Complete Library Why?

[toddhicks209]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it that a lot of people feel the need to have their complete collection of eBooks on their Reader? It just seems a bit unwieldy to me. I have somewhere around 100 eBooks on my H2O and if I find I want to read something that's not on there, I'll add it when I'm next at my computer.

You can clear space by printing out some of the e-books you have stored.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by toddhicks209

You can clear space by printing out some of the e-books you have stored.

And stockpile the physical bookshelf.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why is it that a lot of people feel the need to have their complete collection of eBooks on their Reader? It just seems a bit unwieldy to me. I have somewhere around 100 eBooks on my H2O and if I find I want to read something that's not on there, I'll add it when I'm next at my computer.

Because they can.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Exactly. Too many anti-cloud people seem to think "cloud" means "cloud-only". I'm not an idiot. It's "cloud and..."

If I've already taken "ownership" of my files (including physical backups), why on earth should I NOT take advantage of the convenience of online storage/availability as well?

Principle. I won't put any files onto any server, or in the control of a service I have no control over. The one exception is my e-mail, which is hosted at a webhost company. The only reason for that is that I do not know enough about e-mail servers to host it reliably myself.

If I need a cloud, I'll build one myself on top of OwnCloud, or use a Synology NAS, so I know for sure that the subscription costs won't go from $2 to $12 a month or something stupid like that. My webhost, which rose from €2.50 a month including tax for the cheapest package in 2004, to €4.99 excluding tax (€6.04 effectively) is quite enough. I even think it's ridiculous I needed to go and get my own domain, as my internet provider is *still* stuck in the 90's with regard to e-mail; the inbox is 100 MB, and the maximum attachment size is 5MB. That'll explode when my mom sends me some pictures, these days.

And if it's not about money, it's about availability. I won't put any time and effort, or start to rely on something of which I don't know if it will be there next week. (Yes, I know, the Amazon cloud probably will, but there are many other things that possibly won't.)

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Principle. I won't put any files onto any server, or in the control of a service I have no control over.

Sorry. I think you misunderstood me. I was asking why I shouldn't avail myself of the convenience. I already understand why people whose minds are entirely closed to the idea don't. The mistake those people make is in assuming that they're the "voice of reason." That no one else is capable of weighing the personal risk vs reward issue "correctly."

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yes. Connecting my tablet to my PC via the internet to wirelessly browse my library and retrieve books is soooo old-fashioned.

From what I've heard, the library of Alexandria used a similar system to organize their scrolls

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

From what I've heard, the library of Alexandria used a similar system to organize their scrolls

They used a Stargate, I believe. But who has time for all that chevron encoding/locking when you just want a quick peep at Callimachus' Pinakes.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sorry. I think you misunderstood me. I was asking why I shouldn't avail myself of the convenience. I already understand why people whose minds are entirely closed to the idea don't. The mistake those people make is in assuming that they're the "voice of reason." That no one else is capable of weighing the personal risk vs reward issue "correctly."

Oh, but I'm not completely against cloud storage. I use it for stuff I need in different places, or that needs to be shared with other people for some reason. The difference is that I actually don't care too much about those files if they get lost, and if someone hacks the cloud storage, they'll have some files they can't do anything with. Some short stories I'm writing, probably, or some savegames of a 15 year old game I'm playing off and on, on both the laptop and the desktop... not a big deal.

But I won't put 300 GB of music or a 1000 books inside something like Dropbox, even if I had the storage to hold it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

But I won't put 300 GB of music or a 1000 books inside something like Dropbox, even if I had the storage to hold it.

I don't think anyone would advise entrusting valuable data to any single storage source. Always have multiple backups geographically dispersed.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't think anyone would advise entrusting valuable data to any single storage source. Always have multiple backups geographically dispersed.

Exactly. The main argument against cloud storage is always "but you can lose your data". Of course I can, but equally likely I can lose the data that's kept on my PC or external hard disks or ... Hard disks fail, fire happens, burglary happens, in some places floods and earthquakes happen.

