Do you read e-books?

[McBeck]

I got a kindle and love it. Books are cheap and its nice to be able to carry so many books at ease when you travel :-D

[Dowly]

I prefer the traditional form myself. Mostly because I do most of my reading
while having a silent moment in the loo. :hmmm:

Audio books are kinda nice if I'm doing something on the PC that doesn't require
me to concentrate too much. :yep:

[BossMark]

No but I read Viz every now and again.

[HunterICX]

I'll stick to traditional books.
besides that I just can't focus or concentrate when reading something of long length on a screen, it's something for me that can't be replaced with a electronic device.

HunterICX

[AVGWarhawk]

I thought much the same until I downloaded "Torpedo Four" on my tablet via Amazon Kindle. Two dollars and some change. Started reading after a less than ten second download. It is a great way to get a book cheaply. I will still search out traditional books but find e-books a fantastic avenue for getting books I will just not find anywhere.

Loo reading is not a issue with e-readers for me while conducting my 5th movement.

[Herr-Berbunch]

What Dowly actually meant was the 'books' he 'reads' aren't available on e-readers!

:O:

[Hottentot]

Occasionally I have to when something I need is not available in the library. There are pros and cons with each form. The pros of traditional books are fairly obvious, I think.

On the other hand, the E-books are never in horrible condition, full of 100 year old food morsels, underlined with 10 different pens or have infantile messages written on them. It's also easier to make notes about E-book because I'm sitting on my computer anyway when reading it.

In some cases it is also easier to find specific information from them quickly with keywords. I admit that just once I completed an essay on E-book with that method, without ever actually reading the book, and I got a good grade for it too.

In the end, the preference depends on needs.

[Tchocky]

I like audio books for my commute, or at the gym.

Going to stick to paper for now as opposed to ebooks, merely because half my house is full fo books that I have yet to read :DL

[AVGWarhawk]

Increasingly I find my house full of books is creating a bit of clutter.

[the_tyrant]

I just stick with my laptop


I carry it with me everywhere anyways, no need for another device

[GoldenRivet]

No :D

[August]

Nah, I prefer my reading material in a form that cannot be so easily deleted. I have books in my library that are over 100 years old. How many E-books will last that long?

[McBeck]

I was a bit sceptic to why I should a dedicated reader, but now I understand!
I can also read blogs, mails, newspapers etc.
A huge number of classics are free..etc

[ReallyDedPoet]

Got my Wife a Kindle for Christmas, she loves it. And she is one that
reads a ton :yep:

[Herr-Berbunch]

If I had one I'd use it, but I don't, and I can't see me going out of my way to get one either. A great deal of my books either come from the library, or second-hand from a charity shop - very rarely will I buy a new book all for my lonesome. Anything specific I want that isn't available from the library or charity shop I'll get off Ebay or Amazon, and usually used.

If there was a used market place online for e-books then that may be different - buy a book (new!) from Amazon, read it, sell it to the market place for half of what you paid, and they sell it for ¾ of the original price. Everyone's a winner. :hmmm:

[nikimcbee]

What Dowly actually meant was the 'books' he 'reads' aren't available on e-readers!

:O:

You mean "Play Ferret", "Lusty Ferrets", and "Hot Latina FILF Ferrets?"
:haha:

I'll have to say no. I have a library.

[AVGWarhawk]

Nah, I prefer my reading material in a form that cannot be so easily deleted. I have books in my library that are over 100 years old. How many E-books will last that long?

Forever in the Cloud. On the same token, books mildew and rot if allowed. Fire consumes a home. Both have their issues concerning longevity. I would have to say though, being sick this weekend, I downloaded "Torpedo Four" and read my way to wellness. If I did have a book not read as yet I would have read my way to wellness with this book. Since I did not have a new book the e-book was the way to go. And for $2.00 why not? :up:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Forever in the Cloud.

