[quote]The strong figures have been boosted by titles such as multi-million selling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.[/quote]
Yeah, because after reading 50 pages it's easier to get rid of it on a kindle.
It's a shame that other countries still suffer from lack of ebooks catalogs. Here in Brazil we don't even have printed versions of a lot of books, just the mainstream crap, like hunger games, twilight and such, nothing like Arthur C. Clarke etc. and that's why, I suppose, people don't read much around here.
Only thing that sucks with the kindle app / device is that half of the books I read are on the kindle store in the US but in the UK they arn't, meaning still have to get print
It makes sense, electronic books are easy and affordable to publish, a hardcover will end up as it's own niche. Call me old tradition but having a book in your hands is it's own experience.
[QUOTE=camacazie638;37104600]It makes sense, electronic books are easy and affordable to publish, a hardcover will end up as it's own niche. Call me old tradition but having a book in your hands is it's own experience.[/QUOTE]
I agree, I'll still buy physical books for the rest of my days... That said, I think a Kindle would be incredibly useful if you travel a lot. Whenever I'm away, I kinda resent lugging around big heavy books. I think it's a great invention and definitely has it's time and place, but if I'm sitting at home in a comfortable chair nothing quite beats a real book.
I'm getting a Kindle soon as my uni flat won't have a lot of space for books, but I'd still prefer to get physical books. If your hard-drive fails, there's no chance of you losing any books if you have physical copies of them. I've never been able to understand why e-books often cost the same, if not more than the physical books though.
[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;37104441]Yeah, because after reading 50 pages it's easier to get rid of it on a kindle.[/QUOTE]
Incidentally, a Kindle is not as good as a real book is as use as actual kindling.
And you can still read your physical books after, let's say, 30 years. I doubt that this will be the case with ebooks.
[QUOTE=Baazul;37104852]And you can still read your physical books after, let's say, 30 years. I doubt that this will be the case with ebooks.[/QUOTE]
Why is that?
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;37104870]Why is that?[/QUOTE]
The device might break or the data gets lost. Maybe the whole ebook thing might be discontinued in the near future. Honestly, I can't give accurate reasoning, as I don't own a Kindle. It is just a thought.
He kinda has a point, I've got books in my attic that are almost 100 years old now... I feel like you on't really get that with the Kindle. The technology will probably be obsolete in 50 years anyway, replaced by something even better.
Also whoever made the point of ebooks costing the same as actual books... this has ALWAYS confused me. Digital media that costs the same as physical media doesn't make sense. There's no manufacturing, shipping, distribution costs whatsoever. The mark up on digital products must be ridiculous. You pay the same price for a load of 1's and 0's, as you would for a manufactured, printed, bounded, shipped, and stocked product from the stores. It's pretty annoying, I feel kinda screwed over with digital products sometimes.
I'd be really interested if somebody worked out how much cheaper they should be in theory. Maybe it's not as much as I think... but it's still got to be something.
[QUOTE=Amiga OS;37104885]Real books smell nice, but for convenience I'd rather read it on my phone.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://smellofbooks.com/[/url]
v:v:v
[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;37104441]Yeah, because after reading 50 pages it's easier to get rid of it on a kindle.[/QUOTE]
Why the fuck is Fifty Shades of Grey so famous anyway?
From what I hear, even a monkey could make up something better.
[QUOTE=Scotchair;37105091]He kinda has a point, I've got books in my attic that are almost 100 years old now... I feel like you on't really get that with the Kindle. The technology will probably be obsolete in 50 years anyway, replaced by something even better.[/QUOTE]
Books last forever if you treat them well.
My cousin spilled tea over an omnibus and pretty much ruined it. A Kindle can be dried and repaired, a book can only be replaced.
I love both though
[QUOTE=Baazul;37104904]The device might break or the data gets lost. Maybe the whole ebook thing might be discontinued in the near future. Honestly, I can't give accurate reasoning, as I don't own a Kindle. It is just a thought.[/QUOTE]
I don't own a Kindle either, but considering ebooks are digital data you could have tons of backup copies (ignoring artificial limits, like licenses).
If a paper book is destroyed, it's gone forever.
An advantage of rising popularity of ebooks is that it is a lot better for indie writers. Self-publishing on the likes of Kindle means aspiring writers can easily get their works published.
[QUOTE=Satane;37106573]i've never used a kindle or any other e reader but don't they have some sort of online site where you can buy books much like you can buy games on steam ?
in case something goes wrong with the data you can always re download it. or back it up yourself as many times as you want. data is easier to maintain than physical books. now unless some sort of doomsday happens i don't see why you couldnt read the ebooks in the future. as long as there are computers, you will be able to read your e books.[/QUOTE]
With a kindle you buy and download your books from the amazon store, and I doubt amazon is going to close down soon.
[QUOTE=dass;37107289]Why the fuck is Fifty Shades of Grey so famous anyway?
From what I hear, even a monkey could make up something better.[/QUOTE]
It was originally a fan fiction based on Twilight, and even hated by the Twilight fandom so go figure.
I guess it does well because it's porn, but because it's in a book soccer moms don't have a problem with it.
[QUOTE=Scotchair;37105091]He kinda has a point, I've got books in my attic that are almost 100 years old now... I feel like you on't really get that with the Kindle. The technology will probably be obsolete in 50 years anyway, replaced by something even better.
Also whoever made the point of ebooks costing the same as actual books... this has ALWAYS confused me. Digital media that costs the same as physical media doesn't make sense. There's no manufacturing, shipping, distribution costs whatsoever. The mark up on digital products must be ridiculous. You pay the same price for a load of 1's and 0's, as you would for a manufactured, printed, bounded, shipped, and stocked product from the stores. It's pretty annoying, I feel kinda screwed over with digital products sometimes.
I'd be really interested if somebody worked out how much cheaper they should be in theory. Maybe it's not as much as I think... but it's still got to be something.[/QUOTE]
I suspect it's the same reason as with Steam and retail games. If online was a lot cheaper, it would undercut retail stores, who would then refuse to keep selling those books. It's done to maintain a good relationship with retail shops.
[QUOTE=X-Neon;37108684]I suspect it's the same reason as with Steam and retail games. If online was a lot cheaper, it would undercut retail stores, who would then refuse to keep selling those books. It's done to maintain a good relationship with retail shops.[/QUOTE]
The least they could do is hack off a good 10-15%
What are you guys going on about? I've bought quite a few kindle books (especially textbooks) and every one has been cheaper than the physical copy.
Also, to confirm what other people were saying, all my books are tied to my amazon account, meaning that I can wireless-ly download them to any device capable of using that Kindle App, and they all synch up their 'last page read' for all of them. Besides, even if Amazon did go down I don't think they would remove my books off my kindle, hell, I'd just turn off the wireless if they tried.
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