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When will printed books die out for good?
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
There is talk about that the old dead tree book is headed quickly for obsolescence, what with the increasing sophistication and readability of e-readers and tablet devices, and the economic advantages of not having to kill all the trees in the first place, turn them into paper, send the paper to a printer, store the resulting books in warehouses, ship the books to physical stores, and so on.
Do you read books of any sort, whether print or digital? Do you think that thirty years from now people will still read paper books in any large numbers, or will that just be the activity of a few hobbyists and aging holdouts? |
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| EddieZilker |
| I still prefer reading physical books to manuals, on-line. That certainly doesn't mean that I wouldn't use a tablet reader, though. Personally, I like the idea of being able to take an entire library of books wherever I am. I think books are going to be going by the wayside. |
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| Lews |
I read lots of books on paper. Never read a PDF book or Kindle book or E-Book or whatever the they call them.
I'll always read printed books. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Do you read books of any sort, whether print or digital? |
Yes, both.
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
Do you think that thirty years from now people will still read paper books in any large numbers, or will that just be the activity of a few hobbyists and aging holdouts? |
Probably the latter.
If I could, I'd just scan all my books and read them on my computer. My external HDD is the size of an average book, and it contains much more information than my wall full of bookshelves.
Paper books are awesome if you want to brag: girls absolutely love my bookshelves, and they surely make me look smarter than my tiny hdd (the books, not the girls). I couldn't care less for pointless romanticism, however, regarding "the smell of the paper sheets and the smoothness of the cover" and that nonsense. I read books for their content, not because I want to reach ecstasy with a sensual experience that would probably just make me look desperate for sex with a librarian.
My eyes don't get any more tired reading on the screen either. I've read quite long books on my laptop, and it felt quite normal.
Paradoxically, I spend at least three hundred dollars on paper books a month. I can't get all I want in pdf, unfortunately, and importing an e-reader is prohibitively expensive :( |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| Good point about the shelves. A towering wall of books provides a potent social signal. Right now it may be, "I am learned and impressive." But in the future, it might be, "I am a wannabe intellectual wanker with a touch of the antiquarian." |
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| Joss Weatherby |
| the only book ive read on computer was Red Storm Rising, which I went out and bought after and read again on paperback. |
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| Danny Ocean |
| would be cool to have a library of books on an iPad fot example, like an ipod for books, if it dosent exist already. Properly made though, not looking for books on the internet and reading them there. |
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| Fledz |
| They will never die out but I think less will be printed. Newspapers in particular and other print media. |
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| Arbiter |
I only own print books.
The reason is simple: when you buy a print book, you own something. When you buy an e-book, you don't. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Danny Ocean
would be cool to have a library of books on an iPad fot example, like an ipod for books, if it dosent exist already. Properly made though, not looking for books on the internet and reading them there. |
It already exists illegally on p2p software, so to speak.
And this is going to be a funny thing: No one ever complained about copyright on physical libraries (in which one copy served dozens of patrons), but I'm sure editors and booksellers will demand some sort of crackdown on anything virtual that resembles a library unless something major happens. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
The reason is simple: when you buy a print book, you own something. When you buy an e-book, you don't. |
Well, you sort of own the file. You can't fling it at someone but you can still read and keep it in your computer. And print it, if you will :conf: |
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| -FSP- |
| i hope that there will be a time in my life that i can get a kindle or ipad cheap and download pdfs online. |
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