4 ms·

Ebooks Are an Abomination

8 points by elorant 5y ago

thomascgalvin 5y ago
My eReader hits, for me, the exact perfect balance between a computer (or phone) and a physical book. > Perhaps you like being able to carry a never-ending stack of books with you wherever you go, without having to actually lug them around. This, and the ease with which I can grab a new book when I finish my current book, are the biggest selling points for an eReader. I read a lot of long works, some more than a thousand pages long, and having that in a Kindle's form factor is amazing. But, just as importantly, my eReader isn't a tablet, phone, or computer. I'm not distracted by alerts and notifications. I'm not tempted to jump on Reddit or browse headlines. My eReader is instant, portable, and distraction-free; it's basically the perfect reading environment. I still collect physical hard covers of the books I want to collect, but for the books I'm just reading for entertainment? eReader all the way.
rsj_hn 5y ago
Ebooks allow me to make the font the size that's comfortable for my eyes without needing to purchase large print editions and in a way that adjusts to how tired my eyes are and the ambient light conditions. For the blind, they can use text-to-speech software without needing to purchase special audiobook editions. You can use dark mode if you like. You can do text searches to go back and re-read a portion of the book even if you haven't memorized the page number it was on. And you can carry your library in your backpack when you travel. Cut and paste text into notekeeping tools. Also, the books don't become moldy with age. Yes, I know the smell of musty books evokes nostalgia but the lung diseases that those working with old books are subject to are very real. http://www.library-dust.com/dust.htm http://www.library-dust.com/dust.htm What I think bothers a lot of people is that ebooks separate out the informational content in books from books as a fetish object for collectors. But properly speaking, collectors rarely read their books and in many cases this would damage the books as uncut books are prized. In his celebrated essay, "Unpacking My Library" (http://www.ruthieosterman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/walterbenjaminunpacking.pdf http://www.ruthieosterman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/wal...), Walter Benjamin writes: "And the non-reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? This is news to me, you may say. It is not news at all. Experts will bear me out when I say that it is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer that Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question 'And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?' 'Not one tenth of them. I don't suppose you use your Sevres china every day?' Incidentally, I have put the right of such an attitude to the test. For years, at least the first third of its existence, my library consisted of only two or three shelves, which increased only by inches each year. This was its militant age, when no book was allowed to enter without the certification that I had never read it." So there is a tension between the book as fetish object and the book as information, and the natural separation of the book into information and fetish object offends only those who never understood what books are or the role they play in society. This group, predictably, includes Ian Bogost.
Zababa 5y ago
> Putting all of this back together: Ebook devices are extremely compatible with an idea of bookiness that values holding and carrying a potentially large number of books at once; that prefers direct flow from start to finish over random access; that reads for the meaning and force of the words as text first, if not primarily; and that isn’t concerned with the use of books as stores of reader-added information or as memory palaces. That's a fair assessment, although I don't really understand why "that reads for the meaning and force of the words as text first, if not primarily", isn't that the most important point of books? > I guess I have my answer, then: I hate ebooks because I don’t read much genre fiction, but I read a lot of scholarly and trade nonfiction. I also buy a lot of books on art, architecture, and design, whose subjects work best—or feel most bookish—when they are large-format, open-spread, and richly illustrated. As a somewhat haughty book person, I also can’t quite wrap my spleen around every book looking and feeling the same, like they do on an ebook reader. For me, bookiness partly entails the uniqueness of each volume—its cover, shape, typography, and layout. That's the part I don't understand. Do you really need to hate something because it doesn't fit with your usage/vision of something? Hate is a strong word. I can't imagine feeling hate because someone see and use books differently from me.
- EricE 5y ago
  I dunno - I find the large format thing better on ebooks since my 12" iPad Pro is bigger than most large format books too. Guess it depends on the device you are using as your reader. For that matter my 31" screen on my computer is bigger than most wide format books too - by quite a bit.
EricE 5y ago
When I remember, I take care of the biggest problem with ebooks - DRM - via Calibre. I have most of my Kindle ebooks backed up just in case someone decides that it's time to pull them back. I'm not as ebook crazy as I once was; I'm back to buying physical books quite a bit again. Mainly because I have an awesome used bookstore near me and I can find stuff for a couple of bucks. And if I'm not likely to ever read it again I'll just take it back to them, get some store credit and start the next round.
browningstreet 5y ago
Even with up to date prescriptions, I find I can’t really read most print magazines and books anymore. My eyes can’t take it. I’ve tried everything, and have just given up — the type is too small and the contrast too low. I can read on screens and my kindle. I’m only middle aged, but reading has become challenging.
bsd44 5y ago
Kindle ruined reading for me. When I hold a paper book in my hands, I hold one book. When I hold a Kindle, I hold hundreds of them. Having that in mind, it's hard to concentrate on one book and finish reading it as I keep thinking about tens and hundreds of other books I have on the device that are just a few touches away. Not only that, there is a possibility of a virtually endless stream of new books that are just a few clicks away. So I became a collector. I kept buying them and never reading them. They were just so cheap and instantly available, I would read them one day. Then there's highlighting, annotations, social networking through Goodreads... it felt like everything but reading. So one day I got annoyed at myself, factory reset my Kindle and put it away. I went back to reading paper books. I make sure I purchase them from Bookshop and avoid Amazon at all cost. It's slightly more expensive, I have to wait a few days to receive a book but it's well worth it. I know that a lot of people like e-readers, I used to be one of them, so I wouldn't want to kill them but I hope they don't kill printed books. Also you know what else is an abomination? Kindle Unlimited. That's quite literally a pile of utter rubbish in written form.
- hammyhavoc 5y ago
  Different tools for different tasks, different strokes for different folks. E-readers are frankly awesome for documentation, I will never go back to paper for that. Your favourite novel? Give me a clothbound hardback. The news? E-ink.
jbotz 5y ago
One more point for e-ink readers... they are rather more comfortable to read outdoors on a sunny day (which I do a lot) than paper. White paper reflects sunlight all too well, to the point of being painful or even damaging to the eyes. A typical e-ink screen not so much.

