E-books: Yea or nay?

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0df31226-958d-11de-90e0-00144feabdc0.html

I'd quote the article, but the owners are twunks and don't want me to.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

*expletive deleted*ss-hats.  Makes me want to print a PDF of the page and link it, instead.

A couple of things jump out at me here:

#1 -  Good on Google for getting copyright-expired media out there.  No reason that a person shouldn't be able to hunt down a PDF copy of Shakespeare or Tolstoy or whatever classic work they are searching for.

#2 - $9.99 for an e-book is highway robbery.  We're talking about a download of less than 5mb in PDF or similar format, with no actual "distributed" media at all.  $0.99 is closer to honest, IMO.  $9.99 is more than a paperback.

#3 - e-books will NEVER replace my nighttime reading material.  e-books will never replace my flight or travel reading material.

#4 - e-books "might" replace distinctly dated knowledge for which I'll eventually have no desire to retain... Microsoft or other computer certification studies, for example.  They'll NEVER replace a paper copy of a book I actually would want to own for the joy of reading.

[Regolith]

I've read several Ebooks, actually.  Always on my PC, since I don't have an ebook reader like a Kindle. All of them were free.  (Tor was giving a bunch of them away for free a while back for a promotion).

$9.99 is indeed way too much.  I'd rather have a physical copy for that much. 

Now, if they cut the price down (even $3 or $4 would make it worth it), I'd consider buying them, especially if they cut the price for an ebook reader to under $100.  I'd love to be able to carry a hundred books with me stored in a device no larger than a normal paperback.

[MicroBalrog]

$9.99 for an e-book is highway robbery.

Consider this:

Any time they sell an ebook, the danger exist you'll redistribute it to others. There are those who see it as their 'duty' to redistribute stuff. Go on Demonoid or Piratebay and enter a popular book title and you'll see they're being pirated.

Also, I carry a laptop with me almost everywhere, to work on essay, assignments, and translation, so since I'm carrying it anyway, I might as well have ebooks in it.

[Boomhauer]

Also, I carry a laptop with me almost everywhere, to work on essay, assignments, and translation, so since I'm carrying it anyway, I might as well have ebooks in it.

I hump a laptop several places, too, but it's a pain to pull it out of my bag, boot it up, plug it in, find a place to sit with it on my lap, etc, versus pulling a paperback out of my pocket and opening it to the bookmark. I can read the paperback standing up, sitting down, riding in a car, sitting on the toilet, etc.

When I'm wearing pants with cargo pockets, I typically keep 2 paperbacks on me. That's go anywhere, read anytime I have spare time reading material. Waiting in the pizza shop for my order? Pull it out. Waiting for somebody in a store to finish shopping? Pull it out. Waiting 10 minutes in between class? Pull it out, because my laptop would take up a good chunk of that time with boot up/shut down.

I do not like e-books unless they are free. I spend way too much time staring at a computer screen because I have too, sometimes i just want to take a break and give my eyes a rest. For the prices some charge for ebooks (like the $10 mentioned above) I'd much, much rather have the paper version.

[crt360]

I spend way too much time staring at a computer screen because I have too, sometimes i just want to take a break and give my eyes a rest. For the prices some charge for ebooks (like the $10 mentioned above) I'd much, much rather have the paper version.

Same here.

I spend a large chunk of everyday reading fine print on a computer screen and I find reading a paper version of something to be a nice change.

I've tried reading books on a pc and even a pda, but it feels like work. 

I haven't carried any paperbacks around in a long time, but I think the good reasons Avenger gave for it still apply.

[KD5NRH]

Now, if they cut the price down (even $3 or $4 would make it worth it), I'd consider buying them, especially if they cut the price for an ebook reader to under $100.  I'd love to be able to carry a hundred books with me stored in a device no larger than a normal paperback.

Uhh...why not just fo get a used palmtop on eBay for well under $100 and put some free ebook readers on it?  Project Gutenberg is full of books in various formats that palmtops can handle, and if you can find one that will handle SD cards, you can carry the entire PG archive in your pocket.

Besides, it makes more sense to have a real palmtop cheaper that the crippled ones being sold as "ebook readers" for full palmtop prices.

[ilbob]

virtually all my reading material these days is electronic.

most of the catalogs and tech manuals I use are in electronic form, although there are a couple of paper catalogs I still use. some things are easier in paper format, but I find I use them less and less all the time as their web equivalents get better.

for recreational reading I probably read far more electronic books than paper books these days. i agree $10 for an ebook is pricey but they can sell it for whatever they want. its their choice where to price it.

i have maybe 300 purchased ebooks. most were purchased for well under $10. A few were more. I wish there was a better way to read them. I would probably have more.

[lee n. field]

E-books.  By and large, nay.

The last couple I read through, as opposed to having around for occasional reference, I printed out and put them in a 3 ring binder to read from. 

For one thing, I tend to heavily annotate some of what I read.  Can't do that with an ebook.

