3 ms·

I prefer the convenience of ebook readers. But strangely the advent of e-readers, has, to my eyes increased the value of physical books, as a physical collectib

I prefer the convenience of ebook readers. But strangely the advent of e-readers, has, to my eyes increased the value of physical books, as a physical collectible items. So even though I do most of my reading on the eReader, I buy physical books, whenever I see a beautifully made one or one which is noteworthy any manner, and it gives me the same feeling that collectors of any physical artefact gets. Moreover physical books may become a rare prized commodity in the future, when only the most popular of works may continue to get physical prints, so for many books the time in which they can still be got as physical copies might be passing soon. In a related matter, ebooks have made the concept of works going out-of-print largely obsolete.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Books as collectibles is an interesting development; you see the same happening in the music industry, where especially vinyl is making a comeback. I've bought a number of vinyl albums, despite not having a vinyl player. It's music that I pirated 10-15 odd years ago; I still wouldn't buy CDs (lack of CD players, inconvenient compared to digital), but buying vinyl as a collectible is definitely a thing. Also because they're a lot more tangible, have a nice exploded view of album art, and often have some neat collectable features like multiple disks, fancy colors, etc.
cr0sh 8y ago
> In a related matter, ebooks have made the concept of works going out-of-print largely obsolete. I'd argue the opposite: With DRM and other reasons/issues - it's made the possibility of a book going out of print - forever and permanently - a very real and possible thing. For instance, you could purchase an ebook with DRM from the publisher and/or author where - should the author or publisher change their mind - they could pull the "publishing" of it (no longer available to purchase), and revoke the license of the work from all people who purchased it, and effectively remove it from your collection! Imagine if you owned a physical book and then one day - p00f - it disappears off your shelf! Off of everyone's shelf - plus all library shelves! That could easily happen with an ebook; it could never happen with a physical book. With a physical book, while it might disappear from publication and sale, it could still be purchased secondhand, and possibly sometime in the future scanned or otherwise re-published (see the number of out-of-copyright and out-of-print books on archive.org and Project Gutenberg). With an ebook, this could be made impossible. We already see this with music - I know I've had tracks on spotify "disappear" off of playlists; I'm sure entire albums or playlists could also "disappear". I haven't seen it yet, but I am certain it is possible. Or what about the efforts of Nintendo which has largely made it virtually impossible to get ROM images of "out of print" video games for emulation or backup purposes? Not only of Nintendo titles, but other consoles as well... I'm not saying that Nintendo doesn't have the right to do this, but rather to make the point that if they can do it - then so can ebook publishers, effectively making books disappear, never to be found again. Book burning couldn't get any easier than with digital books.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

Books as collectibles is an interesting development; you see the same happening in the music industry, where especially vinyl is making a comeback. I've bought a number of vinyl albums, despite not having a vinyl player. It's music that I pirated 10-15 odd years ago; I still wouldn't buy CDs (lack of CD players, inconvenient compared to digital), but buying vinyl as a collectible is definitely a thing. Also because they're a lot more tangible, have a nice exploded view of album art, and often have some neat collectable features like multiple disks, fancy colors, etc.

cr0sh 8y ago

> In a related matter, ebooks have made the concept of works going out-of-print largely obsolete. I'd argue the opposite: With DRM and other reasons/issues - it's made the possibility of a book going out of print - forever and permanently - a very real and possible thing. For instance, you could purchase an ebook with DRM from the publisher and/or author where - should the author or publisher change their mind - they could pull the "publishing" of it (no longer available to purchase), and revoke the license of the work from all people who purchased it, and effectively remove it from your collection! Imagine if you owned a physical book and then one day - p00f - it disappears off your shelf! Off of everyone's shelf - plus all library shelves! That could easily happen with an ebook; it could never happen with a physical book. With a physical book, while it might disappear from publication and sale, it could still be purchased secondhand, and possibly sometime in the future scanned or otherwise re-published (see the number of out-of-copyright and out-of-print books on archive.org and Project Gutenberg). With an ebook, this could be made impossible. We already see this with music - I know I've had tracks on spotify "disappear" off of playlists; I'm sure entire albums or playlists could also "disappear". I haven't seen it yet, but I am certain it is possible. Or what about the efforts of Nintendo which has largely made it virtually impossible to get ROM images of "out of print" video games for emulation or backup purposes? Not only of Nintendo titles, but other consoles as well... I'm not saying that Nintendo doesn't have the right to do this, but rather to make the point that if they can do it - then so can ebook publishers, effectively making books disappear, never to be found again. Book burning couldn't get any easier than with digital books.