# 5 Reasons Why E-Books Aren't There Yet



## VKScott (Apr 14, 2011)

This article appeared in Wired yesterday: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/ebooks-not-there-yet/all/1

What do you think? My response is here: http://vkscott.blogspot.com/2011/06/response-to-5-reasons-why-e-books-arent.html

In short, I think the criticisms miss the mark quite a bit.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

I thought this was one of the better articles on ebooks that I've encountered. I also thought your criticisms were quite good.

I'd question his basic premise, as seen in the title. When exactly will be ebooks be "there", when they are all things to all people? Of course they're evolving, but right now millions of people are reading ebooks. They are "there" for many of us!

You might as well argue that cars aren't "there" because they run on smelly fossil fuels and pollute the air and break down and 30-40,000 people die in them in the US every year. (Hm...maybe cars _aren't_ "there!")

But, yeah...you cannot simultaneously fit all of your ebooks in your Kindle AND have them to display in your home. However, you can get rid of a bookshelf and put a label on it that says, "This wall space brought to you by Kindle...."


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## VKScott (Apr 14, 2011)

Jan Strnad said:


> I thought this was one of the better articles on ebooks that I've encountered.


You know, looking back at it, I don't want to seem like I'm completely ragging on the article. Abell does dismiss a lot of the silly objections to eBooks ("I like the feel of paper") and seems very much in support of them. It reads kind of like he's saying, "E-books are cool, and here's a few last things that could happen that would make them _super-awesome._" I just keep thinking that those last few things don't really matter much to me (aside from lower ebook prices from traditional publishing houses).


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## Shetlander (Mar 10, 2009)

I like your rebuttal!  My responses:

1) An unfinished e-book isn’t a constant reminder to finish reading it.  I agree with your comment that it is the book itself not the physical presence that makes me read it.  I actually am much MORE likely to finish a book on my Kindle than I am a paper book.

2) You can't keep your books all in one place.  Yeah, that's just weird.  I never kept my books all in one place.  

3) Notes in the margins help you think.  Happily I am shallow and read for pleasure and escape.  No Deep Thoughts required.    

4) E-books are positioned as disposable, but aren't priced that way.  I don't like the current prices either
but I don't like paper prices for that matter.  

5) E-books can't be used for interior design.  Yes and no.  I can't display them, but ebooks have definitely helped me achieve the uncluttered, neat look I like in my house.  I am thrilled to have vastly reduced my collection of paper books.  That is a huge bonus in my book, pardon the pun.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I think the article has a point.  Ebooks are not quite "there" yet.  However, that is what I like about it.  I like that it is new and evolving and that readers and authors are still trying to figure out how to publish, promote and market the books.  I like that we Kindle fans are kind of an exclusive club (albeit a growing club) and we know how special the device is and the books are and people are slowly finding out.  It's like being there at the beginning of VCRs and stuff like that.


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## drewschmidt (Jun 4, 2011)

Joe Konrath had an excellent post on how ebooks are in the same place where electric lighting was when it first came out. Prior to electric lights candles and lamps were the lighting business. Candles and lamps didn't go away, they just became a niche market. I really think the same thing will follow for ebooks and books. We'll always have books. People love books. I love books. Yet they will become a niche market. And I think I'm okay with that. One of my most prized possessions is my great grandfather's family bible. For a year now I've been planning on building a coffee table that will protect and show off this book. Then my grandmother's bible and a few old German Bibles as well.  Now, with that said, when it comes to just reading - I'm leaning towards ebooks more and more, especially when all I care about is the content. The fact that I can sit in the DMV line and read a book, and check my email, and play Angry Birds all on one device is heaven for me. 

When it comes to physical books, what I find myself doing now is spending more money on very nice books. Books that I read, but then want to keep. I'm not talking about paperbacks but beautiful leather books that I plan on willing to my children and grandchildren. I find myself reading more now then I have in the last 10 years. Yet most of that reading is from an ebook. In fact, if an ebook came with everyone of these leather books I bought......I would really be in heaven.


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## Cindy Borgne (Mar 21, 2011)

Hmm...I've never needed a hard copy to remember to finish a book I liked.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

> 1) An unfinished e-book isn't a constant reminder to finish reading it.