Or until there is no more electricity :o

[AVGWarhawk]

Or until there is no more electricity :o

Or trees. :O:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Or trees. :O:


Touche :yep:

http://www.ftmm.com/b4ta/touche.jpg

[Onkel Neal]

I'll stick to traditional books.
besides that I just can't focus or concentrate when reading something of long length on a screen and it's something for me that can't be replaced with a electronic device.

HunterICX

Same here. I will stay with books, as opposed to ebooks. Nothing wrong with ebooks, they have some great advantages, but I stare at a screen enough as it is. Plus if I drop my book, I can dust it off without it costing me a hundred bucks.

[Syxx_Killer]

I've used a Kindle before. It was a cool little gadget. I read a little bit with it, and the screen was easy to read. It was a bit clunky when taking it online because of the tiny buttons. With that said, I prefer books that don't require batteries. :88)

[tater]

I love real books. I'll always have them. I have tried to read on the iPad, but I was sorta "meh" on the experience. I read a little on the in-laws kindle, and while I liked the "e ink" better than a backlit screen, the UI was very "meh" to me, so I liked neither.

I'm going to give it another try, I think it would be ideal for books I don't really care about that much (fiction I don't plan on rereading, popular histories, etc). I have a huge amount of bookcase space, and I'm already out of room (over 220 linear feet, not counting the kids' rooms, and all are filled with books, not bric-a-brac (OK, I have ~16 inches with some die cast planes and ships on one :) ).

[McBeck]

Forever in the Cloud. On the same token, books mildew and rot if allowed. Fire consumes a home. Both have their issues concerning longevity. I would have to say though, being sick this weekend, I downloaded "Torpedo Four" and read my way to wellness. If I did have a book not read as yet I would have read my way to wellness with this book. Since I did not have a new book the e-book was the way to go. And for $2.00 why not? :up:
Torpedo squadron four?

[Garion]

I have not had to buy a book for my kindle yet as I am working my way through the free ones. I currently have 242 books of mixed genres and right now I am reading 'The Diary of a Uboat Commander'.

I have backups of all my ebooks on USB key, CD etc.

I also have an extensive collection of books of all shapes and sizes that I would not read on a kindle, due to its size and lack of colour.

Cheers

Garion

[JSLTIGER]

I've had a first-generation Kindle DX since Spring 2010. I love it. It's easy to read on and I find the page flips on the device not to bother me at all. Battery life is still excellent after two years of heavy use. It's a wonderful device, and I can see myself using something similar for a long time to come.

[August]

Or trees. :O:

I'd bet there would be trees long after the electricity stopped flowing. :yep:

[McBeck]

This is what I love...get a name of a book - pick up the kindle - find the book - check it out - buy it - read. All within 3 minutes :D

[Jimbuna]

Read mainly paper books because I don't have a kindle but have dozens of military books in pdf format.

[AVGWarhawk]

Torpedo squadron four?

Yes sir. Nice easy read. I like first person accounts for this part of history. I do not enjoy a author who was not present rattling off facts. Gets dull.

[August]

This is what I love...get a name of a book - pick up the kindle - find the book - check it out - buy it - read. All within 3 minutes :D

Well at least you'd get the latest politically approved version of the book, unless of course they decide to delete it from your device, which they can and have done.

With a hard cover book I know that unless I let it burn up or get it so wet that it can't be dried out it will last for a lifetime and I don't need anything but a little ambient light to read it.

You guys are trading permanence for the convenience of not having to go down the bookstore.

I'm sure government would be interested in what you're reading too. I could easily see them keeping lists of people who download certain texts.

[AVGWarhawk]

I'd bet there would be trees long after the electricity stopped flowing. :yep:

Nope...we will burn the trees for fuel in producing electricity after we exhaust the coal. Then it is on to nuclear forever!!!!! :O:

[tater]

There may not be a bookstore soon. Something like 50% of sales are now e-books.

