Can't get away from paper books

[KenJackson]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Paper books are often less expensive than their digital equivalent.

This is true.

Yet there are no printing, shipping, storage or shelf-space expenses; there's no excess inventory to get rid of; and the customer provides the hardware to use the product. So logic would dictate lower prices.

I'm guessing this is still due to a young industry teething--a situation that will change.

[speakingtohe]

I haven't read a pbook since I bought my ebook reader (April 2010). I lost my reader for a few days and started to read a pbook, but was not happy (could be the story, or the percieved awkwardness) so I took my laptop to bed. Was not great, but was better.

But... I get all nostalgic feeling when I go into a bookstore to buy a gift. All the nice shiny books are incredibly tempting, even though I know I would be not totally happy reading them.

I do not look forward to a world without bookstores, or libraries without physical books. So I am glad that there are many people who prefer them.

I do look forward to more and more obscure and out of print books being available in any medium and this does seem to be coming about.

Helen

[KenJackson]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I lost my reader for a few days ...

The thought of this is like thinking of losing my keys. It sends shivers down my spine.

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

... so I took my laptop to bed. ...

That strikes me as funny.

[vishcompany]

Ever since I got my first ereader, I pretty much stopped reading pbooks. There are still a few pbooks around, waiting to be read, but I really prefer the lightness and ease (dictionary) of the ereader, plus - in my case - the access to a huge amount of English books (not available in my country). Also space is an issue here, so I'm happy to be able to get loads of books, without stuffing my flat.
I like pbooks, but I like ereading even better.

[glossywhite]

Originally Posted by apbschmitz

... The library loans ebooks, but only has one copy of each book available at a time. Meaning that just about everything is usually checked out.

What a preposterously stupid system! That's like saying that only one individual is able to be illuminated by the sun, at one time.

For what it is worth, I couldn't care less what I read my books on; paper OR Kindle. I'm not one of these obsessive 'it HAS to be one OR the other' types. Utter lunacy. Own both media, enjoy both media. It's not a religion.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by glossywhite

What a preposterously stupid system!

Not really. It's the same for paperbooks. Only one person can borrow a single copy of a book at any given time. Libraries can order more copies of DRM'ed ebooks. My library has 5 ebook copies of the more popular titles/bestsellers. The library does have public domain stuff available for download any time to anyone.

Originally Posted by glossywhite

For what it is worth, I couldn't care less what I read my books on; paper OR Kindle. I'm not one of these obsessive 'it HAS to be one OR the other' types. Utter lunacy. Own both media, enjoy both media. It's not a religion.

If I had unlimited space, I would be the same. Unfortunately, our small apartment is already filled with books (they use more space than my clothes and shoes) so I've become really selective on what paper books I would buy. If there's an ebook available, I would go with ebook instead of pbook. If there's no ebook version, then the title has got to be something I'll read over and over again to justify taking up precious physical space.