8 points by elorant 5y ago

My eReader hits, for me, the exact perfect balance between a computer (or phone) and a physical book. > Perhaps you like being able to carry a never-ending stack of books with you wherever you go, without having to actually lug them around. This, and the ease with which I can grab a new book when I finish my current book, are the biggest selling points for an eReader. I read a lot of long works, some more than a thousand pages long, and having that in a Kindle's form factor is amazing. But, just as importantly, my eReader isn't a tablet, phone, or computer. I'm not distracted by alerts and notifications. I'm not tempted to jump on Reddit or browse headlines. My eReader is instant, portable, and distraction-free; it's basically the perfect reading environment. I still collect physical hard covers of the books I want to collect, but for the books I'm just reading for entertainment? eReader all the way.

rsj_hn 5y ago

Ebooks allow me to make the font the size that's comfortable for my eyes without needing to purchase large print editions and in a way that adjusts to how tired my eyes are and the ambient light conditions. For the blind, they can use text-to-speech software without needing to purchase special audiobook editions. You can use dark mode if you like. You can do text searches to go back and re-read a portion of the book even if you haven't memorized the page number it was on. And you can carry your library in your backpack when you travel. Cut and paste text into notekeeping tools. Also, the books don't become moldy with age. Yes, I know the smell of musty books evokes nostalgia but the lung diseases that those working with old books are subject to are very real. http://www.library-dust.com/dust.htm http://www.library-dust.com/dust.htm What I think bothers a lot of people is that ebooks separate out the informational content in books from books as a fetish object for collectors. But properly speaking, collectors rarely read their books and in many cases this would damage the books as uncut books are prized. In his celebrated essay, "Unpacking My Library" (http://www.ruthieosterman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/walterbenjaminunpacking.pdf http://www.ruthieosterman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/wal...), Walter Benjamin writes: "And the non-reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? This is news to me, you may say. It is not news at all. Experts will bear me out when I say that it is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer that Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question 'And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?' 'Not one tenth of them. I don't suppose you use your Sevres china every day?' Incidentally, I have put the right of such an attitude to the test. For years, at least the first third of its existence, my library consisted of only two or three shelves, which increased only by inches each year. This was its militant age, when no book was allowed to enter without the certification that I had never read it." So there is a tension between the book as fetish object and the book as information, and the natural separation of the book into information and fetish object offends only those who never understood what books are or the role they play in society. This group, predictably, includes Ian Bogost.