If I were to get a reader instead of using my iPad, which is best? What I like about the iPad is the interface, not sure I like buttons for page changes. I also hate the whole XX% read nonsense. I want the number of pages left as it is currently formatted. I know how fast I read in pages, not % :)

[AVGWarhawk]

Well at least you'd get the latest politically approved version of the book, unless of course they decide to delete it from your device, which they can and have done.

May I see where this has occurred?

You guys are trading permanence for the convenience of not having to go down the bookstore.


Book stores are closing like mad...daily. I have not been to a bookstore in years. I purchased from Amazon. Furthermore, the bookstore have very little in to choose from in the genre I wanted. Amazon is loaded with titles I want and read. Now I get them electronically. I save time and gas. :03:


I'm sure government would be interested in what you're reading too. I could easily see them keeping lists of people who download certain texts.

Really? When is my body cavity search?

[tater]

Really? When is my body cavity search?

Remind me never to borrow your e-reader or thumb drive ;)

[AVGWarhawk]

Remind me never to borrow your e-reader or thumb drive ;)

Especially the thumb drive.

[McBeck]

Yes sir. Nice easy read. I like first person accounts for this part of history. I do not enjoy a author who was not present rattling off facts. Gets dull. funny...i have that as well. In my to be read ;)

[AVGWarhawk]

funny...i have that as well. In my to be read ;)


Thus far a great read. The author draws from his small journal that is not very detailed but enough. I can not say I have not enjoyed any of my books that are first hand accounts of the authors experiences during WW2. I have read 'only the facts' books in school and regurgitated the facts on a test. Enough that for me. :up:

BTW, still not smoking as a result of the book you recommended almost two years ago! :D

[RickC Sniper]

There may not be a bookstore soon. Something like 50% of sales are now e-books.

If I were to get a reader instead of using my iPad, which is best? What I like about the iPad is the interface, not sure I like buttons for page changes. I also hate the whole XX% read nonsense. I want the number of pages left as it is currently formatted. I know how fast I read in pages, not % :)

I have a Nook and I like it. But then, I have a problem holding a book open and turning the pages. I have to literally have someone break the binding :o on some so it will lay flat for me. The e-reader for me is awesome, and I download most of what I read from the library.

You have 2 technologies to choose from. The basic Nook and Kindle have E-Ink technology. They look like print on a paper and they are very easy on the eyes because the are not backlit. Easy to read even out in sunlight. But because of the e-ink technology, you need a light source. That is how it differs from your tablet. Some cheaper tablets are really just e-readers and good for little else. The difference is the backlighting.

With Nook purchases are made from Barnes & Noble. Kindle is tied to Amazon.

Not long ago if you bought a Kindle you could ONLY read what you got from Amazon because they would not display .epub formatted publications. Thus, the library and thousands of public Domain books weren't available to you. That's why I went with Nook.
That is no longer an issue so both are good.

Oh, and you just swipe the screen to turn pages.

My only gripe is that some new releases now cost more in an e-book version than the book itself, which is ridiculous.


A great resource for free classics.
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top#authors-last1

[August]

Really? When is my body cavity search?

They take forever when you want them to happen... :yep:

[Ducimus]

If im reading a book, its to get away from the computer. Not sit in front of it more then I already do. :O:

[Sailor Steve]

My most prized books are all references. I like having books I can grab off the shelf if I need them, and it would seem odd to me to be doing work on the computer and refering to the Kindle as reference.

Also I wonder if Kindle and Nook even carry the kind of books I read.

There may not be a bookstore soon. Something like 50% of sales are now e-books.
Amazon, AbeBooks and eBay aren't likely to go out of business anytime soon.

[tater]

My most prized books are all references. I like having books I can grab off the shelf if I need them, and it would seem odd to me to be doing work on the computer and refering to the Kindle as reference.

Also I wonder if Kindle and Nook even carry the kind of books I read.


Amazon, AbeBooks and eBay aren't likely to go out of business anytime soon.

