[DirtyRotten]

I don't get it.

You pay over £100 for the actual device and then the downloadable books cost either the same or MORE THAN the paperback versions!

Are people really that desperate to throw away their money? My sister was like, "but you get to carry thousands of books around with you!" Yeah, brilliant, but who actually ever reads more than one book at a time?

Call me sentimental, but I like having a bookshelf filled with all of the books that I've read over the years in my bedroom.

Does anyone have one/disagree that they're a waste of money?

[DYKWIA]

I personally like the Kindle because you can take it with you on a plane and you don't end up increasing the weight of your luggage when traveling. I am a picky reader and often jump around different books just depending on my mood. With a kindle I don't have to make a choice as to which book to take. I must admit that pricing of ebooks is a problem atm, but it is getting better.

[The Dark Lord]

You can have like 10,000 books in your pocket though... handier than carrying the hardback versions me thinks.

[hellomoto170]

Kindles always looked too flimsy, ugly and generally unappealing to me. Also I can never imagine a scenario where I would ever need to have more than 3-4 books on me at the same time, and thus I can just carry my books in my bag thanks. I also heard they break a lot, not surprising.

[metric]

I agree with you, there is nothing more lovely than a hardback book. Reading was one of the few things we still did in our spare time which didn't involve a screen, now look where we are.

Call me old fashioned but it saddens me :'(

[DYKWIA]

(Original post by metric)
I agree with you, there is nothing more lovely than a hardback book. Reading was one of the few things we still did in our spare time which didn't involve a screen, now look where we are.

Call me old fashioned but it saddens me :'(

Why does it sadden you that people simply choose a different format to read in? Would you rather people read less, but carried around paper books (which contributes to deforestation)?

Ebooks are fantastic for taking with you when you travel. That is where they really outshine their non-electrical siblings.

[Militant]

What moto said , Its just an electrical piece of ****, ugly , flimsy and as youve said; Expensive.

Whats the point anyway? You can get books for free from the library -_- Or if your lucky sometimes at youth clubs or shops they might have some books that they are giving away. Besides i'd rather read from an atual physical object not a machine- the computer is enough for me. Technology is taking over our minds these days. It just aint nessarary.

[metric]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Why does it sadden you that people simply choose a different format to read in? Would you rather people read less, but carried around paper books (which contributes to deforestation)?

Ebooks are fantastic for taking with you when you travel. That is where they really outshine their non-electrical siblings.

Because without people buying books there are no bookshops and i love bookshops, it's the same with CD's.

Maybe I'm stuck in the dark ages but I like having the physical copies of things.

[jada897]

Tbh you can get free ebooks anyway, I think there pretty nice

[metric]

On the other hand my dad's writing a book at the moment and plans to put it onto the kindle store to get it out to the public without a publisher, which I think is a good thing

[contra mundum]

(Original post by DirtyRotten)
I don't get it.

You pay over £100 for the actual device and then the downloadable books cost either the same or MORE THAN the paperback versions!

Are people really that desperate to throw away their money? My sister was like, "but you get to carry thousands of books around with you!" Yeah, brilliant, but who actually ever reads more than one book at a time?

Call me sentimental, but I like having a bookshelf filled with all of the books that I've read over the years in my bedroom.

Does anyone have one/disagree that they're a waste of money?

i have one and my main reason for getting one is because my eyesight is **** and you can change the text size etc so they do have their uses however i totally get what you mean with the whole pay more or the same for something which isn't physical and i only usually have one book on it at a time.

I think it would be more inviting to customers and increase amazons sale of actual books sold by amazon not on their market place if they offered say a £10 a year subscription where you buy a physical book and get the ebook too. The price doesn't affect me too much because i buy the physical book for my shelve then i feel entitled to download the ebook from a peer to peer source. I feel the same about CDs and digital music too by the way

Also they should work on their book collection a little.

furthermore since this is the student room its not like they do text books and even if they did it wouldn't work for me studying from a kindle, but they do make reading more pleasant for me.

[DYKWIA]

(Original post by contra mundum)
The price doesn't affect me too much because i buy the physical book for my shelve then i feel entitled to download the ebook from a peer to peer source. I feel the same about CDs and digital music too by the way

Also they should work on their book collection a little.

furthermore since this is the student room its not like they do text books and even if they did it wouldn't work for me studying from a kindle, but they do make reading more pleasant for me.

Just because you bought the physical book doesn't entitle you to an illegal copy. I agree that pricing is wacky atm, but that is because publishers are slow and cautious about digital books.

As I said earlier, their main attraction is the fact you can take as many books as you want with you with very little added weight. Another bonus is that you can lie on your side reading an ereader, which you cant do easily with a book (you always end up turning over to your other side every page).

[Bobifier]

(Original post by The Dark Lord)
You can have like 10,000 books in your pocket though... handier than carrying the hardback versions me thinks.

Perhaps I am leading some freakish secluded life in my backward world of Kindlelessness, but I honestly cannot think of any point in my life to date at which I have required 10,000 books.

[DYKWIA]

(Original post by Bobifier)
Perhaps I am leading some freakish secluded life in my backward world of Kindlelessness, but I honestly cannot think of any point in my life to date at which I have required 10,000 books.

