ebooks, the new paperback

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by magicmonster

e-books have some of the traits that made paperbacks popular:

convenient to carry around
most times cheaper than the hardbacks
adds more benefits by not being flammable
does not clutter up the house

Wider selection of works available. Extensive collections in niche genres. Available in many lengths.

downside - hard to loan or sell but easy to redownload

Easy to redownload within a few years. Ability to redownload a decade later, so far, hasn't been true, except for a very small handful of stores. Baen. Fictionwise. A number of small publisher's-own-store sites that sell non-DRM'd PDFs. Ebooks bought from Amazon in 2003 are no longer downloadable. "Secure" PDF books bought in 2005 can no longer be authorized to new devices.

Even though paperbacks were designed to be disposable, many people collect them, read them again years later, share them, hand them down to their kids. The market hasn't figured out how to let ebooks (legitimately) fill those niches yet.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Ntsimp

I for one hope paperbacks stay popular. Most of my personal library is still secondhand paperbacks, picked up several for a dollar at thrift stores. I can't see ebooks ever filling that niche.

Very true. Our "Friends of the Library" still sells paperbacks for 10 cents.