For another, I don't own anything that would be real comfortable to read from like that.  Laptop's too big, and requires me to cart along a small suitcase full of associated bits -- charger, mouse, usb cables, etc.  Get me a netbook class unit, with a looong battery life, and I might change my mind.

Reading off a computer screen tempts you to start web surfing, with is absolutely antithetical to the sort of sustained linear concentration you need to read and digest a book.

I do have a fair collection of accumulated stuff.

[lupinus]

While I don't have many at the moment I love ebooks, and as devices become smaller and carried more frequently they make more and more sense.  At say, 5mb that's a hell of a lot of books on the average laptop, desktop, or netbook.  Hell I could probably fit my entire current library onto the SD card inside my cell phone. 

I do agree though that 9.99 is way to much for an Ebook, you are talking about electronic information that costs very little to distribute.  But you do have overhead for all of the storage and such, and that networking has to be pretty heavy duty.  I'd call a fair price 3-5 dollars depending on the book and the author.  9.99 would have to be a huge file like the bible or some new high demand best seller from a well known author.

But hey, if people will pay it more power to them.

[Balog]

If prices come down on ebooks, and readers like the Kindle A. come down in price B. lose the DRM & C. are really as easy on the eyes as they say they are; then I'll get into ebooks. Not until then.

[Firethorn]

Any time they sell an ebook, the danger exist you'll redistribute it to others. There are those who see it as their 'duty' to redistribute stuff. Go on Demonoid or Piratebay and enter a popular book title and you'll see they're being pirated.

So why penalize the dude who's actually looking to do the right thing?

Besides, many of those copies are actually either scanned & OCR'd from physic

I'm a big webscription user.  $15/6 books isn't bad, even though sometimes it's more like $15/4 because I already have a couple...

I keep considering buying a sony reader or kindle, but won't until I can actually see one work.

[lupinus]

Hell for the price of a kindle I could almost buy a decent netbook.  Ebooks are nice, something like the kindle?  Any more then a hundred bucks, and it's a total waste IMO.  And even at a hundred that might be pushing it.

[MechAg94]

I've tried to get a few e-books from www.baen.com who sells some authors I read.  I really prefer the written books.  The only way I would want to go electronic is if they come up with a different type of display that is easier on the eyes.  One that looks like printed type with no glow or back-lighted screen. 

That web site tends to sell new ebooks at a rate a little cheaper than a new paperback and generally gets new books available electronically before they appear on the shelves.  That was really the only reason I bought the ebook the first time.

Now if you are talking about $9.99 for a hard to find hard back book, that may not be too bad, but not for the run of the mill SciFi/adventure book.

[Regolith]

Uhh...why not just fo get a used palmtop on eBay for well under $100 and put some free ebook readers on it?  Project Gutenberg is full of books in various formats that palmtops can handle, and if you can find one that will handle SD cards, you can carry the entire PG archive in your pocket.

Besides, it makes more sense to have a real palmtop cheaper that the crippled ones being sold as "ebook readers" for full palmtop prices.

Unless the palmtop uses e-ink or has a very high contrast display, I'd rather not subject my eyes to that.  The nice thing about ebook readers such as the kindle is that they have a very high contrast ratio, almost as good as printed paper.  Makes reading a lot easier on the eyes.

[Unisaw]

My employer bought me a Kindle.  Would I have paid $299 out of my own pocket just to read personal books?  No, but it has been great for work.  I travel a lot and must read a lot of books that are often available only in hardback.  It was a real pain to take 2-3 hardback books on a trip.  Now, I just slip the Kindle into my briefcase.  The reading experience is good and you can annotate the text, clip passages, etc...

[erictank]

I've tried to get a few e-books from www.baen.com who sells some authors I read.  I really prefer the written books.  The only way I would want to go electronic is if they come up with a different type of display that is easier on the eyes.  One that looks like printed type with no glow or back-lighted screen. 

That web site tends to sell new ebooks at a rate a little cheaper than a new paperback and generally gets new books available electronically before they appear on the shelves.  That was really the only reason I bought the ebook the first time.

Now if you are talking about $9.99 for a hard to find hard back book, that may not be too bad, but not for the run of the mill SciFi/adventure book.

Baen FTW.  I have well over a hundred ebooks on my Ipaq - it's my preferred method of "collecting" books, as they don't add any weight and tend to be cheaper than dead-tree.  Baen doesn't do DRM, either, and has multiple formats for everything they publish (though I actually prefer M$ Reader to, say, MobiPocket).  I can take it with me just about everywhere, too, which is really nice.  I keep meaning to go on Project Gutenberg and see what public-domain stuff I'd like to download...

Mech, the display you want is an e-ink type, and is currently used by the Kindle and Kindle 2.  Supposed to be GREAT for battery life, but Amazon DRM's their books - they actually went into their customers' accounts - and Kindles! - and deleted a book that the customers had bought from them fairly recently which Amazon wasn't supposed to have sold them.  Ironically enough, IIRC, it was '1984'.     Copyright issues, or some such problem.