I really don't understand this at all - it's never been a problem for me. It's the written word which captivates me and motivates me to read more - I don't need a physical reminder of it and even if I did, why wouldn't the Kindle itself be enough of a physical reminder? This complaint just makes no sense to me.



> 2) You can't keep your books all in one place.


In principle, it does bother me that I am limited in my choice of retailers to buy from if I want to read it on my Kindle but in reality, I haven't found it to be a problem. If it's not on Kindle, I haven't found it anywhere else as an ebook.



> 3) Notes in the margins help you think.


I never, ever wrote in the margins of books. It felt wrong to me. That's actually one of the reasons I love ebooks - I can make notes without feeling like I'm ruining the book.



> 4) E-books are positioned as disposable, but aren't priced that way.


Agreed - for me,the only major downside to ebooks is the inability/limitations of sharing an ebook with friends or family. But as for price, I do feel like most ebooks are priced lower then paper books - yeah, sometimes it's only minimally but we've had plenty of discussions where it's been pointed out that the cost of printing and binding a physical book actually works out to be very minimal per book, especially mass market books. You're paying for the content, not the format.



> 5) E-books can't be used for interior design.


They were never a part of my interior design anyway. I only kept a handful of my very favorite books and I didn't exactly display them in splendor - they were usually just piled on top of a nightstand or something. Honestly, this complaint goes along with the "I like the feel and smell of 'real' books" one to me - it never really interested me... I'm most interested in the written word, the content... how it's presented is not a big concern for me as long as it's easy to use/read.

So points number 2 and especially 4 have merit but the rest I don't agree with.


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## KindleTourism (Jun 4, 2011)

Starting next year, libraries will be lending Kindle books, which will be a big shift. The article mentions a lack of "added value." One such added value not mentioned is the ereaders' ability to promote tourism by providing related tourism links to settings in a novel. 

When enough Kindle novels start promoting tourism in this way, the national media will pick up the story fast, which will sell more Kindles.


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## Evenshade (Aug 12, 2009)

I read the article and can see where he's coming from.  But, I wonder why most of the critiques always assume that a Kindle owner has to have all ebooks or all paper books?  I imagine most Kindle owners have both ebooks and DTBs.


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

The article seemed shallow, to me.

The idea of the physical library or filled set of bookshelves in the home originated in the days when only really rich people could afford printed copies of books -- a status symbol in the same way collections of rare biological specimens or trophies brought back from far away lands were status symbols. Collections of any physical object or set of objects seem intimately bound up in a subconscious human need to accumulate stuff. There are collectors, and there are non-collectors, or minimalists, or barbarians (or whatever you want to call us   ).

The point the author could have delved into in much more depth was the one about annotations. A subset of the annotation problem is the flipping issue, intimately related to the post-it-note (preferably in sizes individually tailored to the note to be made on the item of interest on that particular page) issue. Anyone who's done much research in bound volumes knows what I mean. It could be more of an age issue, and perhaps we're too old to relearn the research skills we acquired in our youth. However, just for recreationally reading fiction, this isn't a serious problem. Ebooks as research material have a long way to go, IMHO.


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## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

The only thing I find I can vaguely relate to is four. 

1. A physical book not being read. There must be a reason for it. I have a" to read" collection for that

2. This doesn't happen to physical books either. I only own amazon books. On my iPod I have apps for other companies but they have no books on there.

3. I can't bring myself to mark an actual book

5. Decor. No need for books as decor when there is no more space for it.


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## Holly (Mar 8, 2011)

The big plus for me is that eBooks do not get musty!  I do not need a Kleenex in my other hand when reading them.  They have arrived for me.


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## J_T (May 16, 2011)

I agree that the highlighting and notes feature on the kindle just doesn't work for me.  By the time I actually have the text I want highlighted I've forgotten what kind of comment I wanted to add.  When I'm reading something for research or analysis, I will always buy a hard copy so I can sticky note and tab and mark on.  The other items on the list didn't really bother me, though I agree that e-book prices are too expensive.


