How do you feel about the trend to electronic media? (albums, book club)

[plain and simple]

I couldn't take the poll because none of the answers explain how I feel. (Sorry bjh!)

Personally, as a reader, I hate e-books. Nothing will ever replace holding a book in my hands and turning the pages. I love everything about books. Electronic gadgets? Not so much. Besides, how can your favorite author sign your e-book? A bookshelf full of books is a beautiful site. When you aren't reading them, they're still functional as a design element. And yes, I love the smell of books, too. To me, an e-book isn't having or owning a book. An e-book just means that you're allowed to read the words, but not have the book itself.

However, I'm also a writer. I can't deny the popularity of e-books or the fact that they're here to stay. (I enjoy living very simply and only own a computer because I am a writer.) Do I think actual books are an endangered species? Not yet. Eventually, yes, due to tree-hugging greenies who have fallen for the "save the planet" scam.

Personal Note: I believe in being responsible and not living wastefully. I'm more "green" than most greenies. I always have been. But the earth's resources are renewable. God made it that way. Who is ruining the earth? The government and Big Business. They're destroying it, lying about it, blaming it on consumers (who's creating all the wasteful packaging and pollution? Governments and Big Business are. And they have the audacity to guilt people into falling for their "green" talk when it's nothing but another money-making marketing plan of theirs.

[Rikaku]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

My question to everybody is this: How do you think authors will be able to keep writing if their product is just going to be passed around electronically for free? I know the age of downloadable music is "working" for musicians. Authors are not like other artists, say singer-songwriters, who also make a living by going out and performing live.

I agree that authors are not like musicians who have other avenues for revenue, but book pirating is not as omnipresent as music pirating. Most Kindle and Nook owners buy books through Amazon and B&N. Even those that are pirated are only the very very popular books.

Personally, I have a problem paying $12.99 for an electronic copy of a book that is around $2 on Half.com. E-books should be around $6.99 for new titles and $2.99 for older titles. If my favorite author released a new book for $6.99, and it was available by pirating, I wouldn't have a problem paying $6.99 for it. $12.99 - no way. The problem here is not the authors but the publishers. Amazon initially wanted to charge $9.99 for all new books, but the publishers balked at that idea and demanded more. Again, more authors are going the self publishing route, eliminating the publisher, charging less, and still making more by keeping around 70%.

[crystalblue]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

My question to everybody is this: How do you think authors will be able to keep writing if their product is just going to be passed around electronically for free? I know the age of downloadable music is "working" for musicians. Authors are not like other artists, say singer-songwriters, who also make a living by going out and performing live.

1. they will probably have to write cause they enjoy it, not cause they plan to make a living at it.

2. publish on their own website, charge a very small fee per book.

3. hope hollywood buys the rights and the movie makes money b4 its gets pirated!

[kevxu]

Books will eventually be a casualty of electronic media.

But the more immediate casualty is the quality and depth of human thought and communication. (One of the most vomit-inducing symptoms of this is the use of "friending" in the social media...and C-D, of course.) All the events and activities of human life are reduced to the level of instant electronic emotional gushings, followed by total forgetfulness as the next one comes out of the screen.

It has created the perfect climate for political manipulation....1984 wrapped in Brave New World.

However, there is a perverse fascination in watching it occur, like seeing a python coil around a cow and then envelop the still living wreckage in its huge jaws.

Books are the least of the show.

[crystalblue]

this is the future of media

File:MarsUniversityWongLibraryLitCollection.png - The Infosphere, the Futurama Wiki

[Bette]

I love books. I love the feel of a book. However, my daughter got me a Kindle for Christmas b/c both my children thought there were too many books in the house.

Yes, I now have 4-5 pages of books on the Kindle (Thanks, Amex) and I even download The Reader's Digest! It's convenient but just not the same.

I love a bookstore with nice cozy chairs, great coffee and where you just go and be with the books! Is that crazy weird?

