Forum - View topicNEWS: Independent Bookstores File Suit Against Amazon, Major Publishers
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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Actually a lot can be said about the benefit of eBooks. You just refuse to acknowledge them.
As someone who pretty much exclusively reads digital books (prose, and comics) I would overlook your work on the grounds that accessing it is cumbersome (ordering it, getting it shipped to me, finding someplace to store it when I have it, having to carry another object around with me while I read it, etc...) Basically you are potentially losing what would be an easy sale/exposure. And the fact that you are actively ostracizing digital you are making other potential readers roll their eyes in your narrow mindedness and irrationality. Not something you want a potential buyer thinking. |
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katscradle
Posts: 469 |
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Yes. Format and platform shouldn't be confused. But, there is a little piece that you can take away as being legitimate. It's called planned obsolescence. What did the lady end up doing? Upgrading and buying another model of Kindle instead of a cheaper replacement that was near the price of the first model she purchased. Now certainly she might have bought something snappier anyway after that period of time even if she didn't have problems but, what a waste right? If you don't have a digital device that works with your e-books than you don't have them anymore. Which to a lot of people pointing that out smacks of chicken little since e-readers are luxury items in the first place, so consumers have a laptop or smart phone or other device anyway, let alone live where the power grid is reliable. I still love e-books though and keep on buying them along with paper. Heck, I've bought two copies of a few titles because they're available in both. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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Hardware failure, perhaps. What about corporate failure? Lots of people lost music when Microsoft, Yahoo, and others shut down digital music stores. Other companies have been acquired, or have shut down. The cloud is no guarantee the product will last forever. |
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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Paper is worth a little inconvenience.
I carry a book to school everyday, not that damn hard. Seriously. this generation is lazy as hell.
That still doesn't change the fact that an e-book is a shallow mockery of a REAL book. |
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Polycell
 Posts: 4623 |
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An ereader isn't a mockery of anything - it's a small tablet optimized for long sessions of reading. You can spit, sputter and rage all you want, but in the end ereaders and ebooks are here to stay. There have been times where I've found the fact that I don't have to close an ereader to set it down a nice little blessing since I've been able to sneak in small bits of reading while I'm waiting on a customer to find their credit card(you'd be surprised how many people call without having that ready - and sometimes not even in the same house as them).
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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Not even remotely.
Heaer that everyone? If you don't want to carry a print book around, you're lazy. I guess the jig is up.
Putting the media content is displayed on over the content itself is a shallow mockery of being a reader. [/quote] |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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Ugh, Chagen46, I dislike e-books and e-readers, and prefer prose, and I find your posts horribly offensive, and please stop.
Many people are physically unable to access and read paper books. For those people, or for others who simply have a preference, e-readers are the way to go. That doesn't make them wrong, it doesn't make you wrong. It's sheer personal preference. I am "well-read". My roommate, a librarian who also dislikes e-readers, is even more "well-read" than I am. Neither of us agrees with your position that paper books are inherently better than e-books, and when I read her your posts, she burst into laughter. You're making people who dislike e-books look bad by lumping all of us together. Also, if you are an author like you claim, please PM me your pen name, so I can avoid everything you've written. |
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krelyan
Posts: 173 Location: Utah |
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I may not be an author, like yourself, but I do have a friend who's published a short story and to condescend that he's somehow lesser because he choose to publish digitally is laughable. However, I do consider myself well-read, like yourself, and I would argue the exact opposite. Many of us that love the written word have reams and reams of paper stored in every nook and cranny. I (almost literally) have no more room and for me digital has been a godsend. I don't know why you view digital media with such senseless furor as last I checked I'm still able purchase paper products (which I do quite regularly). You noted that you enjoy the tactile experience (devil's advocate: an e-reader still required me to hold it in my hands) and I will always cherish my nice hardcovers of my favorite works. But for the mass market products I will gladly choose digital. It's just unfortunate that digital seems to often be the more expensive option (see article). You also stated that advancements in technology have resulted in universally superior goods. Digital music took off despite being lower bitrates to the digital files found on CDs. Similarly, I feel that the advantages granted by digital books over their physical counterparts far outweigh losing the feel of the pulpy paper in my palms. For manga specifically, the screen size of my current tablet is a fair amount larger than the size of what most manga is published at. You'll ignore benefits such as this just because it clashes with your shallow viewpoint, but please don't bellow out at others how we should feel about them. In short, get over yourself. |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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Because print media is being slowly phased out for a totalitarian system of not really owning the books you buy.