I doubt anyone would. However, occasionally you might think 'hmm, I really wanna read XXXX, ah look i have it on my kindle' or you may go to the Caribbean and find it is hurricane season so you have nothing to do but read - 'ah look, my kindle with all the choice of books on it'. Even having 20 books on your kindle is easier than carrying around 20 paperbacks!

[Cornish student]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Just because you bought the physical book doesn't entitle you to an illegal copy. I agree that pricing is wacky atm, but that is because publishers are slow and cautious about digital books.

I know its slightly off topic but I disagree with you there. If you buy a physical copy, the publisher and author make a decent profit from it. It also helps cover the cost of actually printing the book. Ebooks are digitally copied and (apart from the very small cost of hosting) is completely free to "produce". If I bought a physical copy of a book, I would have already contributed to the author profits. If it wasn't free I wouldn't otherwise buy an electric copy on top of the physical book. However, since you can easily download the ebook for free, I would do it for convenience.

I should be able to read it in the format I desire, after contributing to the author and publisher. Perhaps if enough people do this then publishers will catch on and just release them for free on a subscription service (i.e. £10 per year to amazon). This would cover the cost of hosting and they will still make good money from the book. Its all about reasonable pricing, who would pay £5 for a book and then £5 again for the convenience of also being able to read it on the kindle?

[contra mundum]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Just because you bought the physical book doesn't entitle you to an illegal copy. I agree that pricing is wacky atm, but that is because publishers are slow and cautious about digital books.

As I said earlier, their main attraction is the fact you can take as many books as you want with you with very little added weight. Another bonus is that you can lie on your side reading an ereader, which you cant do easily with a book (you always end up turning over to your other side every page).

yes you make a point i just feel entitled to though even though i know i am not at the moment, maybe one day

And YESSS it makes reading like that so much easier tbh im not too bothered about a physical book except for decoration purposes but i do like to support book stores and publishers by actually at least buying something.

[DYKWIA]

(Original post by Cornish student)
I know its slightly off topic but I disagree with you there. If you buy a physical copy, the publisher and author make a decent profit from it. It also helps cover the cost of actually printing the book. Ebooks are digitally copied and (apart from the very small cost of hosting) is completely free to "produce". If I bought a physical copy of a book, I would have already contributed to the author profits. If it wasn't free I wouldn't otherwise buy an electric copy on top of the physical book. However, since you can easily download the ebook for free, I would do it for convenience.

I should be able to read it in the format I desire, after contributing to the author and publisher. Perhaps if enough people do this then publishers will catch on and just release them for free on a subscription service (i.e. £10 per year to amazon). This would cover the cost of hosting and they will still make good money from the book. Its all about reasonable pricing, who would pay £5 for a book and then £5 again for the convenience of also being able to read it on the kindle?

Would you say that if you bought the physical book that gives you the right to go out and photocopy it and give copies to all your friends? No, of course not! When you buy a book you are essentially buying a single copy of the book in that format. You are entitled to ONE copy. If you want two copies of the book then you buy two - you wouldn't steal the second copy. It is immaterial as to how much it costs to manufacture the physical media.

(Original post by contra mundum)
yes you make a point i just feel entitled to though even though i know i am not at the moment, maybe one day

And YESSS it makes reading like that so much easier tbh im not too bothered about a physical book except for decoration purposes but i do like to support book stores and publishers by actually at least buying something.

Read above. You are not entitled to a digital copy of the book.

Note that you are buying something when you get an ebook! You are buying a digital copy of the book. You get all the same words etc, just without the tree the book was printed on.

[contra mundum]

(Original post by Cornish student)
I know its slightly off topic but I disagree with you there. If you buy a physical copy, the publisher and author make a decent profit from it. It also helps cover the cost of actually printing the book. Ebooks are digitally copied and (apart from the very small cost of hosting) is completely free to "produce". If I bought a physical copy of a book, I would have already contributed to the author profits. If it wasn't free I wouldn't otherwise buy an electric copy on top of the physical book. However, since you can easily download the ebook for free, I would do it for convenience.

I should be able to read it in the format I desire, after contributing to the author and publisher. Perhaps if enough people do this then publishers will catch on and just release them for free on a subscription service (i.e. £10 per year to amazon). This would cover the cost of hosting and they will still make good money from the book. Its all about reasonable pricing, who would pay £5 for a book and then £5 again for the convenience of also being able to read it on the kindle?

THANK YOU !! i will pos rep you but iv used them all up already, you have explained it far more eloquently than i did.

[miser]

All the books that I've bought for my Kindle costed less than their paperback equivalents, and there are also huge resources offering books that are free to download having expired from copyright law. There's also nothing stoping you from pirating e-books if you're that way inclined. Having said that, I still prefer reading physical books and I still buy them over Kindle editions when I can.

Also it's nice to support authors more rather than their publishers.

[contra mundum]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Would you say that if you bought the physical book that gives you the right to go out and photocopy it and give copies to all your friends? No, of course not! When you buy a book you are essentially buying a single copy of the book in that format. You are entitled to ONE copy. If you want two copies of the book then you buy two - you wouldn't steal the second copy. It is immaterial as to how much it costs to manufacture the physical media.



Read above. You are not entitled to a digital copy of the book.

Note that you are buying something when you get an ebook! You are buying a digital copy of the book. You get all the same words etc, just without the tree the book was printed on.

well maybe in the future it will be tied to your amazons specific device by coding or email or something technical, thus ensuring it is for personal use