This just really makes me sad. Even though I use an e-reader a lot these days, I don't really like the notion that we are relegating all of our knowledge to 101010101010101 formats.
SAN ANTONIO — Texas has seen the future of the public library, and it looks a lot like an Apple Store: Rows of glossy iMacs beckon. iPads mounted on a tangerine-colored bar invite readers. And hundreds of other tablets stand ready for checkout to anyone with a borrowing card.
http://nypost.com/2014/01/04/introducing-the-first-bookless-public-library/
It's the way of the future. Give it a few more generations and physical books will be an oddity and curiosity, collected like comic books and shown off on shelves along with collections of "action figures."
You'll have to rip my ink and paper books from my cold dead hands.
Oh, I wholeheartedly agree - don't get me wrong. There's something about a nice big library of well-organized books (as long as they're in alphabetical order within size ranges with the largest to the left and higher and smallest to the right and lower).
When you have a ton of books on an e-device, a lot of them disappear into the deepest reaches of the list and I forget I have them. Whereas with a library of actual books, they're all displayed there to see. I much prefer that.
Quote from: Bison on January 06, 2014, 08:24:51 AM
This just really makes me sad. Even though I use an e-reader a lot these days, I don't really like the notion that we are relegating all of our knowledge to 101010101010101 formats.
I was dismayed to read that article as well. Abandoning physical books (seemingly) so readily doesn't strike me as the best course of action.
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2014, 08:49:42 AM
You'll have to rip my ink and paper books from my cold dead hands.
A massive +1 to that statement!
Cat you described how I arrange my library to a tee. It's like you're IN MY MIND...
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2014, 12:02:55 PM
Cat you described how I arrange my library to a tee. It's like you're IN MY MIND...
surely by genre and author and then by size
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 06, 2014, 12:12:24 PM
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2014, 12:02:55 PM
Cat you described how I arrange my library to a tee. It's like you're IN MY MIND...
surely by genre and author and then by size
Mine is sorted by historic period (history books making up the vast majority of my collection).
WWII is sorted by theater - ETO, PTO, North Africa, Naval. Then I have a medieval section, ancient history, Asian history, special operations, espionage, et al. I also have a reference section for English and foreign languages (German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and French).
Organizing by size and author is too OCD for me.
mine is sorted similar to LB's but I do try and keep them sized properly.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on January 06, 2014, 12:44:17 PM
mine is sorted similar to LB's but I do try and keep them sized properly.
I do have a side section for the few oversized books that don't fit on normal shelves.
those I lay flat on the bottom shelf. my biggest contributors are Janes books.
why cant they make those things normal size?
That's what she said.
LB how do your cookbooks fall into the equation?
I use the pile and box method. You all suffer from OCD.
I bought a tablet to read .pdf PC game manuals and that's the closest I've gotten to reading e-books. I tried reading electronic books but I just don't like them.
I definitely have OCD. I toy with getting a digital reader but I really enjoy a real book.
I would've totally schlepped college textbooks around on an e-Reader if that had been an option. those fuckers were heavy
I have to admit, that is an excellent idea. Yeah, there's nothing quite like lugging around 200 pounds of books over your shoulder (at least, that's what it felt like).
I was an English major in undergrad. I'm pretty sure it was 200 pounds
it would be kinda hard to cram notes into the borders and highlight or underline text on a kindle though.
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2014, 01:45:26 PM
That's what she said.
LB how do your cookbooks fall into the equation?
Cookbooks have a dedicated shelf in the kitchen, with the overflow of BBQ books on the top shelf of another bookcase in the family room. Cookbooks are ordered primarily by type: grill/bbq, Cajun, German, breads, Italian et al. Again I have a few oversized books that sit on the top shelf out of order because there's nothing over it. And a few books sit stacked on the others due to recent use and a lack of a sense of urgency on my part to refile them.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on January 06, 2014, 04:34:47 PM
it would be kinda hard to cram notes into the borders and highlight or underline text on a kindle though.
