I think they're a great idea but, even despite my obsession with recycling and not wasting materials, I love the way a paper book looks and feels. I also like having the collection of what I've read sitting on the shelf for future use by me or others. (I also prefer vinyl records over mp3s, just to give some back ground).
If I knew someone who had an electronic read that I could borrow, though, I'd give it try.
Last edited by Rogers_68; 02-06-2008 at 04:15 PM.
I have a large number of books and ebook availability is still very limited. The market is steadily growing but not as fast as the market for MP3s has done. This reminds me, my 1st generation iPod passed away yesterday after doing incredibly good service for 7 years. I need a new MP3 player with bookmarking facility as I listen to audiobooks as much as I read. I believe in reading by all means possible, the life is too short to be picky. As Frost would say, "The aim was song", reading and growth of mind by all means possible. Ignorance and thoughtlessness are attacking us from all directions, we will have to cling to the principles of critical and conscious living using all means available to us.Originally Posted by Rogers_68
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
when I read ebooks I don't use electronic readers. I upload books and read its with any devices which have internet-connection.
Last edited by Scheherazade; 02-14-2008 at 08:34 PM. Reason: url
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
Kafka mentioned Project Gutenberg, which I love. It's been around for years now, and it's so useful, but the website looks awful. I was musing the other day that if they could find a way to monetize it somehow, the founders could make the business as big as google, yahoo, youtube, or wikipedia. The texts themselves are already in the public domain and it would be wrong to sell them for a profit, but couldn't they advertise on the site or sell merchandise of some sort? Also, their search engine for books is pretty lousy too. That site has great ideas, but it needs an overhaul and new management.
Another site Kafka mentioned is LibriVox. I just discovered LibriVox yesterday, and although I was intially elated, the quality of the recordings soon began to grate on my nerves. It's not that I'm against audio books. I've heard some very good ones, and I was hoping to play these recordings while I surfed online, instead of the usual background music. The problem with these recordings is that they were not made by professionals, and it shows. I sampled some history texts and the readers made various errors of breath control, pronunciation, or basic rhythm. A few of the voices I just found unpleasant; so as tempting as it may be to indulge in free audio books, I'm going to have to recommend everyone stay away from that site. At least for the time being.
As for Radiohead uploading their songs for free, that's not surprising. Most musicians make their money from performing, while the proceeds of their recordings go mostly to their label. Also, Radiohead has already made enough money for ten bands, and they can afford to do things like that at this stage of their career. I think that such a move would be unwise for a struggling garage band just starting out in the world. Radiohead did not get famous by giving away their work for free. They had a group of promoters marketing their music to a receptive audience through an established system. Writers cannot perform their books in the same way, and so do not have this outlet. For the most part, they are stuck with whatever publishers decide to give them, and that is a shame. I'm not crazy about the current copyright laws either, Kafka, but I don't believe that the average author has the business sense to properly market his own books. What you are talking about is viral, grass roots marketing, but have you thought about how rare that kind of technique actually achieves the same level of commercial success as it's competitors? Not very often.
Returning to the original topic, I'm curious to know if those electro book thingies can hold mp3s and play music while you read? If I made an expensive purchase like that, I'd want the device to have multi-functionality. I like the idea, but then again, I didn't have to re-buy my entire personal library the day my hard drive crashed either. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the publishing industry's impact on the rain forest. A lot of countries have laws about replanting wherever they cut, and in many cases that's actually pretty good for the ecosystem as it prevents fires and other problems. Though admittedly, I don't know as much about the ecosystem and global warming as I would like, and I'm sure that there are cases of abuse. However, I think it's wrong to be completely against logging.
I definitely agree with this. To me, ebooks just give us one more avenue — another option, rather than the future one-and-only option for us. I think it is a great thing to have available, even if it doesn't completely replace paper books.
I have been pondering getting an ereader, but can't decide which one. I don't live in the US, so Amazon's Kindle has some serious drawbacks. I haven't decided which one, then, is going to suit me best. I am glad to have the enthusiastic review here to help me think more about my decision.
Change is disturbing for the cowardly conservative, but it opens new vistas for those who dare to look at it in the eye and search for new possibilities instead of running away from it.
This is the future, people coming together to work for the future good of the whole human race.
Better living through technology, eh? Wasn't that the idea back before we went through two world wars? Photography and film (and now CGI) were going to replace all those antiquated slow art forms and any artist who didn't realize this was simply going to be left behind... and yet... for some reason people still go to the theater and the opera and the symphony and still buy those antiquated painting that don't move, dance or do the hip hop. Personally, I appreciate the possibilities technology opens up for the arts. CDs, MP3s, photography, DVDs, PCs, the Internet... I use them all. On the other hand, I always find myself less than convinced by the heightened expectations and naive claims of a major paradigm shift that accompanies every new technological gadget. I certainly see practicality of the electronic readers... and can even imagine that such will eventually lead to a greater access to works that lack an audience large enough to justify a printed edition (especially all those inane academic publications)... and I can certainly imagine its value to large lending and research libraries. On the other hand... I question the notion that any new technology is going to open us up to a great new age of collectivism, sharing and collaboration...