[gizmo980]

To give you the librarians' perspective, we are embracing digital books as a complement to the written word. Real books will exist for many generations to come, if not for the simple fact that everything won't be available digitally - and many people still enjoy turning REAL pages from time to time. You also can't get an equal experience within some genres, for example children's picture books & graphic novels just aren't the same in digital form. So like most libraries, we are now carrying some e-books in addition to our physical holdings... unfortunately we're limited to those of public domain (i.e. Project Gutenberg), since we lack the funds to buy any subscriptions/services. But either way, it hasn't hurt our circulation one bit!

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Bette

I love a bookstore with nice cozy chairs, great coffee and where you just go and be with the books! Is that crazy weird?

Nope. My favorite place to read is in nature, preferably at the beach or in a quiet park (sitting on the grass)... and for some reason, I just can't picture doing that with a Kindle! Yeah yeah, they read fine outdoors, but somehow it doesn't compare to physically cradling a book. I also love the smell of books, the older the better - guess I chose the right profession, LOL.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by StarlaJane

The only thing that I like about the e-reader is that you can download books for free.

Yes.

It seems that books have increasingly diminished in workmanship: less art and gerenal effort put into the production of each one. But then, that's true for everything in our society, and the benefit is that everyone has access to books and reading rather than a chosen few. Books in the Middle Ages were pieces of art--and a true marvel of craftmanship--but extremely expensive and time-consuming to make and, consequently, available to only a select few.


Still, I appreciate the artwork et al. that goes into even an inexpensive paperback, and the ability to flip quickly to the back of the book to read historical footnotes (B&N classic editions rule!) as well as the feel of an actual book. You just don't get that with an e-reader.

YES.

I don't have an e-reader yet, but probably will at some point in the future (I'm in no hurry, I still don't have a cellphone!)

But something interesting happened at my book club the other night.
We read the book (Americans in Paris: The Greater Journey by David McCullough, enjoyed it very much). Some read it on e-reader and missed out on quite a bit: No pictures appear in the e-reader version.

[plain and simple]

I just don't like e-readers and e-books and never will. Why not? For every reason you can possibly imagine, reasonable or unreasonable. I'm not big on owning gadgets and gizmos as it is. Who needs them? I don't own a TV, stereo, radio, CDs, DVDs, microwave, cell phone, video games, etc., I like living simply. Ever try to take someone's gadgets away, or even comment on them? Scary results!

As a writer, I hate e-readers and e-books because whenever you turn something electronic and downloadable, it never fails to be pirated or stolen. Authors (excluding the famous), are GROSSLY under-paid for their work already, and rarely get to see their vision of making a living from their writing come true. Making cheap e-books doesn't help.

Much of the blame falls on publishing houses who cut costs by printing cheap, poor quality books. They become brittle and fall apart just sitting on a shelf. No pride in workmanship. No respect towards the author's work. Frankly, there's no thought towards the author at all. We're supposed to consider ourselves lucky that we were chosen to be published at all.

Ever since JK Rowling reserved her own electronic rights, publishers aren't making that mistake again. For them, it's all about eliminating expenses and making the most that they can for themselves. The authors don't get paid anymore because of these shortcuts and savings, just the publishers.

As a reader, I hate them even more. The world doesn't need any more gadgets. Really? You want me to buy a $100 - $200 imperfect gadget that damages your eyes so I can simply read a book? Part of the advertising gimmick is that you can carry hundreds of books around with you to read anytime. Who needs that? How many books can you read at one time? Even if I'm reading two books at once, it's no problem to bring both of them with me. Women carry more in their purses (and men in their briefcases, backpacks or "manbags") than that anyway.

Kindles, Nooks and iPads will never be the same as holding a book. And, until I'm Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, these devices will never interest me. Actually, in the 25th Century, I'd be the eccentric person who hoarded and hid all of their books when they were ordered to be destroyed.