4 ms·

The Book vs. The Kindle

14 points by kqr2 17y ago

sound2man 17y ago
As a book collector, I love print editions of books, but digital books are inevitably going to become more prevelent. And while I don't think paper books will be going away any time soon, ebooks will take their toll on bookstores. Just as digital music (arguably) has not hurt record sales, it has (again arguably) had its toll on bricks and mortar music stores. It is a way of life, and love it or hate it, it is inevitable.
- run4yourlives 17y ago
  There is a big difference between books and music/video. With books, it is not only the content but the medium that is part of the experience. A paperback is lightweight, cheap, durable and independent of other resources. Most importantly, a book as an experience is a long, drawn out affair. Books take hours to enjoy, so it's of little importance how many I can carry at a time. Music/movies have the opposite effect ~ they are shorter durations of entertainment, so the more I can carry, the more I can enjoy the experience. The major advantage of digital music is that I can carry my whole library with me in my pocket. Even if I could do this with my bookcase, there is little reason for me to do so. This defeats one of the major advantages of kindle. I don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't think the death of the book will happen any time in our lifetime, or our children's lifetime to be honest.
  - gcheong 17y ago
    It depends on how you read. I am often reading several books at any one time (obviously not simultaneously) so having the ability to read one book for a while and then effortlessly switch to another at any time/location is a big plus for me. Having had the kindle dx for a while now, I find it pretty much equivalent to reading a paper book and I don't miss the paper versions at all.
    - jfornear 17y ago
      I do the same. I read easier books that don't require in-depth understanding on the iPhone Kindle app, and I go ahead and buy books that I know I'm going to have to look back to again and again.
- frossie 17y ago
  As a book collector, I love print editions of books, I hear you, but that doesn't apply to all the books I own. If I could swap at no cost to me all my physical books with idealised e-books (say on a 100% faithful reproduction DRM-free e-reader), I would probably only keep physical copies of 10% of my hoard.
conorgil145 17y ago
I think that the Kindle would be much more successful if it allowed many more formats than just the Amazon approved books (in Topaz format i think). If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework assignments and free e-books found online etc etc I would be much more interested in buying a kindle. Also, I never actually read the Terms & Agreements for services, but for the kindle it apparently does matter because Amazon is remotely deleting books that people have legitimately purchased. There is another post on HN with an article about it. If Amazon could delete things on my Kindle I would never get one and stick to the good old paper versions.
- andreyf 17y ago
  If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework assignments New kindle supports pdf (and anything you can translate into pdf). Amazon is remotely deleting books that people have legitimately purchased If you defined "legitimately" as "gave money for", yes. Legally, no. Just because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it so.
  - conorgil145 17y ago
    Just because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it so. That is true. However, that is again Amazon's fault because they sold him the book without having the rights to do so. Instead of admitting their mistake and using excellent customer service to fix the problem they just deleted the book without any thought for the customer. They could have sent him a paper copy without him even asking, notified him before the deletion so he could save his notes and/or dealt with the publisher directly and obtained the rights to avoid the whole situation.
- nileshk 17y ago
  This is what I want: a printer driver that outputs directly to an e-book reader.
andreyf 17y ago
I wonder if the authors consider it thinkable that even given the negatives (which exist), I'm (sometimes) willing to give up some rights for the convenience of starting to read a book immediately and having it always available?

14 points by kqr2 17y ago

As a book collector, I love print editions of books, but digital books are inevitably going to become more prevelent. And while I don't think paper books will be going away any time soon, ebooks will take their toll on bookstores. Just as digital music (arguably) has not hurt record sales, it has (again arguably) had its toll on bricks and mortar music stores. It is a way of life, and love it or hate it, it is inevitable.

run4yourlives 17y ago
There is a big difference between books and music/video. With books, it is not only the content but the medium that is part of the experience. A paperback is lightweight, cheap, durable and independent of other resources. Most importantly, a book as an experience is a long, drawn out affair. Books take hours to enjoy, so it's of little importance how many I can carry at a time. Music/movies have the opposite effect ~ they are shorter durations of entertainment, so the more I can carry, the more I can enjoy the experience. The major advantage of digital music is that I can carry my whole library with me in my pocket. Even if I could do this with my bookcase, there is little reason for me to do so. This defeats one of the major advantages of kindle. I don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't think the death of the book will happen any time in our lifetime, or our children's lifetime to be honest.
- gcheong 17y ago
  It depends on how you read. I am often reading several books at any one time (obviously not simultaneously) so having the ability to read one book for a while and then effortlessly switch to another at any time/location is a big plus for me. Having had the kindle dx for a while now, I find it pretty much equivalent to reading a paper book and I don't miss the paper versions at all.
  - jfornear 17y ago
    I do the same. I read easier books that don't require in-depth understanding on the iPhone Kindle app, and I go ahead and buy books that I know I'm going to have to look back to again and again.
frossie 17y ago
As a book collector, I love print editions of books, I hear you, but that doesn't apply to all the books I own. If I could swap at no cost to me all my physical books with idealised e-books (say on a 100% faithful reproduction DRM-free e-reader), I would probably only keep physical copies of 10% of my hoard.

conorgil145 17y ago

I think that the Kindle would be much more successful if it allowed many more formats than just the Amazon approved books (in Topaz format i think). If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework assignments and free e-books found online etc etc I would be much more interested in buying a kindle. Also, I never actually read the Terms & Agreements for services, but for the kindle it apparently does matter because Amazon is remotely deleting books that people have legitimately purchased. There is another post on HN with an article about it. If Amazon could delete things on my Kindle I would never get one and stick to the good old paper versions.

andreyf 17y ago
If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework assignments New kindle supports pdf (and anything you can translate into pdf). Amazon is remotely deleting books that people have legitimately purchased If you defined "legitimately" as "gave money for", yes. Legally, no. Just because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it so.
- conorgil145 17y ago
  Just because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it so. That is true. However, that is again Amazon's fault because they sold him the book without having the rights to do so. Instead of admitting their mistake and using excellent customer service to fix the problem they just deleted the book without any thought for the customer. They could have sent him a paper copy without him even asking, notified him before the deletion so he could save his notes and/or dealt with the publisher directly and obtained the rights to avoid the whole situation.
nileshk 17y ago
This is what I want: a printer driver that outputs directly to an e-book reader.

andreyf 17y ago

I wonder if the authors consider it thinkable that even given the negatives (which exist), I'm (sometimes) willing to give up some rights for the convenience of starting to read a book immediately and having it always available?