No longer buying printed novels

[Luffy]

It's strange to see so many people to have 'gone digital'. It's sadly not representative of the general public. Many people are proud not to have succumbed to the e reader 'craze'.

[Ripplinger]

Just wait until those people get older and their eyesight gets worse. One the best things about going digital - no matter what format you prefer to read on, ereader, tablet, phone, whatever - is being able to resize the text, and change the font if you desire, to whatever is comfortable for your eyes. Which often makes the difference between being able to read or not for some.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Just wait until those people get older and their eyesight gets worse. One the best things about going digital - no matter what format you prefer to read on, ereader, tablet, phone, whatever - is being able to resize the text, and change the font if you desire, to whatever is comfortable for your eyes. Which often makes the difference between being able to read or not for some.

Damn straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[covingtoncat73]

I have been buying fewer and fewer pBooks. I really like eReading. It saves space and you carry ALL your books with you, which I like. Also, now I have the Paperwhite, it is just so easy (too easy) to buy books and I can read in any light. The lighting of it all makes me nostalgic in a way because, when I was a kid, I beat bedtime by bringing a book and flashlight under the covers with me.

My only concern, as someone with an M.A. in history and an M.L.I.S., is preservation. I have some books that were my great-great grandfather's. If I could read German, which I can't, I could still read them. I can read the Pocahontas book that belonged to another great-great, though, but the Swiss forebears seem to be the ones who were readers, so most of my old books are in German. Given the speed with which technologies and formats change, I doubt my nephew and nieces will be able to read my books.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I have been buying fewer and fewer pBooks. I really like eReading. It saves space and you carry ALL your books with you, which I like. Also, now I have the Paperwhite, it is just so easy (too easy) to buy books and I can read in any light. The lighting of it all makes me nostalgic in a way because, when I was a kid, I beat bedtime by bringing a book and flashlight under the covers with me.

My only concern, as someone with an M.A. in history and an M.L.I.S., is preservation. I have some books that were my great-great grandfather's. If I could read German, which I can't, I could still read them. I can read the Pocahontas book that belonged to another great-great, though, but the Swiss forebears seem to be the ones who were readers, so most of my old books are in German. Given the speed with which technologies and formats change, I doubt my nephew and nieces will be able to read my books.

I've had an attempt to learn German at duolingo. It's a good enough website, but I didn't succeed in my attempt and gave up early. I've also tried to learn Japanese (only orally), but Pimsleur is relatively useless for that.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I've had an attempt to learn German at duolingo. It's a good enough website, but I didn't succeed in my attempt and gave up early. I've also tried to learn Japanese (only orally), but Pimsleur is relatively useless for that.

I'd love to learn a language. I had some Spanish in high school and that stuck better than the French I had in college, but that isn't saying much. My Swiss and French Creole great-grandmother spent a lot of time in Switzerland with her Swiss grandmother and an uncle and aunt before coming back to New Orleans as a young woman, so she knew five languages. Sadly, I am a typically unilingual American because I know too little Spanish for that to count.

[HYPE]

i wish I could stop buying paper books completely, but some University teachers specifically requires the paper versions for the books that we are reading. This is disappointing, not only because it makes my backpack heavier, but also because I now feel that reading on my Kindle is more efficient.

[Rbneader]

I buy paper books when I know I want to keep a version around. EBooks are great, but the medium has a lot more problems than paper in terms of long-term stability and preservation. Paper books, properly made and cared for, have lasted decades. eBooks written 20 years ago are already problematic.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

I'd love to learn a language. I had some Spanish in high school and that stuck better than the French I had in college, but that isn't saying much. My Swiss and French Creole great-grandmother spent a lot of time in Switzerland with her Swiss grandmother and an uncle and aunt before coming back to New Orleans as a young woman, so she knew five languages. Sadly, I am a typically unilingual American because I know too little Spanish for that to count.

In between reading books and learning to play Imagine on my electric piano, I'm trying my hand at learning the language in which the Ramayana is written. The version of the book that concerns me is written not in Sanskrit, but in a more regional language called Awadhi.

I have a copy of the book and in it the stanzas are also written in the roman letter. I have a vague aim of being fluent enough to do the arath. The arath is the act of translating, (in a gathering where people sing the verses) and explaining the stanzas. If I succeed, I might be the best one at it, since the other translators do only the strict minimum and offer no embellishment. I intend to use my knowledge of quotes and of western history in my repertoire. It's a dying "art", and it's likelier I'd get fed up halfway.