I see no problem with publishing digitally, but only if there's a print option available. But soon there won't EVER be a print option available. Soon there'll be a generation of people who will have never ever touched a physical book. And that's an unnerving prospect.
WHAT benefits? I've read on an e-reader before and I found the experience to be incredibly lifeless and unenjoyable. By the way, it's far easier to sneak a physical book into a place to read when bored than an e-reader. I used to get in trouble in school for reading TOO much.
"Man, it doesn't matter if one of the oldest traditions of humanity is being phased out in pursuit of all the almighty dollar! Get over yourself!" I won't. |
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Sewingrose
 Posts: 579 |
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On the first account, speak for yourself, I understand your view on e-readers, though I disagree, but please stop projecting your experience with them onto others. And on the second, I find the reverse true, I can easily be on my kindle in the middle of class, and the professor thinks I'm following along, when in fact I'm reading about the amazing thing which was Fordlandia. |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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Oh, certainly, but many people who prefer e-readers push their preferences on us old-school readers with a vehemence that's simply flabbergasting. Just look at how the E-Reader Defense Force came in with immense celerity the instant someone dared to bad-mouth e-readers.
Don't hold your breath, I'm an amateur and have not actually published anything, though I'm working on writing a short story to publish. |
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krelyan
Posts: 173 Location: Utah |
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For graphic storytelling (specifically manga) how is a bigger page size not a benefit? No? How about being able to venture out into the world without a backpack that looks like I'm about to embark on a 3-day hiking trip? Or how about being able to move around my apartment without knocking over piles of books stacked on the floor like something out of Read or Die?
Ah, yes, how will the children of today ever appreciate the halcyon days of when digital files were printed on various stocks of paper between two heavier cardstocks? Instead they'll be forced to be read digital files "printed" on various plastics and faux-metals. The humanity. It's just another evolution in the printing process. One which isn't even eradicating the previous method despite your fear-mongering. If e-books are such inferior products, you really have nothing to worry about.
Holy pot-kettle... You've been by far the most antagonistic in this entire thread. And why the division? Does owning an e-reader somehow segregate me from the cool Kids Klub despite the thousands of books I've got stored around the house? This separation only exists in your mind. |
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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Matter of opinion
Again, matter of opinion
Once again, Matter of opinion
Print media is never really going completely away. We will always need books and such offline incase the internet goes offline completely or is done for a long period of time due to attack or failure. Or say there is a server failure and information is needed about something. Guess what, there will still be books for it.
You don't know that. As I stated above there will always be a need for print media.
The benefits? How about less space being taken up, and having to find a place to put said books. Hell I don't have any room for books anymore because I have so much stuff. I will agree that it is easier to sneak a physical book than an e-reader.
Is it being phased out or is it evolving.
I prefer e-books myself but I don't go telling everyone to switch over. I told my aunt that while it's good at least to me, it has its draw backs. I still do read physical books because A) I already have the books in physical form and B) not every English manga company has a digital platform yet. I will still collect manga and books but I can change it to between those that I really want to own physical and those I am fine with just reading on a tablet. |
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SnaphappyFMA
Posts: 216 Location: California |
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I read and buy both print books and ebooks. I'm old enough that I did not grow up with computers or the Internet/cloud storage.
There's room for both print books and ebooks in this world. Huge coffee table art books will always be print books rather than ebooks. Sheer prose books can always be published in both ebook and print book form. I'm not in school anymore but textbooks being cheaper in ebook format sounds like a very valid reason for them to be available in that format. I fought against getting an ereader but gave in eventually and got a Kindle. It's great! I'm never going to read manga on it, but for novels, short story collections, non-fiction, it's a wonderful thing. I can store zillions of books in it, ebooks are cheaper to buy (and a lot of classics are actually free) and I can put it in my purse and carry a variety of books with me easily and anywhere. One format doesn't rule out the other and ebooks aren't going to kill paper books. I do wish the brick and mortar bookstores would find better ways to be competitive with Amazon so they would thrive, because I don't think this lawsuit is going to do very much for them. |
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