Not as hard as you think. The Kindle offers the ability to highlight and annotate.
The Kindle Paperwhite lets you highlight. I didn't know other Kindles let you do that.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on January 06, 2014, 07:29:59 PM
The Kindle Paperwhite lets you highlight. I didn't know other Kindles let you do that.
The Fire does.
What's weird about Kindles is that when I read a book on mine sometimes things are already highlighted along with a small superscript number of how many folks have done the highlighting. There must be a setting somewhere that turns on the other folks' highlights but I've been to lazy to look for it.
Quote from: Staggerwing on January 06, 2014, 07:36:10 PM
What's weird about Kindles is that when I read a book on mine sometimes things are already highlighted along with a small superscript number of how many folks have done the highlighting. There must be a setting somewhere that turns on the other folks' highlights but I've been to lazy to look for it.
+1. It's weird to see other people's highlighting. Sort of like buying a used textbook with someone else's highlighting. They could have been psychotic.
Quote from: Staggerwing on January 06, 2014, 07:36:10 PM
What's weird about Kindles is that when I read a book on mine sometimes things are already highlighted along with a small superscript number of how many folks have done the highlighting. There must be a setting somewhere that turns on the other folks' highlights but I've been to lazy to look for it.
There is a setting to turn that off. I don't remember where it is, but if you look around you'll find it.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's a backlash to e-books at some point, sort of like the resurgence in boardgames lately.
In all honestly I've found that I do truly prefer to read novels and literature-type books on my Kindle Paperwhite. It's just so damn convenient and with the backlighting I can just kick back in bed and I don't have to have a lot of lights on, etc.
On the other hand, after staring at a computer all day, and then playing computer games all night, at times I feel like I just need to focus on something non-electronic sometimes at which point the inconvenience of a real book is sort of refreshing.
I don't think I'm the only one that feels that way, and as we go increasingly digital I wouldn't be surprised if good old fashioned books become "in" again.
^Like vinyl. Albums that is, not pants like Star wears.
I didn't realize vinyl records were back in. That doesn't make any sense at all. ::)
It's a petroleum product. Those are always in.
Quote from: Toonces on January 06, 2014, 10:13:14 PM
I didn't realize vinyl records were back in. That doesn't make any sense at all. ::)
vinyl records have been back in a major way for almost 20 years man.
Jeez Toonces and I thought you were Commander Kewl, with giant watch and all :)
I like going through the vinyl collections at Half Price Books and every time I do, I think I should get a record player.
Record players hqve also made a comeback, but don't call them that, call them turntables.
1200's
Vinyl actuation device?
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2014, 12:02:55 PM
Cat you described how I arrange my library to a tee. It's like you're IN MY MIND...
I just looked to the left at one of my bookshelves, and sure enough, same thing.
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on January 07, 2014, 05:13:13 PM
Vinyl actuation device?
Technique 1200's. the definitive turntable known everywhere.
Nice. No way I can afford that right now though. :(
I have a nice Fisher Price I can lend you.
well BC there are lots of magnetic drive tables out now. Techniques patent on the tech expired a while ago and a lot of less expensive turn tables are on the market. never get a belt driven one.
I am buying most of my books on Kindle these days. Many reasons for this.
1] It is so easy to shop the Amazon sales. And picking up a book for $1.99 to $2.99 is hard for me to pass up.
2] Space. We have thousands of books already. We have libraries on specific topics.
3] Allergies. Paperbacks deteriorate due to the acid in the paper. The wife and I are allergic to older books. 15 years after being
printed the book will make either of us sick if we read it. Book club edition hardbacks have the same problem - just not as fast.
We have replaced a bunch of books available only in paperback with electronic editions.
4] Travel. You can take your library with you.