No, I was replying to a post that said "go down to the bookstore." Sure, print will remain for a long time, but it will be different, I think. You can still buy vinyl, too... paper books are likely headed that direction except for certain types of titles.

People complained here in ABQ that Borders wiped out the local book shops. There are a couple, and they fill a niche. I can go to Bookworks in the north valley, for example, but only really for fiction, art, and architecture. Their history section is weak, and they are so hyper-political, I don't even like buying from them. Anyway, now Borders has been wiped out by Amazon. Our 2 big bookstores are now both Barnes and Noble, and I visited the other day to find the history section much reduced, and where is used to be is now "games and toys" next to the kids' books. Toys in the kid section was one reason I stopped going to borders on shopping trips with the kids. They both love books, but they'd get distracted by toys (I would have, too, at their age).

I imagine coffee table books will stick around. Kids' books, too. Used book stores will continue to have a place. It will be harder and harder for book stores (brick and mortar) to stay in business, though. They already had trouble competing on price with print, and e-books are proprietary, and not "brick and mortar" anyway.

[nikimcbee]

I think it's a great idea for text books.

[Jimbuna]

What are these 'text books' you make reference too? :hmmm:

[Herr-Berbunch]

There may not be a bookstore soon. Something like 50% of sales are now e-books.

I'm finding 50% a hard figure to swallow, but bookstores are dying because they charge at or near RRP, why pay £19.99 for a book that is £7.00 + free P&P from Amazon - and Neal gets 6% :o

[McBeck]

BTW, still not smoking as a result of the book you recommended almost two years ago! :D
That's great to hear! We really got a movement started back then :-D

[clive bradbury]

I have a kindle, but still also read on paper. Both have their advantages:

Kindle far better for novels - cheaper(mostly), often free for classic fiction. I travel regularly, and transporting 50 or more books with me via kindle is very handy. Wide choice at a touch. I also read a lot of historical theses, which are available in pdf, and the kindle is preferable to printing 600 pages or sitting reading them at a computer.

August - if the government wants to spy on the above reading material they are very welcome...If you buy books online they can check that just as easily...I'm sure the FBI are dying to see what you read...

Hard copy - far better for reference books or anything with graphics or photos (kindle obviously black and white only). It is still quicker and easier to flip through real pages and compare two or more sections in a reference book. Photos of great paintings, sculptures, and the like are far better on paper.

Longevity...mmm.. ask the librarians at Alexandria about the stability of hard copy...

One final thing - I am reading far more (mostly classic novels) since I bought my kindle, which has to be good.

[tater]

I'm finding 50% a hard figure to swallow, but bookstores are dying because they charge at or near RRP, why pay £19.99 for a book that is £7.00 + free P&P from Amazon - and Neal gets 6% :o

That might just be Amazon's sales having ebooks outselling print, so I am probably wrong (I remember reading that ebook sales had finally surpassed print months ago, but had forgotten it was just Amazon).

I found a figure from early last year, though, showing that during a period where 160 M$ in ebooks were sold, ~400 M$ in print books were sold. That's pretty near 1/3 of the market to ebooks, and that figure is in dollars, not the number of individual books. Since apparently the majority of ebook sales have been the cheap ones (why get an ebook for $12 if a hardcover is $14?), this could easily be close to 50% of the actual books sold.

[kiwi_2005]

I only read ebooks now. What I notice for a few years is I can't read books physically. If I read a book while in bed I fall asleep in minutes only to wake up in the middle of the night with the book on my face. :rotfl2: I am not tired when I go to bed and read a book but still it knocks me out. If I sit in a chair and read books and i am wide awake I still fall asleep in minutes if I read something online or ebooks I can read it for hours without nodding off. Weird. Well at least I have no trouble getting to sleep just read a book and im out like a light. :haha:

[tater]

Haven't tried ebooks to sleep, but I usually have to make a conscious effort to put a book down to sleep, myself. My default is to read all books in one sitting, basically, but reality forces me to put them down, instead. When I don't have a reason to go to bed (say if my wife is out of town at a meeting or something), I'll read until I'm done, even if that means I read til 4am, then get up at 6, lol.