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## raaurora (Jan 2, 2011)

I totally agree on the pricing issue.  That is my biggest pet peeve.  Publishers have jacked up the pricing on popular authors and are really sticking it to the consumer.  DRM ensures there is no competition so they can charge whatever they want.


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## Matt Maxwell (Jun 5, 2011)

There's some meat in that article, but a lot of, fat, for lack of a better word.

The pricing question certainly is meaty. Mass market/big publisher books are overpriced in many cases. That's likely to be the case for some time as they try and establish a high price ceiling so that they can continue to exist in a form that resembles their current one. I'm not sure that this is realistic, but it will be a driving force. Comic book publishers are in the same boat (DC having just announced day and date digital comics for the same price as paper comics -- a losing proposition, and hardly the way to grow a new market.) So, sure, you can argue that point in the author's favor.

Seems to me that most of the other points all refer back to "eBooks aren't paper books." There's good sides to that and bad ones. Right now, it sure seems that the good outweighs the bad, at least for me. 

Frankly the "you can't keep them all in one library" is nothing short of ludicrous. Do you have bookshelves large enough to keep all of your books in one? Do you have a room big enough to keep all of them in the same place? I sure don't, and I don't have *that* many books, but I do have a lot of shelves. Now, I won't argue against the desire to have a single index of eBooks across all applications. But it's hardly a deal-breaker.


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## john_a_karr (Jun 21, 2010)

One objection to e-books I've heard is that it takes electricity to charge the battery whereas paper books obviously doesn't. BUT, it takes electricity to read paper books at night (or candlelight). I'm of the mindset that if you can't find enough electricity to recharge your Kindle, you've got bigger problems than ebook vs. paper.


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## Matt Maxwell (Jun 5, 2011)

Yeah, that's as big a strawman as I've ever seen in discussions about digital books/comics.

The only time I curse my Kindle/iPad is when we're taking off and landing. Otherwise...


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## meowzart (Mar 29, 2011)

I think he had to think long and hard to come up with five points...


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

What a bunch of malarkey, really.  eBooks are disposable but not priced as such? I've never read a dumber statement in my life. How much cheaper than 99 cents would they have to become to be considered disposable?


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## J_T (May 16, 2011)

Guido Henkel said:


> What a bunch of malarkey, really. eBooks are disposable but not priced as such? I've never read a dumber statement in my life. How much cheaper than 99 cents would they have to become to be considered disposable?


Umm.. very few non-classic ebooks are 99 cents.


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## Bob Mayer (Feb 20, 2011)

I commented on it shortly after it came out.  Totally bizarre commentary from an organization called Wired.  I'm assuming they still use pigeons there to communicate?  I just don't where the "there" is.
It's reality.  Accept it or slip under in the tar pits.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

> 2) You can't keep your books all in one place.


I buy books from multiple different vendors but I only download the kindle compatible version ... or, if it's an .epub, I convert it to a .mobi first. I don't care that I can't buy a book from B&N, Sony or Apple due to DRM restrictions as those books are all available on Amazon for the same price ... so big whoop.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

cborgne said:


> Hmm...I've never needed a hard copy to remember to finish a book I liked.


I didn't think i did either.... Until today. I went into the kindle app on my iPad to check the title of a book I read, and noticed it was sitting in a book I had started a few days ago. Obviously.... I had forgotten about it! I've actually read two library books since I started it!

So in this case, it left my mind.... In my defense, I'm getting old and I've had a sick kid coupled with some insomnia. I feel out of sorts and hope I sleep all night tonight....

The old excuse is working right?!?!


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

DiscoDan said:


> Umm.. very few non-classic ebooks are 99 cents.


Even if it's $2.99, $4.99 or $6.99, it is still priced as a disposable item. Just because a few publisher price over $10 doesn't make the argument valid that e-books are not disposable as a whole.


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## Library4Science (Apr 13, 2011)

2) You can't keep your books all in one place.  


This one is hilarious to me.  I have books on shelves, books in boxes in the basement, books in boxes in my storage shed and hundred of books that I no longer have at all because, having lived in three different countries, I just had to abandon them when I moved.  The storage shed is most problematic as each time I want to recover a book from a box I have to move a few hundred pounds of 'stuff' to find the box.


