rubato wrote:I buy books locally or from Powell's online.
POWELLS!!!!! I remember now - they have (or had) a shop (store) in Portland that I used to visit regularly - really loved it. I'd sit with a cookie (why is it the Americans make such good cookies and the British ones are just shit?), a coffee and a book. Just wonderful.
Having said that - eBooks will replace paper books to the extent CDs have replaced records, imo. The convenience of carrying thousands of books in a small bag is just incredible. It will happen to newspapers too - no messy ink stains on your fingers.
Long Run wrote:And I prefer an actual newspaper to the computer screen. You see a lot more that is there that you might miss
Agreed - currently. I tried the Empire magazine on my iPad - really lovely experience with loads of information cleverly put inside boxes and scrollable doodahs on the screen. Readers will just get cheaper (if not for new ones then through the availability of 2nd hand ones), better and easier to use and navigate. Book publishers will push them since they can control their revenue streams much easier.
If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?
Gob wrote:(Ps. Guin, try and get hold of any of Phil Rickman's "Merrily Watkins" series, I'm sure you'd love them.)
I'm still working my way through the Rebus books but will add that to my list!
Have you been on goodreads.com? It's a fabulous site for obsessive readers . . . .
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Our local cable TV stations frequently show re-runs of a film starring Tom Hanks called, "You've got mail." It's about a neighborhood childrens' book store that is put out of business by a Borders (or whatever). Seems ironic now.
Although I also prefer reading a hardback to my Kindle, the paper books are often expensive and once I've read them I rarely go back and look at them again. So I have to dispose of them at some point, which is a pain in the butt.
Many are part of larger systems which allow free (or very low cost) interlibrary loans, so you can get almost any book you like. There are also on-line catalogs, and "hold" procedures, so you can reserve a book you'd like to read. They don't take up long-term space, and you have a place to take them when you're finished with the book. So you may have a wait a bit ------ "free" outweighs the lack of instant gratification for me!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Yep -- but that doesn't mean eBooks are going to take over. I reported in a different thread some of the long-term issues with the way eBooks are distributed in library queues. And they are still extremely expensive, which isn't going to help them be a better fit for beleagured public budgets.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Guinevere wrote:
Have you been on goodreads.com? It's a fabulous site for obsessive readers . . . .
Going there now, thanks for the tip!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Guinevere wrote:Yep -- but that doesn't mean eBooks are going to take over.
Agreed - just another nail in the coffin
Guinevere wrote:I reported in a different thread some of the long-term issues with the way eBooks are distributed in library queues. And they are still extremely expensive, which isn't going to help them be a better fit for beleagured public budgets.
Yes, I read that. But this is just the start ... things will change and become accepted. Readers are expensive, but the prices will come down, features will rise and the second hand market will blossom. Actually, with libraries, though they are starting to offer ebooks, the really shitty bit of the matter is the number of concurrent loans they can make of a particular ebook is limited! With a paperback, they can only loan as many as they have, clearly. They could in theory offer as many copies of an ebook as are required, but publishers are preventing this (at least in the UK). Poor form - more publisher greed.
If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?
Guinevere wrote:
Have you been on goodreads.com? It's a fabulous site for obsessive readers . . . .
Going there now, thanks for the tip!!
Look me up over there under the email I use for this board. Since you've got time on your hands, cataloguing your books read could be an amusing distraction!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
loCAtek wrote:You seem to travel the Wrong/West Coast of the US of A. Look me up for Karaoke and Sushi, 'eh?
I'd love to. I used to go to the US A LOT (including a 6 month stint based in Dallas but travelling round visiting customers). But I haven't been there for close to three years now ... I'm sure that will change ...
If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?
Guinevere wrote:
Look me up over there under the email I use for this board. Since you've got time on your hands, cataloguing your books read could be an amusing distraction!
Will do Guin, though my priority at the moment is getting my own book published on Amazon. If all goes to plan, thanks to being knocked off my bike and injured, I will have my first symphony available, and my first book out.
Neat eh?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Well, kicking and screaming, I've been brought into the Kindle age --- I was just given one as an early birthday gift, just in time for vacation next month. So we shall see how it goes. I'm really wanting the library version of Kindle to get going ASAP!!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
I was astonished to find there is no backlight, or option to turn on a backlight, for reading in the dark. Seems to me one of the great uses for the device is reading without the lights on, so those with you aren't disturbed/woken up.
So now as well as a protective case, I have to go buy a book light. Any recommendations?
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
They do make a light built into a cover - however they are expensive and all the reviews I read said it makes the Kindle bulky & heavy and the light gets loose quickly, the cover is semi permanently fixed to the kindle which kinda defeats the object - you can buy clip on lights instead. I have 2 covers for mine a leather thin sleeve for daily use, the kindle just slips in and out easy and its designed primarily to keep dust and grit etc out and a neoprene slightly padded case which zips fully closed for when I take the kindle out of the house, this protects it in my bag - both came from ebay and were reasonably inexpensive I think the 2 together cost less than half what an "official" kindle cover goes for.
Recharging the Kindle takes a LOT longer if you use the usb connection however direct from the mains mine usually takes about an hour for a full charge.
If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you may have misjudged the situation.
I bought a nice hot pink leather cover that folds forward and backwards, and has a strap for your hand so you can hold it on-handed and read it like you would a paperback. And a well-rated little clip-on light. The two together were still $20 less than the "lighted" case, which does seem bulky.
Last night I fell asleep reading the thing. I do enjoy it, but I really am balking at paying for books, so checking out more free ones, and DYING for the library option to be available. I found a new mystery series that was reasonably enjoyable. The first book was free, and I had hoped the entire series would be as well, but the next ten books are $4.99 each.
I also note *some* (but not many) of the books are shareable between Kindle readers. I wish more were -- I share almost every book I buy, why can't I do the same with the electronic format. They work it so that you can only share one copy at a time, and when its shared, you can't read the book either.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
"Ahemmm..... there's a very good cheap book of paragliding tales available for the Kindle...."
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