[Takeda Shingen]

I love my Kindle. :up:

[August]

May I see where this has occurred?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111487759

[Platapus]

I much prefer paper books and have the library to prove it. That being said, I have recently started enjoying reading in bed as a way to wind-down. I have an Ipad and I discovered Project Gutenberg, where I can get copies of old books (seems that's all I read these days) for free. I downloaded about 40 books and decided I better start going through them.

In my family, we spend far too much time in hospitals. :damn: I have my ER bug-out bag that was prepacked with a few books. Now I can just throw in my Ipod and I am good to go for a few hours. :yeah:

Someone mentioned text books. The Frau is a college instructor and at her school all the texts are in electronic format. :damn: That would suck!

I have kept every single college text book I ever had, and I have been taking college classes since 1980. Countless times my academic butt has been saved because I had some text handy. Good thing about hard copy text books is that you can have several open on your desk.

I think the reports of the demise of hard copy books is greatly exaggerated. I wonder why people think that one (E-books) has to replace the other (Hard copy). Can't they exist together?

Now if someone could magically offer me every single book I have in an E-format that I owned, that would be interesting. I don't think that would be possible as some of my most prized books are from the 1800's. Then again, perhaps having an electronic copy of those old book would allow me to safely store the hard copy away while still having access.

Tough decision.

But in the end, there is nothing like the smell of an old book. :yeah:

Perhaps there is an app for that on my Ipad? :D

[RickC Sniper]

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fahrenheit-451-ray-bradbury/1100383286

This is what I do not understand. Why the jacked up price for the e book version.

Amazon has it for the same price for Kindle.

[AVGWarhawk]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111487759

Not a griping tale of invasion of privacy or ownership. The person interviewed did not expect privacy. Interviews in 2009. The market for e-books has grown along with the expectations. E-books are not much different than MP3 music. Companies like Rhapsody install a program on the player that will shut down the songs on the player if the owner does not pay the monthly fee. Therefore, you are the owner of a song but can only play it if Rhapsody says so. At any rate, I don't see a huge issue here. Amazon has pulled books before. Was it a instructional book on pedophilia that was being sold at Amazon that was eventually pulled when discovered?

[August]

Not a griping tale of invasion of privacy or ownership. The person interviewed did not expect privacy. Interviews in 2009. The market for e-books has grown along with the expectations. E-books are not much different than MP3 music. Companies like Rhapsody install a program on the player that will shut down the songs on the player if the owner does not pay the monthly fee. Therefore, you are the owner of a song but can only play it if Rhapsody says so. At any rate, I don't see a huge issue here. Amazon has pulled books before. Was it a instructional book on pedophilia that was being sold at Amazon that was eventually pulled when discovered?

MP3 music is another stupid way to purchase ones media. You might as well try to buy a patch of fog, and even that has more substance than a collection of arraigned electrical impulses.

The point was they were able to pull a book off the reader without the owners knowledge or permission. Now you can try to minimize that all you want but if they can do it for one reason they can certainly do it for any other reason. Would you be ok with letting someone go through your home library and start taking books that they deem you shouldn't have?

[Herr-Berbunch]

@tater - thanks for answering. I've just had a quick scout around teh interwebz but the data available is widely varying, and sometimes dated, so it may well be that by now it is 50% and I'll sit corrected. Or it may not be, and I won't - either way, I'll not know the real truth :doh:

[AVGWarhawk]

MP3 music is another stupid way to purchase ones media. You might as well try to buy a patch of fog, and even that has more substance than a collection of arraigned electrical impulses.

The point was they were able to pull a book off the reader without the owners knowledge or permission. Now you can try to minimize that all you want but if they can do it for one reason they can certainly do it for any other reason. Would you be ok with letting someone go through your home library and start taking books that they deem you shouldn't have?


