Books and Bookstores

[Oexmelin]

But then the Internet has been invented.
You guys sticking to print books is like people shunning the printing press and keeping to hand-written books. I am sure there was a lot of them at first.
I know an LCD is not the same thing, but an e-ink screen is.
I have now most of my library in my pocket at all times. I can resume reading on a different device at my whim. I can highlight, I can check a word in a dictionary by a single tap. Etc.
I can get bloody samples to make an informed purchase decision.
Not to mention there's no need to kill trees and make ink, binding material, carry the book to the store, maintain the store etc.

I knew someone was bound to pick up the mantle of progress vs luddism. 

As you can perhaps note in the thread, no one who's expressed support for local independent bookstore has done so on the basis of some sort of posh superiority of paper over e-ink. I actually like the look and feel of e-ink, and if most of what I read was English-language mass market fiction, I'd probably have done a more systematic switch to it. But unfortunately, a lot of the professional books/French-language books I read do not have an ebook versions; for those that do, I find, weirdly enough, that I can take better notes by writing in the margins than by adding digital notes. Not to mention that I do not like the idea of all that work being lost at the flick of a switch by some sillicon valley egomaniac. (as for the carbon footprint, I am pretty sure the environmental cost of the electronics trade, and the energy required to maintain Amazon's servers already dwarf the requirements of the publishing business...)

What I deplore is the loss of actual bookshops, as places of discovery and exchange, and yes, some romantic mystique. It's not tied to the paper, but the place. I wouldn't really weep for the demise of big book chains: they have ceased being such places for a while now, and I suppose if the only use you have for a bookshop is to pick up a book you've already decided to read, then it doesn't really matter. But my usual librarians in Montreal usually put stuff aside for me that they think I'll like; I have discovered writers in small town bookshops in France I would never have dared pick up otherwise, from public events and readings.

[Maladict]

What I deplore is the loss of actual bookshops, as places of discovery and exchange, and yes, some romantic mystique. It's not tied to the paper, but the place.

This. Same thing with having books on shelves at home. They just have to be there, even if the books have been read and will not be opened again.

[Josquius]

exactly the same price

Checking prices - you are doing it wrong

Where?
Usually they do tend to have around the same price. Sometimes digital is even more expensive (!!).

In time I guess this will change. Once upon a time it was attempted to make digital music the same price as physical releases. But it isn't there yet. And you've always the counter example of games.

[grumbler]

exactly the same price

Checking prices - you are doing it wrong

Where?
Usually they do tend to have around the same price. Sometimes digital is even more expensive (!!).

In time I guess this will change. Once upon a time it was attempted to make digital music the same price as physical releases. But it isn't there yet. And you've always the counter example of games.

You should probably shop for your ebooks somewhere other than you are (or else tell us about this fabulous place that sells physical books for the same price as ebooks).  Either you are getting ripped off on ebooks, or we are on physical books.

[MadImmortalMan]

The last physical book I bought was in an independent bookstore in Placerville (Hangtown, California). The Innocent's Abroad. 1940 printing. I paid $14.

I've already got it on my Kindle and I've read it at least six times. FWIW, this and Roughing It are MT's best works. With Tom Sawyer, Connecticut Yankee and Huck Finn in the middle and that dreadful Joan of Arc thing last.

[Josquius]

exactly the same price

Checking prices - you are doing it wrong

Where?
Usually they do tend to have around the same price. Sometimes digital is even more expensive (!!).

In time I guess this will change. Once upon a time it was attempted to make digital music the same price as physical releases. But it isn't there yet. And you've always the counter example of games.

You should probably shop for your ebooks somewhere other than you are (or else tell us about this fabulous place that sells physical books for the same price as ebooks).  Either you are getting ripped off on ebooks, or we are on physical books.

I don't buy ebooks, for the reasons mentioned.
Just go to amazon and compare.

[Valmy]

The last physical book I bought was in an independent bookstore in Placerville (Hangtown, California). The Innocent's Abroad. 1940 printing. I paid $14.

I've already got it on my Kindle and I've read it at least six times. FWIW, this and Roughing It are MT's best works. With Tom Sawyer, Connecticut Yankee and Huck Finn in the middle and that dreadful Joan of Arc thing last.

I envy you guys who can read books on Kindle, that must save so much space and money. I just cannot seem to get into a book that way.

[Agelastus]

I envy you guys who can read books on Kindle, that must save so much space and money. I just cannot seem to get into a book that way.

Technically I don't read on a Kindle (e-reader.)

I read on a tablet, originally a Fire HDX 8.9", now a Huawei with the Kindle App; I've never been able to read a book on a pure e-reader.

Certainly originally it was to do with the resolution and lighting; now, looking at my mother's latest Kindle, I think it's to do with the weight* and the controls.

*IT'S TOO LIGHT!!!

[Josquius]

I envy you guys who can read books on Kindle, that must save so much space and money. I just cannot seem to get into a book that way.

Technically I don't read on a Kindle (e-reader.)

I read on a tablet, originally a Fire HDX 8.9", now a Huawei with the Kindle App; I've never been able to read a book on a pure e-reader.

Certainly originally it was to do with the resolution and lighting; now, looking at my mother's latest Kindle, I think it's to do with the weight* and the controls.

*IT'S TOO LIGHT!!!

Get a chunky case that gives it the weight of a book?