4 ms·

I used to think books were special, too. Having thousands of books is expensive: they are literally expensive, you buy or build shelves for them, they take up

I used to think books were special, too. Having thousands of books is expensive: they are literally expensive, you buy or build shelves for them, they take up a lot of space, they're extremely painful to move, you have to organize them, and you keep mental space for them -- I own this book, I don't own that one -- otherwise, you might as well not have them. You don't use them constantly. Moreover, you can get an instant electronic copy or a physical copy in minutes, or at most a day (Amazon prime). Also, you confuse quality (good) and fragility. Most of the stuff I have is very high quality, which is why I use it every day and I don't have to worry about it falling apart.

jisaacstone 14y ago
Exactly. Unless you make notes (most) books are instantly replaceable. I have one shelf of my absolute favourite books & dvds (so I can loan them out). Plus a kindle for everything else. The reality is knowledge is even cheaper than food these days, and books are backbreaking whenever you move. A rational cost/benefit analysis will tell you to rid yourself of books before clothes. A favourite shirt is nearly irreplaceable, a favourite book can be replaced in a day.
- dasil003 14y ago
  Of course one big problem with going digital for books today is Amazon can erase your entire library quicker than a dandelion seed in a forest fire.
dools 14y ago
Yeah books are like kryptonite to a frequent mover. I got rid of all my books about 5 years ago except for 5 engineering and maths textbooks that I would like to have around if I ever have to try and rebuild society after the apocalypse :)
tjic 14y ago
> I used to think books were special, too. Having thousands of books is expensive: I almost added books as a third category above. A year ago I had 10,000 books. Now I have 5,000. It'd be nice to cut that in half every year for a few years. There's no reason I can't get it down to 500 or 1,000 WITH EASE.
GuiA 14y ago
> Moreover, you can get a physical copy in minutes, or at most a day (Amazon prime). Do that a few times a month, and after a few years you end up with full bookshelves :)
- cottonseed 14y ago
  Only if you hoard them. Once you're done, pass them on to someone else who can use them (friend, resell on amazon, used book store, donate).
  - GuiA 14y ago
    >Once you're done That's the thing- I own many, many books (CLRS, Tufte's work, Graphics Programming Black Book, and dozens of others in the same vein) that I'm never really "done" with because I refer to them at least several times a year. As a researcher/engineer/professional, they're as valuable to me as some of other of my tools (computer, arduino, breadboard, etc.). I suspect that that's what Paul implies in his essay, and that he refers to such books rather than "50 shades of grey". (but sure, when it comes to novels or such books, yeah you can just give them away after you've read them).
  - ableal 14y ago
    > Once you're done You can also rip out and burn each page as you go along, as a Spanish writer had his protagonist do habitually. I shuddered the first time I came across that, but it may have its advantages ... (Detective Pepe Carvalho in books by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Only book-reading detective that comes to mind besides Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. Also cooks, if memory serves.)
philwelch 14y ago
If it wasn't for the shitty DRM situation, books would be the easiest thing to own digitally instead of physically.
- tedunangst 14y ago
  Honestly, if a book is good enough that you'll want to read it again after some indeterminate DRM expired/download limit exceeded threshold, it's probably good enough to pay for twice. I bought Kindle versions of all my favorite paperbacks, even though the paperbacks were sitting about ten feet away. It wasn't a hard decision to make.
grecy 14y ago
> you can get an instant electronic copy or a physical copy in minutes, or at most a day (Amazon prime). Even better: Request a copy from the local library, and you'll get it for free, and be rid of it when you're done.

jisaacstone 14y ago

Exactly. Unless you make notes (most) books are instantly replaceable. I have one shelf of my absolute favourite books & dvds (so I can loan them out). Plus a kindle for everything else. The reality is knowledge is even cheaper than food these days, and books are backbreaking whenever you move. A rational cost/benefit analysis will tell you to rid yourself of books before clothes. A favourite shirt is nearly irreplaceable, a favourite book can be replaced in a day.

dasil003 14y ago
Of course one big problem with going digital for books today is Amazon can erase your entire library quicker than a dandelion seed in a forest fire.

dools 14y ago

Yeah books are like kryptonite to a frequent mover. I got rid of all my books about 5 years ago except for 5 engineering and maths textbooks that I would like to have around if I ever have to try and rebuild society after the apocalypse :)

tjic 14y ago

> I used to think books were special, too. Having thousands of books is expensive: I almost added books as a third category above. A year ago I had 10,000 books. Now I have 5,000. It'd be nice to cut that in half every year for a few years. There's no reason I can't get it down to 500 or 1,000 WITH EASE.

GuiA 14y ago

> Moreover, you can get a physical copy in minutes, or at most a day (Amazon prime). Do that a few times a month, and after a few years you end up with full bookshelves :)

cottonseed 14y ago
Only if you hoard them. Once you're done, pass them on to someone else who can use them (friend, resell on amazon, used book store, donate).
- GuiA 14y ago
  >Once you're done That's the thing- I own many, many books (CLRS, Tufte's work, Graphics Programming Black Book, and dozens of others in the same vein) that I'm never really "done" with because I refer to them at least several times a year. As a researcher/engineer/professional, they're as valuable to me as some of other of my tools (computer, arduino, breadboard, etc.). I suspect that that's what Paul implies in his essay, and that he refers to such books rather than "50 shades of grey". (but sure, when it comes to novels or such books, yeah you can just give them away after you've read them).
- ableal 14y ago
  > Once you're done You can also rip out and burn each page as you go along, as a Spanish writer had his protagonist do habitually. I shuddered the first time I came across that, but it may have its advantages ... (Detective Pepe Carvalho in books by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Only book-reading detective that comes to mind besides Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. Also cooks, if memory serves.)

philwelch 14y ago

If it wasn't for the shitty DRM situation, books would be the easiest thing to own digitally instead of physically.

tedunangst 14y ago
Honestly, if a book is good enough that you'll want to read it again after some indeterminate DRM expired/download limit exceeded threshold, it's probably good enough to pay for twice. I bought Kindle versions of all my favorite paperbacks, even though the paperbacks were sitting about ten feet away. It wasn't a hard decision to make.

grecy 14y ago

> you can get an instant electronic copy or a physical copy in minutes, or at most a day (Amazon prime). Even better: Request a copy from the local library, and you'll get it for free, and be rid of it when you're done.