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

The start of what promises to be an absolutely amazing series on usefulness of the state-of-the-art in ebook reading software:

E-reading application showdown, part 1: Annotations by India, Ink. http://ink.indiamos.com/2011/06/01/e-reading-application-showdown-part-1-annotations/#more-1445

Annotaters of the world, unite!


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

raaurora said:


> Publishers have jacked up the pricing on popular authors and are really sticking it to the consumer. DRM ensures there is no competition so they can charge whatever they want.


There has never been competition. The rights to any given book has always been in the hands of one publisher/author.


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## Mark Young (Dec 13, 2010)

No matter what item the publishing industry comes up with--print or eBooks--there is alway room to improve product. EBooks are just getting started, and the technology ahead will be awesome. Just give it time.


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## TLM (Apr 8, 2010)

I can barely get rid of my magazines.  I can't grasp the idea of a disposable book   I keep any book that I buy or is given to me.  Disposable books?  What would that be?


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## dsm_180 (May 28, 2011)

Good lord, if these are the best criticisms Wired could generate, e-readers are even more advanced than I thought.  I can remember a time when reading a computer screen for hours caused people dizziness and headaches.  Headaches!  And now, the biggest criticisms are a lack of pop-up notifications and a way to write in the margins?  (do people actually do that)


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Shetlander said:


> 5) E-books can't be used for interior design.


I happen to be an interior designer. There is nothing decorative about an over flowing bookcase of dusty books with nicked and torn covers. If I'm using books as part of my design, I purchase leather bound classics and use them very sparingly with an assortment of other accessories.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I also found the idea of dusty paperbacks as a decorative item ridiculous. This from Wired?! Good lord.

There are things you could say about eBooks. Affordability especially for those on low income. for example. But keeping your books in one place and decorative items! 

Frankly I thought it was a p!ss-poor article.

Edit: There is research that indicates that the presence of books in a home more than seeing adults read encourages reading in children. Do eBooks have the same effect? One might be concerned not. As much as I love my Kindle, I can think of a number of concerns one might have--NONE of which this idiot article touched upon.


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## ak_popsicle (Dec 4, 2008)

Where is "there" exactly? The whole premise of the article is silly. Why should E-books be disposable? I have several E-books that I have read multiple times. I do have all of my books in one place. Ones I can't get on the Kindle store can generally be gotten somewhere else in a Kindle readable format. I've never needed to shop in another ereader's proprietary store. And I can definitively say that my bookcase, shoved full of books every which direction they would fit, was never pretty. Now, with just a few heavily illustrated books (mostly on architechture, home design, CAD, etc.) neatly lined up, it is.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

#5 is the silliest. All you have to do is look at the comments here to see that it's a positive for some and a negative for others, and comes up a wash.

I don't like being weighed down with a lot of items, and I don't like a lot of physical items for my eyes to be constantly running over and cataloging.


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## jonathanmoeller (Apr 19, 2011)

> One objection to e-books I've heard is that it takes electricity to charge the battery whereas paper books obviously doesn't. BUT, it takes electricity to read paper books at night (or candlelight). I'm of the mindset that if you can't find enough electricity to recharge your Kindle, you've got bigger problems than ebook vs. paper.


Consider as well the amount of electricity it takes to produce a paper book, and then the gasoline/diesel it takes to transport it to a store. And all the electricity and gas/diesel that gets wasted when the book becomes a return.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

My take:

1.  That's just silly.  My Kindle and iPad on the night stand, coffee tablet or wherever are just as much a reminder as a paper book.

2.  I do agree with this one. I'll be glad when DRM dies like it did for music and I can by ebooks from anywhere and read them on any device and in e-book app I choose.

3.  Agreed with notes and highlighting.  Very clunky on e-readers currently.  I don't care for simple leisure reading, but being a professor I read academic books, scholarly journal articles etc. a TON and those I do a lot of highlighting and jotting notes in the margins.  Goodreader on the iPad is pretty good for that with PDFs, but e-book apps have a way to go to catch up, and dedicated e-readers have a lot of room for improvement in terms of getting to be close to as easy to mark up as a paper book or printout.