[RevDisk]

Baen FTW.  I have well over a hundred ebooks on my Ipaq - it's my preferred method of "collecting" books, as they don't add any weight and tend to be cheaper than dead-tree.  Baen doesn't do DRM, either, and has multiple formats for everything they publish (though I actually prefer M$ Reader to, say, MobiPocket).  I can take it with me just about everywhere, too, which is really nice.  I keep meaning to go on Project Gutenberg and see what public-domain stuff I'd like to download...

Mech, the display you want is an e-ink type, and is currently used by the Kindle and Kindle 2.  Supposed to be GREAT for battery life, but Amazon DRM's their books - they actually went into their customers' accounts - and Kindles! - and deleted a book that the customers had bought from them fairly recently which Amazon wasn't supposed to have sold them.  Ironically enough, IIRC, it was '1984'.     Copyright issues, or some such problem.

And that's why I stick with Baen.  No DRM, no control over my kit, offered in plenty of different formats, good pricing, good service, and good line of books.  Dude, they were willing give MHI a chance.  Plus, they gave free eBooks to the ISS.  I dunno why, but "SciFi books in space" entertains the daylights out of me.   ""Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction. - We live in a space ship, dear.  - So?"

Baen's pricing is pretty decent, for what you get.  I do love the ARC sucker factor.   "Now, we have an uneditted early version that we really don't think is ready yet...  But if you're that eager to read it, we'll let ya have a copy.  For $15."   

(I have a couple ARC's, and am darn happy to get them.  How much would YOU pay for an advance copy of MHI 2?)

[MechAg94]

I like the authors that are with Baen.  I also liked that they include a CD with some of their hard backs that has a whole bunch of their older books in open format.  The only ebooks I have bought were a couple of the Ring of Fire short story collections. 

You may or may not have read it, but Rats, Bats, and Vats (Dave Freer?) and the sequel are two of the funniest/most entertaining SciFi books I have ever read.

[White Horseradish]

The concept is neat,  but I am not reading on a small LCD screen and I am not paying $300 for a reader.

[lee n. field]

   
E-books: Yea or nay?

On the advice of Ken Samples I've ordered out Mortimer Adler's How To Read a Book.  I suspect once I'm done with that, I'll have a clearer idea how to answer the question.

[KD5NRH]

The concept is neat,  but I am not reading on a small LCD screen and I am not paying $300 for a reader.

Problem solved: http://www.atrendyhome.com/ipc3d10co.html?productid=ipc3d10co&channelid=FROOG

:D

[erictank]

And that's why I stick with Baen.  No DRM, no control over my kit, offered in plenty of different formats, good pricing, good service, and good line of books.  Dude, they were willing give MHI a chance.  Plus, they gave free eBooks to the ISS.  I dunno why, but "SciFi books in space" entertains the daylights out of me.   ""Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction. - We live in a space ship, dear.  - So?"

Baen's pricing is pretty decent, for what you get.  I do love the ARC sucker factor.   "Now, we have an uneditted early version that we really don't think is ready yet...  But if you're that eager to read it, we'll let ya have a copy.  For $15."   

(I have a couple ARC's, and am darn happy to get them.  How much would YOU pay for an advance copy of MHI 2?)

Not more than $15.  Sorry, Larry. 

In truth, I don't do the whole e-ARC (electronic Advance Reader's Copy) thing.  But give them credit - they're giving the people what they want, and those people aren't howling about being raped by The Man.  Sounds like they're doing it right. 

I *DO* buy the occasional dead-tree book, as well - I'm just more discriminating about it than I used to be.  The wife and I have more room now in the new house than we did in the townhouse, but it wouldn't be too hard to fill it back up, given our respective reading habits (science-fiction/fantasy/military fiction for me, mostly, science-fiction and detective stories for her, and we're BOTH speed-readers, so we go through 'em fast).  I get to do the ebook thing, because my PDA lives on my hip just about wherever I go, so I put most of my books on there and reserve dead-tree books for special versions - autographed copies, mostly, and I have only a few of those - and those I cannot get in ebook format.

I like the authors that are with Baen.  I also liked that they include a CD with some of their hard backs that has a whole bunch of their older books in open format.  The only ebooks I have bought were a couple of the Ring of Fire short story collections. 

You may or may not have read it, but Rats, Bats, and Vats (Dave Freer?) and the sequel are two of the funniest/most entertaining SciFi books I have ever read.

Mech, I also love the Baen Free CDs - it's how I've filled out my own ebook collection.  They're great for checking out other authors, as well, since they include multiple authors' collections in each one.  Gives you a great opportunity to see what else is out there that you might like.  I've made purchases from Baen based on what I've read off a Free CD.  And hey - they're FREE!   

[longeyes]

I do more and more of my reading on-line.

So YES.

But the technology isn't quite here yet.