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius
Aquarius!
Aquarius!
The shift from one technology or delivery system to another is not going to eliminate the middle-man. He'll still get his money... it will simply take a new form. I also doubt that the book is going to be so easily replaced by what is essentially a "pseudo-book"... a technological delivery system that simply attempts to mimic the book. The reality is that just as some people enjoy the experience of live theater or the opera and the DVD slapped in the home entertainment system will not replace this, some people also love the experience of the book... the entire sensual, sensory experience: the feel and smell and look of the paper, the actual appearance of the text, graphics, and imagery printed upon the page... but then I guess that makes all those people "cowardly conservatives".
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
^^^^ reminds me of the parchment maker and even the stone-tablet makers of yore. They thought nothing could replace their thousands of years old wares, along came the papyrus makers, along came Gutenberg and Caxton etc. Where are the parchments and stone-tablets now? On a different note: Ross Perot sold his copy of the Magna Carta recently. Found this old but interesting article about that document here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/20...ates_ahoy.html
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
Actually... papyrus far pre-dates parchment. Parchment and vellum were initially developed as a result of a temporary break in the supply of papyrus. Parchment eventually won out over papyrus as a result of its greater flexibility (allowing for binding in the codex form as opposed to the scroll) and its greater life-span. Paper is first developed in China around the 2nd century AD and spreads through the Middle-East to Europe by the 12th century. The first printed book is actually the so-called Diamond Sutra which is dated AD 868. The continual improvements in paper-making combined with Gutenberg's innovation of the movable type led to the explosion of book-making... it did not, however, eliminate the hand-made, illuminated manuscript or the one-of-a-kind or limited edition hand-made books. Many of the most exquisite examples of such books were made well after Gutenberg. It is almost fair to say that the hand-made book enjoys a larger audience today than ever considering the explosion in demand for "artist's books", "book arts", and Livres Artistes. One art form does not "replace" another. It merely adds to the possibilities. The possibilities of the electronic "book" are fabulous... certainly they offer a potential for reaching a far larger audience than even the printed book... but is the size of the audience the prime goal of the artist? The possibilities of the E-Books are endless... but they do not replace the possibilities of the printed or spell the end of the hand-made book.
Last edited by stlukesguild; 04-06-2008 at 11:33 PM.
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
A friend of mine is a painter. He was advised by the 'agents' to sell his paintings through them but they would charge him 40% of the sale price! What a theft, what a blooming theft!
How is it theft? Is it theft if the grocery store charges 2 or 3 tines what the farmer made on each egg? We don't think so because we know that the cost includes transportation costs, storage costs, the costs of operating the grocery store, etc... The same is true of art. The costs of running an art gallery are phenomenal. I can tell you this as an artist who has also been a gallery owner/curator. The rent, utilities, advertising, food and booze for the opening night, lights, etc... none of these are free. I charged 40% (the standard) on each sale... but there was no guarantee that I would sell anything. The artist doesn't pay a single dime if nothing sells, but the gallery owner still pays for his or her expenses... for the labor in hanging the works, the insurance, the cost of paying someone to sit in the gallery 8 hours a day, etc... Add to this the fact that a good gallery develops a reputation and a clientèle after a period of time that they bring to every artist they show. A new artist might bring a small group of followers (most of who will never buy) to the gallery, but the gallery offers the artist far greater exposure to known collectors.
I advised him to design a website and get his stuff online. He was recently short-listed for the 'Showdown' event at Saatchi online galleries and received 70% approval from thousands of viewers. This is a big encouragement and would keep him going for the time being.
That is all very nice... and I agree that a website is a necessity today for any artist... but is largely does not replace the physical gallery. 70% approval by the public means nothing for sales. What counts is that one person who does believe enough in the work to shell out the money... and in most instances they don't do this without seeing the work in person.
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
I have almost given up on ebooks. There is no more room for paper books left in this house. My 12 year old son reads ebooks on Pocket Pc. I am tempted by iPad but I still keep on bying paper books although all the shelves are full and my main 'reading' consists of listening to Audio books while walking the dog and commuting to and from work (almost 4 hours a day). Still I want a new ereader, an iRex DR1000:
https://www.irexshop.com/product_inf...products_id=69
as I am planning a return to visual reading after summer holidays when my baby starts full time school and I will have some peace of mind to concentrate on reading.
"The farther he goes the more good it does me. I don’t want philosophies, tracts, dogmas, creeds, ways out, truths, answers, nothing from the bargain basement. He is the most courageous, remorseless writer going and the more he grinds my nose in the sh1t the more I am grateful to him..."
-- Harold Pinter on Samuel Beckett
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