Google ebooks

[Libbyfh]

I have a question about Google ebooks (I hope it hasnt already been discussed). SOmeone said you can only read Google ebooks online... that you can't really download them to your device. Is that true? And if it is, what does it mean if you have an iPhone or iPad?

THanks in advance.

Libby
http://www.libbyhellmann.com

[Dulin's Books]

you can download. Not all of the catalog but some/most/a bunch... it clearly says whether a download is available before purchase. other wise you read it in the browser or the app

[wallcraft]

If you read from a web browser, you must (currently) be on-line. If you read from an app (Android or iThing) you can optionally download the ebook. If you read from Adobe ePub you always download. See Offline reading.

[wvcherrybomb]

Wow, what a big rip-off to have to read some books online. I'm not even sure I would do that if it was free. I know for sure I wouldn't pay for it.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Wow, what a big rip-off to have to read some books online. I'm not even sure I would do that if it was free. I know for sure I wouldn't pay for it.

In what way is it different to subscribing to a newspaper, a magazine, or a sports channel online?

My gut feeling is the same as yours, but perhaps we need to look at things in a different way.

Graham

[hgwlackey]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Wow, what a big rip-off to have to read some books online. I'm not even sure I would do that if it was free. I know for sure I wouldn't pay for it.

*shrug* I just buy the books that they don't offer download files for from someplace else--they lose the sale, I still get my book. (Well, usually. There was one book I wanted that wasn't available anywhere as an ebook, except through Google, and I'd been looking for this book for a long time. So that time I bit the bullet and read it with the Google Books app on my iPad. But in the majority of cases, if they don't offer download files, they lose my dollars to someone else. Just last week I bought "Wolf Hall" and "Juliet, Naked" from Sony's bookstore instead of Google Books specifically because Google--perplexingly--doesn't offer download files for those two titles. What's up with that? Everyone else has them.)

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Wow, what a big rip-off to have to read some books online. I'm not even sure I would do that if it was free. I know for sure I wouldn't pay for it.

The ones that aren't available for download are clearly marked before you buy.

So don't buy 'em.

[CazMar]

I still can't understand why Google won't sell books to anywhere outside USA? They say this feature is "coming soon" but unless that "soon" is real soon they will just lose a lot of potential buyers (like me). Also, if I put a few free books on my ebook store I would make sure someone had checked the OCR for glaring typos. (Google please note!) The scanned books on Google Books are not worth having in most cases, even free, but they could at least smarten up the ones on the book store.
Anyhow, it would make a nice little business venture for someone to get the awful Google Epub books, tidy them up and sell them online for a few dollars each.

[Kali Yuga]

http://books.google.com/help/ebooks/help.html

I would do a "Let Me Google That For You" link, but that seems too meta

I am a bit surprised, as I thought they intended to allow for offline reading via cached copies. They really need to get on that IMO.

[caleb72]

I think this is meant to be the next step isn't it? Cloud computing/storage?

I think it's a bit too early to adopt this for reading though as people currently aren't or don't want to be "connected" all the time. Looks like with Google books, you only have to connect in order to sync and then you can be offline, but for me this would still be a bit of a hassle.

I'm interested to see how Google ebooks progresses. I imagine they're not selling in Australia due to the horrible negotiations required with Australian publishers. It was only recently that I saw Amazon/Kindle as a viable alternative and I'm still feeling a bit crippled.

Regards
Caleb

[OtterBooks]

In what way is it different to subscribing to a newspaper, a magazine, or a sports channel online?

Well it's different in that none of those things are books. Magazines/Newspaper reading usually involves small chunks of text interspersed with photographs (or even video when online). Extended pure-text reading is a different animal, imo. That said, I wouldn't pay for an online newspaper or magazine either.

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by khalleron

The ones that aren't available for download are clearly marked before you buy.

Do don't buy 'em.

Oh, c'mon. Why do people say stuff like this? Of course I'm not going to buy them. I think I made it clear that I wouldn't even take them free.

The point is that this is a forum aka disscussion board. It's a place people come to discuss new subjects like this and read the opinions of others. You know, throw ideas back and forth, talk about the direction things are taking in the industry. There are going to be people who feel it's a positive, those that think it's negative, and those that just don't care either way.

Having the "if don't like it, don't buy it" attitude is counter productive as it eliminates an entire point of view from the discussion. Just because it's not for me doesn't mean I'm not interested in hearing the points of others.

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Well it's different in that none of those things are books. Magazines/Newspaper reading usually involves small chunks of text interspersed with photographs (or even video when online). Extended pure-text reading is a different animal, imo. That said, I wouldn't pay for an online newspaper or magazine either.

Well said. This is exactly how I planned to answer to this. Magazines and newspapers are a much smaller time commitment that can be fit into other online time. But, just like OtterBooks, I don't subscribe to those either. I do glance at my hometown's paper that is offered free online as it only takes a few minutes.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Oh, c'mon. Why do people say stuff like this? Of course I'm not going to buy them. I think I made it clear that I wouldn't even take them free.

What I was really objecting to was your use of the word 'rip-off', which connotes a scam of some sort. But since the books not available for download are clearly labeled that way, then the obvious solution for you is to avoid those books -without calling a vendor names when they're being above-board about the whole thing.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

Wow, what a big rip-off to have to read some books online. I'm not even sure I would do that if it was free. I know for sure I wouldn't pay for it.

Well, some of us would prefer to have the book we want available to read online, rather than not available at all.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by khalleron

What I was really objecting to was your use of the word 'rip-off', which connotes a scam of some sort. But since the books not available for download are clearly labeled that way, then the obvious solution for you is to avoid those books -without calling a vendor names when they're being above-board about the whole thing.

Are they marked only when NOT available for download? I am seeing nothing but a BUY button on the books I've looked for. I am also not seeing anything about the file type available--I apparently need to pay for the book first. Frankly, I find the whole setup really confusing.