Given the lower cost of electronic books, the ease of storage, the ability to travel with them, and the ease of shopping with electronic books, they are grabbing an increasing share of the market. I don't see this changing. I'm speaking as a business professor on this and I doubt that I'm wrong. All of the sales numbers back me up. Also, the advantage of ebooks in terms of cost of printing, delivery, cost, and storage are so great that you cannot beat it. Also most famous books which have lost their copyright are available for a free download. You can't beat a price of "free."
I'm not saying that physical books will disappear - they won't. But their market share is shrinking.
A lot of you are talking about vinyl. But music sales are predominately digital, followed by CD, with vinyl far, far behind in sales.
Vinyl's just a spec on the sales radar but the fact that it still exists at all is amazing.
The music industry would go out of business if it were relying on me buying it in any form. I turn the local am/fm station and let it roll.
Books I do mostly buy ebooks these days too, but there are certain books that are just better with actual paper.
I guess it's a large bit of nostalgia on my part. Some of my favorite childhood memories are biking to the public library and spending hours roaming the shelves. I love the smell of old books.
Quote from: airboy on January 08, 2014, 07:56:29 AMAlso most famous books which have lost their copyright are available for a free download. You can't beat a price of "free."
I wonder if the actual number of people reading things like Tom Sawyer and Ivanhoe has gone up since e-readers started exploding. When the latest Grisham book costs the same either in digits or dead tree edition, do people go load up on free books and read them b/c they're there rather than shell out $10 for electrons? Those older ones are books they never would've bought off the shelf at $10, but free electronic ones seem like they'd be a nice grab.
No idea how you'd measure this, but it does spark my curiosity a bit.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 08, 2014, 09:10:48 AM
Quote from: airboy on January 08, 2014, 07:56:29 AMAlso most famous books which have lost their copyright are available for a free download. You can't beat a price of "free."
I wonder if the actual number of people reading things like Tom Sawyer and Ivanhoe has gone up since e-readers started exploding. When the latest Grisham book costs the same either in digits or dead tree edition, do people go load up on free books and read them b/c they're there rather than shell out $10 for electrons? Those older ones are books they never would've bought off the shelf at $10, but free electronic ones seem like they'd be a nice grab.
No idea how you'd measure this, but it does spark my curiosity a bit.
This is one of the things that pisses me off and it isn't always true. I've been wanting to get a copy of Dune for my Kindle, but I'll most likely get another paperback or go to the library and check it out. It costs more than a paper copy and this is becoming increasingly true. Saving the trees was always a bunch of bullcrap.
Same here. I hate looking for a book for my Kindle on Amazon to see it's ridiculously expensive, or worse, moreso than the tree corpse version.
I like trees but the smell of books is more gooder.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 08, 2014, 09:10:48 AM
Quote from: airboy on January 08, 2014, 07:56:29 AMAlso most famous books which have lost their copyright are available for a free download. You can't beat a price of "free."
I wonder if the actual number of people reading things like Tom Sawyer and Ivanhoe has gone up since e-readers started exploding. When the latest Grisham book costs the same either in digits or dead tree edition, do people go load up on free books and read them b/c they're there rather than shell out $10 for electrons? Those older ones are books they never would've bought off the shelf at $10, but free electronic ones seem like they'd be a nice grab.
No idea how you'd measure this, but it does spark my curiosity a bit.
If basic economics holds (and it does), then a price of "free" will generate more consumption all things being equal than a price of "$6.99."
But, the products must be comparable for a easy scientific study.
Oddly enough, I have paid $1.99 to 5.99 for an anthology by an author when all of the books had lost copyright. Sherlock Holmes series, H. Beam Piper series. The reason I paid - the digitial copy I paid for had a digital index that would take you to each book in the anthology. The free copies were book by book downloads that lacked a digital index. That feature (especially when there are more than a score of books involved) was worth paying for.
Just because they're free to download doesn't mean they're being read though. That's my real question. Sure I've got about 10 freebies on my son's new Kindle for him to read. But he's reading the new Rick Riordan book we paid for rather than the free Jules Verne stuff on there.
That's the old adage about regular books too...purchased doesn't mean read.