MP3 music is not as bad as one would believe. iPod music is yours. There is no monthly fee. I pay .99 cent for a song and I can burn to a CD, iPod or thumb drive. That song is mine. No monthly fee to keep upping a program on your player that will not allow the song to play if not updated. I used Rhapsody for a while until I found out the real deal. My kids are using iTunes. Song paid. If the iPod fries all of the songs are stored with iTunes. Reinstall on your new iPod. This is one reason Apple does well IMO.

I understand your point. However, the book I purchased is downloaded to my tablet. I'm not quite sure how/why in 2009 Amazon pulled a book from the owners cloud. I do not need to be connected to the internet to read my book. It is on my virtual drive. Amazon can not reach out and take the book from my tablet that I'm aware of. But again, the person in the interview was not expecting privacy such as one would get with paper books in ones house. But the difference here is you have the CHOICE to pick what media you would like to read the material. If privacy is your game get the paper books. If it does not make a bit of difference to the person then use e-books. Personally, if Amazon wants Torpedo Squadron Four back they can have it. I just want my money returned. Fair enough. Bait and switch is poor business practices. Also, this interview you found was from 2009. I would venture to guess there is not a overwhelming issue with e-books being taken back or politically correct versions posted for downloading. The earliest article you can find is a interview from 2009 with this issue. E-books have been around quite sometime.

[Hottentot]

Convenient. I just noticed that there is very sparsely recent research related to my thesis topic in the local libraries and checked the E-book database. Now I got my "need to read" literature list full of recent books very specifically dealing with what I'm interested in. Didn't cost me anything and I don't need to even leave anywhere to study the material. Cool. :up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Convenient. I just noticed that there is very sparsely recent research related to my thesis topic in the local libraries and checked the E-book database. Now I got my "need to read" literature list full of recent books very specifically dealing with what I'm interested in. Didn't cost me anything and I don't need to even leave anywhere to study the material. Cool. :up:

You make a good point. Sometimes my daughter is assigned an essay on a subject that requires a library stop. Upon arriving we find the entire county of schools also assigned the same assignment and there is no material to be had!!! Once I used Amazon to rush a book for an assignment because the local libraries just did not have the material. E-books will be invaluable in these situations.

[von Kinderei]

I have a NOOK Color and I love it ... :yeah:

[Hottentot]

You make a good point. Sometimes my daughter is assigned an essay on a subject that requires a library stop. Upon arriving we find the entire county of schools also assigned the same assignment and there is no material to be had!!!

I've had that happen to me in the past. Hundreds of students on a course and 3 copies of the exam book. :doh:

More often the problem is the age, though. The subject that I'm researching gets most of its publishing done in foreign countries and most of those books won't necessarily ever physically arrive to my university or the city's libraries. There is a specific institution in the country which would probably have the most recent research, but that would require me to travel back and forth, which would be expensive in the long run.

I'm gladly giving up the comfort of browsing physical pages in this case for the benefit of accessing the recent reports quickly from my home computer with no cost.

[tater]

I'd like to see the following for books, and music. If you by the physical copy, you get the digital, too.

I hate seeing ebook prices anywhere near print, frankly. Why own "nothing" when I could have the book itself?

[AVGWarhawk]

I'd like to see the following for books, and music. If you by the physical copy, you get the digital, too.

I hate seeing ebook prices anywhere near print, frankly. Why own "nothing" when I could have the book itself?

E-book prices should not be near the physical copy for the simple fact of no shipping, materials required to make the book and man hours in creating it. But, there is always the author. Does this person want the book provided both ways? Could make much less for the work if everyone purchased in e-book form. Currently both media need to be offered. Eventually it may not be so.

[Sailor Steve]

I have a NOOK Color and I love it ... :yeah:
I sometimes sit in the nook and color. Does that count?