4.  Prices I don't mind as long as they're no no more than the cheapest price for the cheapest print version new.  I'm willing to pay for the convenience of not having to dispose of a paper book I'll never read again.

5. A shelf full of books can look nice as long as it's hard covers and not cheap mass media paperbacks.  But I live in a small condo so space is at a premium so I prefer not having paper books, especially since I seldom re-read.  My hundreds of CDs, DVDs and Blu Rays already take up way too much space!


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## dbeman (Feb 23, 2011)

*1) An unfinished e-book isn't a constant reminder to finish reading it.*

Maybe I'm the exception and not the rule, but I can only truly immerse myself into one book at a time. Additionally I set aside specific times in my day to read, so my reminder to finish my e-book is as simple as turning my e-reader on and picking up where I left off.

*2) You can't keep your books all in one place.*

The more I think of this the more I wonder if there isn't a market for an "e-ink tablet" that can run the reading apps of all the various publishers without having to settle for a backlit LCD screen.

*3) Notes in the margins help you think.*

Haven't put a note in a margin since getting my Master's Degree. When I read for enjoyment I am doing just that.

*4) E-books are positioned as disposable, but aren't priced that way.*

Since my motivation for purchasing an e-reader was to cut down on household clutter I don't mind paying for e-books; particularly if the author gets their cut. Would I be happier if I could spend less? Of course! But its not a deal breaker for me.

*5) E-books can't be used for interior design.*

I still have a few hardcover books on my bookshelf; some are old, some are signed, some have merely sentimental value. I add to that collection from time to time as I meet my favorite authors and gain their signatures. Just because I own an e-reader doesn't mean I'm not allowed to purchase print books! In fact having e-book versions of my "aesthetically pleasing books" makes for less were and tear on my physical books.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

dbeman said:


> In fact having e-book versions of my "aesthetically pleasing books" makes for less were and tear on my physical books.


Great point! I think that's the final nail in the coffin for drawback #5.


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## beckyj20 (Jun 12, 2010)

I disagree with everything this article says! 

1. I am more likely to finish a book on my kindle because I take it everywhere with me and I never used to do that with a dtb. Plus if the book is good you will do everything you can to finish it! Its not a good book if you forget about it just because you cant see it!
2. I only have a kindle so I do keep all my books in one place. Before the kindle I didnt keep all my books in one place. Some would be in closets, others on a shelf, others on a table, etc.
3. Im not the type of person that takes notes in the margin so this one doesnt apply to me. If anything I like the highlighting because I actually use it. I never highlights in my dtb because it makes me feel like Im ruining them.
4. E-books are not rentals or disposable! I can reread them as many times as I want. Even if I delete it off my kindle it is still on my account for future use.
5. This is probably the only one I slightly agree with. I will by some of my favorites to put on my shelf so it does cost a little extra, but I try to find them cheap or use a coupon. However, most of the books I read wouldnt speak to my intelligence. lol


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Some people like having shelves full of books, and consider them as integral a part of their home decor as anything else in their house, other people don't.

Other people have different perspectives.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

QuantumIguana said:


> Some people like having shelves full of books, and consider them as integral a part of their home decor as anything else in their house, other people don't.
> 
> Other people have different perspectives.


And as dbeman pointed out, that's a great reason to buy e-copies of your favorite books, so they stay nice looking.


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

Alan Ryker said:


> #5 is the silliest..


As if those of us who have invested a chunk of change only for the "appliance" upon which to read ebooks (not even counting the ebooks themselves) do not already have walls and walls full of physical books.


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

JRTomlin said:


> Edit: There is research that indicates that the presence of books in a home more than seeing adults read encourages reading in children. Do eBooks have the same effect? One might be concerned not.


This is such an important point that it merits a topic, in and of itself. What about it?

(The other points the article didn't touch on, too, perhaps...  )


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## RichardHein (Jun 8, 2011)

That last point is an exceptionally weak argument. That's not a pro or a con for physical books in general. That's a choice made with a decoration that happens to be a book. By what is likely a small subset of people. A book's primary function is to be read. Claiming that secondary and tertiary things are adversely affected by e-books is such a non argument. E-Books cover the primary reason of owning a book.

