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I can see where ebooks can be an advantage, but I think, on the whole, it's just a scheme to make more bucks.
When you think of it, once a book is entered as an ebook there is hardly any cost involved. Everything that follows is sheer profit. No ink, paper, jobs, etc. My thought, when the Kindle first came out, was that they would saturate the market with the ereader and once people were used to them, raise the price of ebooks even further. It appears as though that is happening.
But when you buy a book, you are not just paying for the production cost. You're mostly paying for the author's hard work, talent, skill and creativity. It's the same when you buy any work of art. I do agree that because there is little to no production cost, an ebook should always cost less than a paperback but so far, that is still mostly the case so I am not complaining. I have only seen one case where an ebook was priced higher than the paperback.
And there are still plenty of Kindle books for less than $5. I just recently downloaded the samples for 2 books, one worth $4 and the other $3. A lot of Kindle books are still the $9.99 Kindle pledged - but unfortunately Kindle lost a court battle to set their own prices. Publishers, for some effed up reason, now have the right to set prices of their ebooks. Amazon didn't want this so don't blame them - they fought to retain their right to set ebook prices so the publishers couldn't jack them up.
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I give many 'popular' books to friends. I cannot with these electronic books. They have to purchase their own copies. The books that are of specialty interest to me cannot be found as 'e'.
That is one of the downsides - there are ways around it but they aren't hugely convenient. With Kindle, you could always let a friend borrow your ereader - but of course then you're without until they're done. Alternatively, if they have their own Kindle, then can register it to your account and read any of your books but of course you have to trust them not to buy their own books on your account. I think one of other ereaders (possibly the Nook?) DOES allow you to share a book with a friend so it shows up on their ereader free. BUT there are limitations like it will only be available to them for 14 days so your friend better be a quick reader!
For me personally, all the people I used to give my books to after reading now live in a different country (I moved to England). Most people here in England don't read the same things I do so I have no one to give them to now anyway. But that's just me.
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Books that are of the informative sort I like to underscore and highlight and make notes in margins. To find these selections later, I just flip through rapidly until I see the green ink, or the doodle or the check mark that I remember entering. I think the 'e' format is just clumsy for reading in this way.
How so? Most ereaders allow you to highlight and make notes - to go back to them, you just bring up "Highlights and Notes" and find the one you're looking for. It's much more efficient than flipping through a book, in my opinion!
I work at Andrea's Bookstore in Palatka Florida and I love real books. People come in and ask about books, we start talking and it is hard to stop! I want to offer this book and that book and it is just great when I can get a person the book(s) they want. We order books too, and I can't imagine taking away all this great interaction for an e-book.
This bookstore, full of information, new books, ideas, opinions, entertainment, ways to do things, is very exciting, for me anyway.
The advertisement for e-books shows a beach, but when I go to the beach I get sand all over my phone, books, bag - I can't imagine taking about a $170 kindle to the beach.
I also love holding an old book and thinking of all of the other hands that have touched it and people who may have read it - like the history of the book itself - nope just can't feel that in an e-book.
Books that are of the informative sort I like to underscore and highlight and make notes in margins. To find these selections later, I just flip through rapidly until I see the green ink, or the doodle or the check mark that I remember entering. I think the 'e' format is just clumsy for reading in this way.
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You certainly can highlight on a Kindle ..and.. make notes. Easy to do a search and find your annotations again.
I used to love to wander around bookstores and search for my newest read. Nowadays I go online and "wander" around Amazon. I read reviews by other readers and then I download a sample (first one or two chapters). If it's to my liking I buy. If it's not I delete.
Certainly I wouldn't buy art books for reading on an ereader nor would I buy science or tech oriented materials but since the bulk of my reading is fiction or history an ereader is perfect for my needs and has been since I bought my first on in November of '07.
I do agree that because there is little to no production cost, an ebook should always cost less than a paperback but so far, that is still mostly the case so I am not complaining.
I have only seen one case where an ebook was priced higher than the paperback.
Just today I bought the Sookie Stackhouse boxed set (ok, don't laugh at my taste). I looked it up on Amazon and read the reviews and, as I often do, read the lowest first.