I know a version of French Creole that is unique to my country (Mauritius), and is, in fact, my mother tongue. I also know hindi (I'm of Indian stock) and French. English is the only language in which I read, however.

[DreamWriter]

I still buy the occasional paper reference book, but my fiction purchases are all digital.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

I buy paper books when I know I want to keep a version around. EBooks are great, but the medium has a lot more problems than paper in terms of long-term stability and preservation. Paper books, properly made and cared for, have lasted decades. eBooks written 20 years ago are already problematic.

Make sure you buy ones made with archival-quality paper. (Lignin-free is best.)

The wood-pulp paper used in most paperbacks destroys itself in about 100 years, depending on storage conditions.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by Luffy

In between reading books and learning to play Imagine on my electric piano, I'm trying my hand at learning the language in which the Ramayana is written. The version of the book that concerns me is written not in Sanskrit, but in a more regional language called Awadhi.

I have a copy of the book and in it the stanzas are also written in the roman letter. I have a vague aim of being fluent enough to do the arath. The arath is the act of translating, (in a gathering where people sing the verses) and explaining the stanzas. If I succeed, I might be the best one at it, since the other translators do only the strict minimum and offer no embellishment. I intend to use my knowledge of quotes and of western history in my repertoire. It's a dying "art", and it's likelier I'd get fed up halfway.

I know a version of French Creole that is unique to my country (Mauritius), and is, in fact, my mother tongue. I also know hindi (I'm of Indian stock) and French. English is the only language in which I read, however.

That is interesting! I really only read and speak English. However, I can read a little Spanish better than I can speak it and definitely better than I can understand it when it is spoken to me.

The funny thing is that English was kind of forced on New Orleans, in a way. My mother remembers her grandmother and her grandmother's cousins speaking to each other in French when they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying because my mother and her generation weren't allowed to speak French in school and it wasn't taught. When I was in school, you only had two years of a foreign language in High School. I think French and Spanish were the only choices. I chose Spanish because I thought that would be easier. Now there are "French immersion" schools everywhere. My little nephew and my cousin's kids go to French immersion schools. The nephew is five and knows all his numbers in French.

I really need to do something with the old books but am not sure where to donate them but they need to be cared for. There is one from 1839 that is a huge book in German but is falling apart a bit.

The most interesting conundrum I've found regarding translation is an old letter to my great-grandmother from her Swiss grandmother (my great-great-great). It is written in French. By someone whose first language was German. In 19th century handwriting. Neither my teenage cousin who had been in French immersion or her French teacher could translate it properly. *sigh*

[Quexos]

I don't buy printed books either except if I really want a specific book and it's not available anywhere else... But that is very rare.

[Salgueiros]

I still buy paper books, and at the same rate i did before i had a ebook reader. Paper books are too beautiful and good not to.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

That is interesting! I really only read and speak English. However, I can read a little Spanish better than I can speak it and definitely better than I can understand it when it is spoken to me.

The funny thing is that English was kind of forced on New Orleans, in a way. My mother remembers her grandmother and her grandmother's cousins speaking to each other in French when they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying because my mother and her generation weren't allowed to speak French in school and it wasn't taught. When I was in school, you only had two years of a foreign language in High School. I think French and Spanish were the only choices. I chose Spanish because I thought that would be easier. Now there are "French immersion" schools everywhere. My little nephew and my cousin's kids go to French immersion schools. The nephew is five and knows all his numbers in French.

I really need to do something with the old books but am not sure where to donate them but they need to be cared for. There is one from 1839 that is a huge book in German but is falling apart a bit.

The most interesting conundrum I've found regarding translation is an old letter to my great-grandmother from her Swiss grandmother (my great-great-great). It is written in French. By someone whose first language was German. In 19th century handwriting. Neither my teenage cousin who had been in French immersion or her French teacher could translate it properly. *sigh*

French itself was relatively recently inculcated among the French, and that happened in the middle or the end of the 19th century. Before that, only 20% of the population spoke French. I got that tidbit from a show called QI, so I don't know the details.

I would have loved to have gone to school in the USA. I would have been utterly destroyed by the popular kids, but it would have been an experience to remember. Where I live most school are bereft of tradition and events like sports, debate teams, math, are not important and there's no such a thing as a prom. Music is barely learned in schools in my country.

My family has almost no heirloom from our past. Certainly not from any great-great-great grandparent. I don't think I'll be able to translate your letter. As for Spanish and French, I feel they are roughly equal in their learning curves. I'm assuming only. Okay, well thanks for an interesting post. See you around.