is registered to a different account. Sharing is *only* allowed within your own account.

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

Sharing is *only* allowed within your own account.

You can share between accounts using "Amazon Household". This looks two adults and up to four children to share content between accounts, but you can only be a member of a single "household".

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by shalym

To be clear...in order for Amazon to sanction it, the book has to be on a reader that is registered to your account. You can't take a book that is registered to your account and put it onto a reader that is registered to a different account. Sharing is *only* allowed within your own account.

Shari

As Harry mentioned, you can share across accounts as our accounts are linked. Indeed, I had to 'share' a book with myself when I accidentally bought it while logged into the wrong account.

But back to my rebellious position, I read on a Kobo and she reads on a Nook, so strictly speaking neither of us are allowed to read our books!

[barryem]

I have quite a few Kindles of various vintages and I like talking about what I'm reading and sometimes one of my neighbors will ask to borrow a book I mentioned. I won't copy it to their device if they have one. I will put it on one of mine and lend them the device. I probably do this 6 or 8 times a year.

Back in my paper book reading days I read paperbacks almost exclusively. I found hardbacks too awkward for reading in bed or laying on the sofa or my recliner and I do quite a bit of all three. Most of the time when I was done with a book I'd give it to someone else if anyone wanted it. I rarely got one back, or wanted to get one back. Most of them gave me books too.

If no-one wanted it I'd take it to a used book store and trade it for another book. Most often I could trade 2 books and get one back.

I've never been a book lover. I have no real understanding of the love of the smell or feel, etc of books. I love to read. I love stories. The paper is just a way to get them. And now that's true of my ereader as well.

I am beginning to develop a love of the smell of ebooks.

By the way, I was going to read my current book on my phone in Moon+ and on my Nook, but I found myself enjoying Moon+ so much I just stuck with it. It's been my favorite reading app for a long time but I've been using my Kindle and the Kindle app since the new Paperwhite came out. I really like reading on this phone. I've missed it.

Barry

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by barryem

I rarely got one back, or wanted to get one back.

That's pretty much true for me as well. The one series that I would like to have that I could reread every few years is the James Herriot Yorkshire vet books; All Creatures Great and Small, etc. The one single book that I have kept and reread every few years is Farley Mowat's Grey Seas Under; best read during stormy weather.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

The one series that I would like to have that I could reread every few years is the James Herriot Yorkshire vet books

What is preventing you from buying it?

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What is preventing you from buying it?

Laziness more than anything else. I need to buy the ebook version so I know I'll have something good to read when traveling. That series and the Temeraire series are probably my two favorite series.

[GlennD]

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Laziness more than anything else. I need to buy the ebook version so I know I'll have something good to read when traveling. That series and the Temeraire series are probably my two favorite series.

It's been on sale a couple of times recently, I was able to get the whole series for $1.99 each. They were on my ereaderiq list.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by GlennD

It's been on sale a couple of times recently, I was able to get the whole series for $1.99 each. They were on my ereaderiq list.

Dern, I'd definitely snap all of it up at that price.