My bookshelves are an eyesore. I don't have pristine books on my shelves. Those books get _used_. There's more than a handful that have been read so many times by me they're held together with Duct Tape.


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## dbeman (Feb 23, 2011)

All this talk about "books on a bookshelf" reminds me of my grandmother's bookshelf which, as of 1978, contained hundreds of volumes of meticulously sorted Harlequin Romance Novels. I'm fairly certain that she purchased one as a part of her weekly grocery shopping trip.

Although she passed away over 30 years ago I still have that rickety old bookcase; minus the romance novels. (not quite sure whatever happened to them!)


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

sebat said:


> I happen to be an interior designer. There is nothing decorative about an over flowing bookcase of dusty books with nicked and torn covers. If I'm using books as part of my design, I purchase leather bound classics and use them very sparingly with an assortment of other accessories.


I always thought books as a decorative accessory to be rather silly ... I still have a pbook library even though the number of physical books in it is under 1000 now - but they're in the room designated for books and computers and not where we entertain.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

Trophywife007 said:


> As if those of us who have invested a chunk of change only for the "appliance" upon which to read ebooks (not even counting the ebooks themselves) do not already have walls and walls full of physical books.


You mean you've kept your paper books? Haven't you heard that once you buy an ebook you are never allowed to touch a paper book again?!?!


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## Barren (Apr 20, 2011)

I want to make a "scratch and sniff" stick on cover for kindles so you can get that "book store" smell!!!


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> I always thought books as a decorative accessory to be rather silly ... I still have a pbook library even though the number of physical books in it is under 1000 now - but they're in the room designated for books and computers and not where we entertain.


Geoffrey, you are one of the lucky few that has enough space to hide the library.


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## Trophywife007 (Aug 31, 2009)

Alan Ryker said:


> You mean you've kept your paper books? Haven't you heard that once you buy an ebook you are never allowed to touch a paper book again?!?!


Hee hee... I haven't duplicated all my DTBs in the eVersion. Mr. 007 has an aversion to paperbacks, so we have a number of hardbacks I could never get rid of.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

sebat said:


> Geoffrey, you are one of the lucky few that has enough space to hide the library.


gave up a guest room for a Library ....


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## lpking (Feb 12, 2011)

dbeman said:


> All this talk about "books on a bookshelf" reminds me of my grandmother's bookshelf which, as of 1978, contained hundreds of volumes of meticulously sorted Harlequin Romance Novels. I'm fairly certain that she purchased one as a part of her weekly grocery shopping trip.
> 
> Although she passed away over 30 years ago I still have that rickety old bookcase; minus the romance novels. (not quite sure whatever happened to them!)


Your grandmother isn't the only one. I've run across people who collect them religiously. I have no further comment on the subject. ;-)

As for what happened to your grandmother's, you have no idea what happened to them because those who took them did it very very quietly.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Alan Ryker said:


> You mean you've kept your paper books? Haven't you heard that once you buy an ebook you are never allowed to touch a paper book again?!?!


Not everyone has a space sufficently well-ventilated to burn all their old paper books...


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

QuantumIguana said:


> Not everyone has a space sufficently well-ventilated to burn all their old paper books...


Your local library will be happy to take them off your hands. That's what I did. Every year I've been donating countless books to the library. Books I read and know I will not re-read and books I no longer need because I repurchased them on the Kindle.


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## Violet Yates (Feb 28, 2011)

I can see some of the writer's points, although I personally like both ebooks and regular print books. I write a lot of reviews, and often prefer a print book because of that margin space, because I can underline and write to my heart's content. I know there are ways to do this on my kindle, but my brain hasn't caught on to that yet. 
I'm also easily distracted. I started reading a book on my kindle last week, then got a new book that I had to review, so the other one is sitting there with only a little bit read. I have since finished and reviewed the book I was going to review, but instead of going back to the other book, I've picked up a print one to read because it had more appeal.
I forget books I buy on my kindle a lot more easily than print books, because they're not staring me in the face. So reminders would be nice, but 1000 reminders to read all of the books I have on my kindle would drive me absolutely nuts. 
Mostly, I won't forget a book, ebook or print, if it is unforgettable. If I am seriously thrilled with the premise and description, which is why I bought it, then I will eventually come back to it. So this is where the writer comes in. If you write an awesome book, I will eventually read it once I have paid for it. It just takes a bit more organization skills to keep track of the ebooks I buy, I guess. 