I keep my back-ups on two external HD-s and in Dropbox and in another cloud storage.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm mystified by readers who don't remember titles and authors. In my retirement home it seems that I'm the only one who does. People as me if I've read a book and when I ask what book or what author they'll say "the main character was called Jim". Often they can't even tell me the genre or if it is a genre book. Most can't tell me what a genre is.

To each his own and all that but it sure makes it difficult to discuss books and authors and since I got old that's the most fun thing there is to discuss. I forget what used to be more fun but even there names were needed. Or measurements.

Barry

I remember books that I've read, but I can't always say the same for short stories.
It may have been easier to remember with physical books because you saw the cover and title every time you picked up the book. I have thought it would be nice for an ereader to show the cover for a couple of seconds before going to where you left off. I think uBook for pocket pcs had this option.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Exactly. The main argument against cloud storage is always "but you can lose your data".

The nuance is that, in a cloud storage, you can lose your data because of the decision of someone else but you. (Case in point: CrashPlan is quitting its consumer service. You'll have to find another off-site cloud backup provider, or you'll lose your backups after the subscription ends.)

That is different than losing data because of an accident.

Also, if I need to have *another* backup beside the cloud backup, then why should I pay for the latter? I can just buy two HDD's, encrypt them with Bitlocker, and put one of them at work, at my mom's home, or wherever. Every so often, that drive can be swapped with the one at home so it doesn't fall too far behind in backups. Have been doing so for years.

I'm not counting the 'free' download capability provided by Amazon, Kobo, GOG.com, and so on... I'd be inclined to say that this is normal service, so you can redownload your stuff if needed, or if its updated, like games on GOG.com.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by barryem

I'm mystified by readers who don't remember titles and authors. In my retirement home it seems that I'm the only one who does. People as me if I've read a book and when I ask what book or what author they'll say "the main character was called Jim". Often they can't even tell me the genre or if it is a genre book. Most can't tell me what a genre is.

To each his own and all that but it sure makes it difficult to discuss books and authors and since I got old that's the most fun thing there is to discuss. I forget what used to be more fun but even there names were needed. Or measurements.

Barry

It's common. I'm often told:

"I saw such a good movie on TV yesterday. You should watch it."
- "OK, maybe I will. What was it called, and what was it about?"
"Uhhh.... well... it had robots in it... and aliens... and... stuff."

Do these people watch movies with their eyes closed and their brain switched off?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Also, if I need to have *another* backup beside the cloud backup, then why should I pay for the latter? I can just buy two HDD's, encrypt them with Bitlocker, and put one of them at work, at my mom's home, or wherever. Every so often, that drive can be swapped with the one at home so it doesn't fall too far behind in backups. Have been doing so for years.

I too prefer to have both external drive and Cloud backups, but I'm a little puzzled by the "Why should I pay?" question. You're paying whether you buy Cloud storage or you buy external drives.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The nuance is that, in a cloud storage, you can lose your data because of the decision of someone else but you. (Case in point: CrashPlan is quitting its consumer service. You'll have to find another off-site cloud backup provider, or you'll lose your backups after the subscription ends.)

That is different than losing data because of an accident.

Also, if I need to have *another* backup beside the cloud backup, then why should I pay for the latter? I can just buy two HDD's, encrypt them with Bitlocker, and put one of them at work, at my mom's home, or wherever. Every so often, that drive can be swapped with the one at home so it doesn't fall too far behind in backups. Have been doing so for years.

I'm not counting the 'free' download capability provided by Amazon, Kobo, GOG.com, and so on... I'd be inclined to say that this is normal service, so you can redownload your stuff if needed, or if its updated, like games on GOG.com.

Well, for me, loss is loss. It makes no difference to me whatsoever why I lose my data, either because of someone's decision or because of an accident: it's still lost.

For me, it's not practical to keep back-ups at my relatives' places. I don't visit them often enough to keep those back-ups up to date. And I work at home, and my mom lives with me. So what's left is a cloud provider. Better yet, more than one. I'm willing to pay if that means I don't have to worry about my data.

Of course it's foolish to rely exclusively on a cloud and that's why I keep several local back-ups too.