eBooks - yes or no?

[MKG]

If anyone's looking for ebook content, there are a good number of sites on the net - but the biggest by far (and it's all free) is the Gutenberg Project (just Google it). At first sight, it looks like purely 19th century stuff, but look around - you'll be surprised (especially if you're an SF fan, Jandra).

Mike

[Green Aura]

We had a look at these e-ink technology "books". Very expensive so I don't think one's on the cards this year .

My biggest concern though, and I'm hoping you can put me straight Jandra, is that OH couldn't find a way of storing the books after you've read them. Sorry, I'm not making myself clear (as usual ). The e-book has a certain amount of storage space. So you may be able to fill it up with quite a few books but once it's full can you move them to your computer for storage? Or when you've read them do you then have to delete some to download more.

While I admit to having "holiday read" type books occasionally, most of my books I read more than once. They're not something disposable to me so only being able to read something once then have to discard it seems wrong even if they're not made of paper. Especially as the books don't appear to be any cheaper than hard copy.

Whew! That was hard!!

[Jandra]

What I do is i download my purchases to my computer and import them in the library software of my reader. I haven't noticed a limit to that. You can just swap books between the device and the library software. I don't know about other supplyers, but from the companies I bought I've never had a time-restricted book or one that I couldn't download again from 'my bookshelf' at the store.

I've easily recovered the inital purchase of the device (purchased second hand). The books I buy are typically between $4-$10. If you want books that are still only hardcover available, then the ebook variant usually isn't much cheaper than a paper book, but if you can wait a bit the ebooks are cheaper than what I can buy paperbacks for here in my country. No way that I can purchase a 500 page paperback here for € 3,50! That would be € 10, or something like that. Not all ebooks are super cheap, but for my purposes it is just great!

Jandra

[Green Aura]

Good to know Jandra. Maybe my OH was trying to put me off the idea!

I'm still interested and will certainly keep an eye out for a secondhand one.

[Millymollymandy]

I looked at the prices in the UK and they seemed to be about the same as regular books, then I have the postage plus the VAT on top so I'll give it a miss. I don't buy new books anyway very often, and rarely novels.

I'll stick to buying 2nd hand real books from car boots or Andy's little co-op in Bristol when I'm on a trip back to England. £1 or so for a book is a lot better bargain!

I think the e-readers are a good idea though for people who are travelling and don't want to take loads of bulky heavy books with them.

[alec-ish]

no no no no no i hate the idea of ebooks just being able to pick up a book and feel the pages flick through it even the smell!
ifact if there was a fire on my boat i would save my books first!

[the.fee.fairy]

I'm going to get splinters from the fence and say both.

I love real books, i love the feel of them, the smell of them, but, when i'm travelling, i suffer from a great problem where i don't think that i have packed enough books...and books are heavy. When i moved out here, i sent over 50kg of boxes...a good 20kg of that was books!

So...i have a PDA with a PDF reader on it, and i download ebooks and put them on there. My PDA is an Ipaq something or other and i find it quite easy to use. It is like looking at a small computer screen, and is backlit (which i find invaluable on a plane). But...i have a 2gb card in it which i can fill with books to read if/when i run out of real book.

Also...i can't bear to get rid of any books...ever...so with the PDA books, i'm not having to leave paper books behind.

Nothing will ever ever beat real books, especially old real books, but at least with the PDA i know that i can take 20 books with me without having to worry about space or weight. I can play games on it too...

[Berti]

yeah as if we don't have enough machinery in the house yet........ (I don't but still think it's a lot)
and also, a machine can quit working for whatever reasons while a book is always there, waiting for you.
and no it would never be the same to me if I would have to let go of my books.
anything.
NOT MY BOOKS!!

:)

[Millymollymandy]

I felt the same about CDs when they came out - No I want my records with a big sleeve with piccies on and maybe if you're lucky booklets inside the sleeve with more piccies and lyrics etc. It's not the same on a tiny CD cover.

[southeast-isher]

I've got a Kindle now but use it to read PDFs as the Kindle format itself i'm not so keen on. I think these are great devices that although like some say they will never replace the printed page you can save space if say yurt living or something like that. I've got a whole mine of information ranging from John Seymour books to heavier books like ones by Eric Toensmeier all on this little device.

Sure it's a little soulless but for me right now very practical and for someone like me who battles with clutter very useful. I hope to get my moneys worth from this device by learning as much as i can from the ebooks when i may not have been able to have much space for the printed books.

For me it's not a replacement for the printed page but a more than useful addition. It gets a big thumbs up from me!

[123sologne]

I may one day try e-books, but I cannot imagine not using proper books as I call them, new or second hand. My husband and I, we simply love our books. We have so many that we thought that when we are old, maybe we should open up the house as a library as I would think by then, there will not be many walls left in the house without books in front of them... And even when we move from the UK to France, all those books are coming with us. No way I could live them behind. It is the cost that will be painful!!

[Durgan]

If anyone's looking for ebook content, there are a good number of sites on the net - but the biggest by far (and it's all free) is the Gutenberg Project (just Google it). At first sight, it looks like purely 19th century stuff, but look around - you'll be surprised (especially if you're an SF fan, Jandra).

Mike

I use the audio books more often than the E print. There is some fine books on this site free of charge. Both Print and
audio

http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.p ... ion=Search

http://librivox.org/recently-cataloged/ Always new audio books being added.

I listen to these books before going to sleep at night on my laptop, and always have a book going.

I also read print books as available, and of interest.

[battybird]

Just found this thread...I love books for all the same reasons as everyone else. I dont think they could ever be replaced..(wasnt there a film where books were nearly all destroyed ...stuff of nightmares!) BUT..I can see the use of ebooks when travelling, having filled my suitcase and my pockets and still run out of reading before end of trip (hope they dont start weighing in passengers! ). I also usesd to have cassette books when I was a district nurse driving around...I suppose CDs now do the same job! I love using bookcrossing and swap shops for books as well as charity shops and friend swaps. One book seems to go a long way..would an ebook go as far and give as much pleasure??

[Shirleymouse]

I wouldn't like to swap real books either and I'm sure looking at a small illuminated screen for hours on end can't be good for the eyesight. Having said that, I can really see the advantage for kids doing homework or uni students needing a book for an essay in the middle of the night.

I assume that on an Iphone or Ipad you can download books as well as music etc. That would be good cos you could read on the bus and listen to music at the same time with just one gadget. Bit too technical for me I think!