Zababa 5y ago

> Putting all of this back together: Ebook devices are extremely compatible with an idea of bookiness that values holding and carrying a potentially large number of books at once; that prefers direct flow from start to finish over random access; that reads for the meaning and force of the words as text first, if not primarily; and that isn’t concerned with the use of books as stores of reader-added information or as memory palaces. That's a fair assessment, although I don't really understand why "that reads for the meaning and force of the words as text first, if not primarily", isn't that the most important point of books? > I guess I have my answer, then: I hate ebooks because I don’t read much genre fiction, but I read a lot of scholarly and trade nonfiction. I also buy a lot of books on art, architecture, and design, whose subjects work best—or feel most bookish—when they are large-format, open-spread, and richly illustrated. As a somewhat haughty book person, I also can’t quite wrap my spleen around every book looking and feeling the same, like they do on an ebook reader. For me, bookiness partly entails the uniqueness of each volume—its cover, shape, typography, and layout. That's the part I don't understand. Do you really need to hate something because it doesn't fit with your usage/vision of something? Hate is a strong word. I can't imagine feeling hate because someone see and use books differently from me.

EricE 5y ago
I dunno - I find the large format thing better on ebooks since my 12" iPad Pro is bigger than most large format books too. Guess it depends on the device you are using as your reader. For that matter my 31" screen on my computer is bigger than most wide format books too - by quite a bit.

EricE 5y ago

When I remember, I take care of the biggest problem with ebooks - DRM - via Calibre. I have most of my Kindle ebooks backed up just in case someone decides that it's time to pull them back. I'm not as ebook crazy as I once was; I'm back to buying physical books quite a bit again. Mainly because I have an awesome used bookstore near me and I can find stuff for a couple of bucks. And if I'm not likely to ever read it again I'll just take it back to them, get some store credit and start the next round.

browningstreet 5y ago

Even with up to date prescriptions, I find I can’t really read most print magazines and books anymore. My eyes can’t take it. I’ve tried everything, and have just given up — the type is too small and the contrast too low. I can read on screens and my kindle. I’m only middle aged, but reading has become challenging.

bsd44 5y ago

Kindle ruined reading for me. When I hold a paper book in my hands, I hold one book. When I hold a Kindle, I hold hundreds of them. Having that in mind, it's hard to concentrate on one book and finish reading it as I keep thinking about tens and hundreds of other books I have on the device that are just a few touches away. Not only that, there is a possibility of a virtually endless stream of new books that are just a few clicks away. So I became a collector. I kept buying them and never reading them. They were just so cheap and instantly available, I would read them one day. Then there's highlighting, annotations, social networking through Goodreads... it felt like everything but reading. So one day I got annoyed at myself, factory reset my Kindle and put it away. I went back to reading paper books. I make sure I purchase them from Bookshop and avoid Amazon at all cost. It's slightly more expensive, I have to wait a few days to receive a book but it's well worth it. I know that a lot of people like e-readers, I used to be one of them, so I wouldn't want to kill them but I hope they don't kill printed books. Also you know what else is an abomination? Kindle Unlimited. That's quite literally a pile of utter rubbish in written form.

hammyhavoc 5y ago
Different tools for different tasks, different strokes for different folks. E-readers are frankly awesome for documentation, I will never go back to paper for that. Your favourite novel? Give me a clothbound hardback. The news? E-ink.

jbotz 5y ago

One more point for e-ink readers... they are rather more comfortable to read outdoors on a sunny day (which I do a lot) than paper. White paper reflects sunlight all too well, to the point of being painful or even damaging to the eyes. A typical e-ink screen not so much.