[AVGWarhawk]

I sometimes sit in the nook and color. Does that count?

Only if you have your wubby.

[Jimbuna]

Only if you have your wubby.

LOL :DL

[August]

I sometimes sit in the nook and color. Does that count?


Only if it involves an Amazon account, otherwise your colored nook does not exist in the cloud! :DL

[Skybird]

Be carefuzl with the policies behing e-booking. Some days ago I read a German article where the author described his experience with the Kindle.

He bought it in Germany, but then moved for a long time to the US. In order to buy e-books from amazon.com, he logged his kindle to amazon.com, and bought many books from their website. He then had to move to Spain, and tried to buy from amazon.es. They said the kindle accepts linking up to only one amazon-domain at a time, he would need to chnage his .com account to an .es-account. He did - onmly to find that all his books from amazon.com, downloade don his kindle had been deleted via radio command, no refunding. In an attempt to save his huge library from amazon.com, and the finaical investements he had made there, he re-subscribed, and changed his kindle again from an .es-kindle to a .com-kindle. But his former account was not recreated, and his foprmer library remained to stay gone and deleted. Amazon.com told him there would be no way to get it back. Theyx also told him that after he chnaged from com to es and then back to com, with that kindle he wpould never be able and never eb allowed to rechange to es again. Working around this, as far as that would be possible maybe, would represent a legal offence, a crime.

It cannot be in people interest to make the smuggling of books form one zone of the earth to another, or even to just another country, a crime.

Facebook or Google now makle their timeline chronic a mandatory feature. Insiders say every Facebook profile isd worth around 100-130 dollars for the consuzmer industry - money that is made of the user without the user ever seeing one penny from that, or ever beeing able to delete what he once has posted and maybe wanted to remove, for whatever the reaosn is. Sometimes people just realsisde they had been careless, or whatever differnt mistake they made. Shall there be no mor eright to forget something, a second chance, a withrawing?

I am therefore extremely critical if not openly hostile to conecpts like cloud copmputing, social networks, e-books, and the pathetic data proterction especially in the US where such companies are allowed to keep and hide such data in principle forever, legally or illegally becassue nobody cares to control companies - its private business of a company, and that means it is an untouchable holy grail.

If you collect and want to own a library maybe even precious books or expensive content, stay away from e-readers. You are hanging on an invisible wire, the central command an control and delete the content you payed for via remote-control whenever they want it, your position against such acts is an extremely weak one.

Also, digital data storage means certain data formats that depend on knowhow and technology,and both change incredibly fast. A book printed on good paper can last for centuries if it is kept in a good condition, but digital storage of the same content currently livers only for years. Public libraries in Germany that are busy with digitization of book data or museums focussing on old comouter toy or computers, report incrasing and already great problems coming from lcking spareparts and people kniwun bg the old technology becomin g rare, so that old data can no longer be accessed. Quite some research examining possible future developements that the digitization of our culture means that more and more parts of it simply get deleted, forgotten, unaccessible. A digital culture is a culture that more and more becomes unable to preserve itself, they say. Digital data is nice to handle immediately and to arrange comfortably (or not: switching pages and looking up several parts in a book is easier and much faster than needing to do the same with an e-reader), but for long time storage it currently is the weakest and most disadvantageous method that we know of. Both magnetic tape and especially paper-books currently have demonstrated - much! - longer life expectancies, than digital and the increasingly complex technology needed to access them.

I am not anti-.technology. But I am anti being blindly optimistic and uncritical about technology for the mere reason that it is new and exciting. It has to prove its value, longevity and survivability. And the digital world still is far away from that. In fact it seems to me that it is extremely vulnerable.

[AVGWarhawk]

the mere reason that it is new and exciting.

This is what drives the digital industry. It will continue to do so when your brand new laptop is obsolete a week after you make purchase. Also, would creating a digital means of retaining information forever be profitable to companies? Well no. Plan obsolescence is how companies thrive. :hmmm: