LtStorm

Fuzzy Teenage Bunny

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So, I ran across a couple of essays by an author who is against the idea of e-books and wishes to see the format discarded in favor of continuing the use of DTF (Dead Tree Format) books. 

I've already formed an opinion on these essays, but I would like to see the opinions of others before sharing my own;

http://www.evergreenreview.com/120/electronic-book-burning.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-kaufman/google-books-and-kindles_b_380536.html

I do have one question; what, praytell, is an "Outlaw Poet"?

 

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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6,253 Posts
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I'm not reading those essays because I've already read a fair share of them but:

I am in favour of real, tangible books.
Why?

 1) When I'm on my PC, I'm not reading a book. The thought bores and aggravates me because I look at my computer for work and progress, or gaming. The reading I do is articles, short stories, etc. Not books.

 2) I like to read in places my computer cannot go. Like the bathroom (bath or toilet), the street (yes, I walk round with my nose in a book quite often), the park, the car, etc, etc, etc. Feeling like I have to sit in one spot to read, and one position, makes me not want to read. I want to sprawl on the couch or bed or where ever with the book over my head or leaning on a pillow. I wanna sit at the table with cereal half way to my mouth as I turn a page.

 3) If I need to read on the go I need to print it because I'm not rich enough to have some form of ebook reader, and I'd rather acquire eye strain from reading a book for 12 hours, than a comparable 7 on that thing. Printing means I need to format it, usually, to save paper and ink.

 4) I can get an eBook free in a second. Welcome to internet piracy - real books don't suffer that. Then again there's the stripped book issues....but you don't hear about that often.

 5) The point of a library and bookshelves if we go electronic?


The only real point there is 4. I will only ever publish one with the expectation of minimal funds, because I know that no matter what happens....it WILL be pirated.

But if we debate about audiobooks vs real books...I'm all for audio. Hell yes.

 

Timeline

Newborn Baby Bunny
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The question seems to come down to whether a book is only worth it's story or content, or whether the tangible factors come into play. I will always prefer a book, I enjoy the rustling of the pages and the feeling of accomplishment gained from reading a few hundred pages of details and emotion in perfect concert.

Although, this may be comparable to another phenomenon of a something going digital in a similar circumstance. Imagine you were born in the forties, you are over thirty when the first home computer is mass marketed in the seventies. You are most likely always going to prefer a typewriter or writing by hand, because what we become accustomed to is what we learn to love. It is not to alien a concept that what we are used to may be considered more relevant or useful than another method while in reality that notion is false, like hearing a song for the first time, then hearing it by a different artist, in my experience, I like the first version I heard infinitely more so than the second version.

It is possible that we are just old fashioned, and just need to get with the times. I realize that I will always prefer a book to an e-book, but it will not be our generation but the next that will decide that battle.

sorry, that probably made no sense.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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That's a good point Time! I always feel accomplished when I'm past the half way of a huge book :D.

Your argument made perfect sense, I see your POV. I reckon that has a good hunk of truth behind it. Nice take :).

 

JoJoAmI

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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148 Posts
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I can't embrace E-books.  I like to turn the page, smell the paper and ink, clutch to my chest a well written book.  I seriously doubt that printed books will ever go away entirely.  I hope!

 

Triss

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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134 Posts
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I don't believe that paper books will ever become obsolete. Holding a real book is an amazing experience and I can't imagine the world where the paper books don't exist. To be honest, I have an e-book reader but I rarely use it. I think that e-book readers are only needed to read books which have no real importance for us.

 

SifuPhil

LITTLE BUNNY FOO-FOO

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426 Posts
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I don't think that paper-based literature will disappear entirely either; rather, it's going to become a collectible. We might even witness a resurgence of the hand printing-press, as a few die-hards commit to printing limited-edition, astronomically-expensive hardcovers (along with the associated labors of the old-school bookbinders).

Other than that, we're going to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Bold New World whether we like it or not. The ones that spend their time arguing are going to be left behind as the mainstream population embraces every new technology.

You either adapt or you die - simple Darwinian fact. I love REAL books also, but as an author I'm not going to invest my precious remaining years in something that has no financial return. The number of millionaire ebook authors is going to increase in the coming years, along with a decline in the fortunes of the purely-paper ones.

It's about embracing a new paradigm, and with good reason: the royalties on my book suck. I could have done SO much better had I self-published, but at the time the tech wasn't available for distribution, always the big bugaboo in self-publishing up to this point. But now there's no excuse to stick with the over-bearing, ego-driven, massively-tradition-bound houses.

 

Adrian Malacoda

Growing Baby Bunny

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89 Posts
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I am not a fan of ebooks. When you buy a real book, the book is yours. You can keep it, sell it, give it to your library, give it to your child or friend, doodle in it, whatever. However, you cannot ever really buy an ebook. What you buy is a license to read it, but licenses aren't tangible things that you can give away or resell, and they give you very few of the rights that owning a book does. If you try to do any of these things with an ebook (the same kinds of things people already do with real books) then you are a "pirate"

Additionally, ebook sellers do reserve the right to remotely delete your legally purchased ebook for whatever reason. Amazon already did this with Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm in 2009. While Amazon made lip service to not ever doing this in the future, the capability remains (and not just by Amazon).

Imagine if something came out that a particularly powerful entity (a large corporation, interest group, or government) did not like... this actually happened in 2010 with Operation Dark Heart, which was deemed by the United States government as having sensitive information after it had already been published. The government bought out most of the first print run of this book and had it burned, then permitted the author to release a censored version. There are uncensored first edition copies of Operation Dark Heart floating around on sale for a couple hundred bucks, and there is probably a PDF of the uncensored version floating around as well (Wikileaks has it, reportedly). Now imagine if real books had already become a thing of the past and everything was exclusively released as an ebook. Now the government doesn't even have to burn anything! It can just pressure Amazon to remotely zap the book off of peoples' Kindles.

Ebooks also pose problems for libraries, since publishers are wary that libraries contribute to a loss of sales.

Richard Stallman (founder of the Free Software Foundation) wrote a short story in 1997 called The Right to Read where he accurately predicted the future of ebooks and copy protection schemes.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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Libraries wouldnt get late fees unless they rented out the readers....but books could be "borrowed" at any time.

 

SifuPhil

LITTLE BUNNY FOO-FOO

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426 Posts
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Stallman is a wackadoo and has been for his many years online. Among other things, he advocates not having children because the father never sees them anyway.   :blink:

As for copyrighting, he advocates donations as a way to pay authors for their work instead of enforcing copyrights.

Suuuure ...

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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So I have to ask....what will happen to childrens books? Will pop ups be replaced with animated books, or what?


When I was a kid we had a book we used to play on the computer. It was massively fun but it NEVER replaced a real book and we never thought of it as a "book" so much.



(Watch from about 2 minutes to about 4 minutes for the general idea)

 

pandandesign

Fluffy Baby Bunny

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129 Posts
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I don't think so. People still want to read physical books because it is easy on the eyes, plus people can smell the pages while they turn them. One thing though is that you own the physical copies of the books, whereas you don't own the e-books.

 

SifuPhil

LITTLE BUNNY FOO-FOO

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426 Posts
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I don't think so. People still want to read physical books because it is easy on the eyes, plus people can smell the pages while they turn them. One thing though is that you own the physical copies of the books, whereas you don't own the e-books.

On the other hand, readers with poor vision can increase font sizes to make reading easier, something you can accomplish only with a separate large-print edition of a physical book.

I understand what you're saying about "not owning" an ebook: most of the formats are licensed, not sold outright, so legally you cannot copy or lend them. But the term "ebook" also includes simple text and PDF files that can easily be copied, stored and distributed on various media as long as the author allows full-use rights.

It's only the giants of the electronic publishing industry that want to control the world, not the independent authors.

 

thetravellingbling

Growing Baby Bunny

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I personally prefer printed books, especially the smell of old ones. I find it hard to read the e-book versions, though, I do admit, I have a large collection of e-books. But I had probably read about 10% of them, since my eyes tire easily when I stare at the screen for so long.

There's something magical for me when I'm reading a printed book. Something to do with me being able to imagine more, and feel more.

Plus, I really like to collect bookmarks, so, books will always be my first choice.

 

EllyMarks

Fluffy Toddler Bunny

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260 Posts
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I read books for the information and content more than the experience, so I would have no problem with e-books. I'd still get paper books, though.

That's really all I can say. I'd buy both. Why not?

I mean, yes, there are all sorts of implications for the culture and economy, but I think taking a stand on either side right now is a little premature...I haven't seen how the cards fall, so to speak.

In a parallel example, I've heard that cinemas will suffer and shut down because nobody watches movies in theaters anymore, between DVD sales and maybe even being able to buy downloads of those movies online so soon or even during the theatrical release. But I still go to theaters to watch movies with my friends and family. Movies are still getting made, and their success is still measured by box office sales.

I doubt the dead tree formats are going away any time soon.

 

bsthebenster

Growing Baby Bunny

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I don't think we'll see a day when books become obsolete. When computers first came out everyone was saying the same thing about books, but it never happened. Besides, who wants to stare at a screen all day? It's not very relaxing if you ask me.

Books definitely have something that ebooks don't in that they aren't electronic. I'm sure they'll be sticking around for awhile.

 

happyflowerlady

Fuzzy Kid Bunny

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311 Posts
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I think that both e-books and print books have their benefits and their drawbacks. I have a Kindle e-reader, and for reading a book that is like a paperback novel; the e-reader is perfect. It is lightweight, fits easily in any purse, and can be used anywhere (unlike Bunny's computer); so it is a perfect way to have recreational reading, in my opinion.
However, when it comes to the kind of a book that I want to keep for referencing something, say, like a nutrition manual, or just an informative book on some topic that i am interested in; then having an actual copy of the book is great.
Amazon has a gazillion e-books in the Kindle Store, and many of them are free. some books are only free for maybe a day, but others seem to be free a lot longer. I can download the books to my kindle, my iPad, my iPhone, and even to my laptop, so I can read them any way that I want to.
Some of the e-book tutorials even have how-to videos in the book; which is a plus that you can't get with a regular print book.

I hope that print books never stop existing; but some other things that we thought would always be there have become obsolete, and are now almost non-existent. Cameras with actual film comes to mind. I am sure they still have them, but most of the cameras we see nowdays are digital ones. 

 

writeaway07

Growing Baby Bunny

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Ebooks are better because it causes less clutter. There is no need for old school books anymore.

 

tasha

Growing Baby Bunny

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I still love a good paper back novel to take with on a holiday and flip the pages with a bookmark inside! Ebooks have not been my cup of tea but it is the sign of the times and sadly I think that books will become obsolete. Schools are now making parents by the computer edition of the textbooks and are not going to be supplying paper books anymore.... I guess its good for the environment!

 

CyberGal

Newborn Baby Bunny

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I think ebooks have made things a lot easier. I never really liked to spend a lot of money on a book that you're only going to read once. I understand that authors should get paid for their work as I'm a writer myself but sometimes I think they get paid way too much. For this reason, I'd oftentimes use the library but then I'd find myself forgetting to take the books back and racking up fines. The short story here is that with ebooks I've been able to do a lot more reading and enjoy that about them.

 

CpXi7z1

Newborn Baby Bunny

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Forever I will favor books. I enjoy turning pages, feeling the book in my hands, smelling it. I can't picture myself lost in stories on an e-book. E-books aren't true to my nature. Opening a book opens a new world, a world far greater than the physical world I'm trapped in when I close a book.

 

elbitjusticiero

Growing Baby Bunny

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82 Posts
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I had to sell or give out almost all of my 1000-ish books when I moved to the US. I couldn't get into the habit of reading ebooks before that. Now I'm slowly getting used to them, because I have to... ;) My physical library consists of 8/9 books now. Most of them were given to me, and I bought to at a Goodwill store. My smartphone already has like 30 ebooks I freely downloaded from different places. So, I guess I'm reading ebooks now. :)

 

oraclemay

Growing Baby Bunny

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I have to agree that both book forms have their benefits and drawbacks. I too love the feel of the paperback and enjoy curling up with one. However, I have several ebooks on my phone at any given time, which l I can read at my convenience. I must agree that ebooks have made life a lot easier, I no longer have to go to the library or carry around a bulky bag.

I do not believe that either form will completely disappear, but paperbacks may become antiques sometime in the future.

 

Bunny

Marketing Team

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But if the only appeal of books is the nostalgia....then the coming generations won't value them at all.

Also...if everything is digitalised....how would we spread knowledge in an apocalypse? lol

 

Djeinus

Community Team

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228 Posts
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But if the only appeal of books is the nostalgia....then the coming generations won't value them at all.

Also...if everything is digitalised....how would we spread knowledge in an apocalypse? lol
That would make a good ebook.

 

tasha

Growing Baby Bunny

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There is nothing like the smell of a good paper back novel but the only problem with these is keeping them on a shelf that becomes overpopulated. I like to go back and read a book that I haven't read in ages but these days it is best to have them all on electronics to keep your shelves occupied for something else.

 



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Nameless (LtStorm) is a Fan Fictionist who has made 577 posts since joining Creative Burrow on 02:21pm Sat, May 9, 2009. LtStorm was invited by no one.

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