It turns out that the ebook and paperback sets were priced the same and then Penguin raised the ebook set price by $20. They are also complaining that there is no distinction/index on the ebook set for each individual book.
I have no ambivalence in my thoughts that the price of these ebooks will start rising.
You know what happened to the cd market, when people started copying them and there were bootlegged copies floating around? I am wondering when this will happen with ebooks. I know the companies put safeguards on them, but where there's a will there's a way. That could really hurt the publishing industry. My heart bleeds.
So, yeah, the prices on ebooks were at least competitive, but now publishers are starting to gouge. The only thing I would put on an ereader would probably be those out of copyright, classics.
Maybe you're correct about the highlighting, but I really don't think it will be the same as me marking up text by hand to paper. I also don't think it will replicate shuffling through the pages searching for that one mark that I remember having made.
We'll see. A friend said he bought me a nook and I'm also expecting an Ipad from another source, so I guess I'll be joining the e-club.
Maybe you're correct about the highlighting, but I really don't think it will be the same as me marking up text by hand to paper. I also don't think it will replicate shuffling through the pages searching for that one mark that I remember having made.
We'll see. A friend said he bought me a nook and I'm also expecting an Ipad from another source, so I guess I'll be joining the e-club.
I have no idea if highlighting and note taking is possible on the Nook. I do know it is on a Kindle. With a Kindle you don't have to "shuffle" through pages, just do a search for the word/s you remember.
Just today I bought the Sookie Stackhouse boxed set (ok, don't laugh at my taste). I looked it up on Amazon and read the reviews and, as I often do, read the lowest first.
It turns out that the ebook and paperback sets were priced the same and then Penguin raised the ebook set price by $20. They are also complaining that there is no distinction/index on the ebook set for each individual book.
The one I saw where the ebook was set higher than the paperback was also Penguin so it seems this publisher in particular has a problem with ebooks and is trying to discourage them. But these circumstances are still few and far between and I don't think they'll last. I've read more than 30 ebooks so far this year and 90% of them were under $10, only a few were between $10 and $15 but they were still lower than the paperback price. Several of them were under $5. I refuse to buy a book in any format if the publisher has priced an ebook higher than the paperback - no book is worth giving into those tactics.
Publishers are definitely having a bit of a freak out I think, just like the record labels did over mp3s. Although illegal distribution of ebooks isn't very popular like it was with mp3s, I think the publishers are worried they could be cut out of the equation if ebooks take over. But you can't stop technology - you'd think they learn from looking at the music industry and mp3s. Record labels didn't even like the idea of legal online sales of mp3s... but they all gave into it eventually.
So apparently Amazon is selling more e-books than hard covers. No doubt they're giddy as it moves them a step closer to getting rid of the shame they feel for originally being a bookstore website. Anyways I'm about half and half hardcover and softcover. I can't see myself continuing to read if it goes to all e-books, or even only e-book on the books I want to read. Am I the only one?
Nope and I've had this conversation just yesterday with my gal pal again LOL I have two good friend who converted to ereaders and swear by them. I just love the feel of books though. Call me old fashioned I guess LOL
Barnes and Noble put itself up for sale. More than likely you are going to be seeing high rent store closings and the Barnes and Noble of today won't be the same five years from now.
Amazon saw the future. Barnes and Noble has finally realized the future.
I have no idea if highlighting and note taking is possible on the Nook. I do know it is on a Kindle. With a Kindle you don't have to "shuffle" through pages, just do a search for the word/s you remember.
Which ever you use. Enjoy!
That's one of my favorite things about my Kindle. When I'm doing citations for essays or reports, I don't have to basically re-read the entire book to find a few sentences. I can do a search for a few key words and the Kindle gives me a couple of paragraphs to look over that match. I recently wrote a 20 page literary research paper and that search feature was invaluable to me.
I agree, nothing is better than curling up with a good hard bound book, while i relax I enjoy the computer a lot and I feel that they are good for a lot of things but, nothing is better than a good book!!
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