Violet


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Violet Yates said:


> often prefer a print book because of that margin space, because I can underline and write to my heart's content.


   A book defacer! The horror!

Mike


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

jmiked said:


> A book defacer! The horror!
> 
> Mike


I've never understood why some are so against that. Books are just words on paper, not some holy relic.

I find it especially odd on sites like this since switching to ebooks should be indicative of not worshiping paper books!


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## Violet Yates (Feb 28, 2011)

jmiked said:


> A book defacer! The horror!
> 
> Mike


You shoulda seen me in college.  lol I don't mark up too many of my books, just the ones I want to review. I have issues with short term memory, so underlining and writing in the margin helps me.


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## Violet Yates (Feb 28, 2011)

mooshie78 said:


> I've never understood why some are so against that. Books are just words on paper, not some holy relic.
> 
> I find it especially odd on sites like this since switching to ebooks should be indicative of not worshiping paper books!


I don't know mooshie. I feel if I paid for it I can write on it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think some folks were just taught from a young age not to write in books. . . .I certainly was.  I mean, a LOT of the books I read as a youngster came from the library, so they didn't belong to me.  Writing in them would have been just WRONG, which was made extremely clear to my by my mother and the librarian. 

Those kinds of strong lessons stick with one and even when you logically say, "but this one is MINE and I need to mark this passage somehow", it's a huge amount of early conditioning you have to get over! 

I would highlight in my books for school, but, frankly, there were rarely margins large enough to make a useful note. . . . .I'd have a separate notebook and would make notes there with a cross reference to the page/paragraph/line where the passage I'm reacting to was located.  For me, I think that would be a lot easier with a Kindle, once you get used to it, but I'm not really in need of highlighting and note-taking any more as I pretty much only read for personal pleasure now.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think some folks were just taught from a young age not to write in books. . . .I certainly was. I mean, a LOT of the books I read as a youngster came from the library, so they didn't belong to me. Writing in them would have been just WRONG, which was made extremely clear to my by my mother and the librarian.
> 
> Those kinds of strong lessons stick with one and even when you logically say, "but this one is MINE and I need to mark this passage somehow", it's a huge amount of early conditioning you have to get over!


I agree, I grew up in a similar situation, mostly getting books from the library and therefore I was conditioned from an early age not to write in books and once you're in that mindset, you can't just turn it off like a light switch. That's actually one of the reasons I like ebooks, because I can make notes without feeling like I'm ruining the book.

Plus, even when I got older and started buying more books, I would often give them to other people - either to borrow or even to keep (I only kept my favorites). So knowing it might not always be "mine", I was hesitant to write in them.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

history_lover said:


> I agree, I grew up in a similar situation, mostly getting books from the library and therefore I was conditioned from an early age not to write in books and once you're in that mindset, you can't just turn it off like a light switch. That's actually one of the reasons I like ebooks, because I can make notes without feeling like I'm ruining the book.
> 
> Plus, even when I got older and started buying more books, I would often give them to other people - either to borrow or even to keep (I only kept my favorites). So knowing it might not always be "mine", I was hesitant to write in them.


Yes--we got a lot of library books, too--and I still can't write in books. And I've never really understood why you would want to write in a book.  So e-books work fine for me because I still have no urge to write in books. LOL


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

What I used to do was type out my favorite passages from books to keep in a file on my computer. Now I just highlight it and occasionally drag my highlights out! Very convenient.


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

There's certainly nothing more distracting than trying to read a physical book that SOMEONE ELSE has highlighted! At least with Kindle you can turn it off...

I read both physical and ebooks, but discovered one forgotten selling point of paperbacks the other day. When my fourth grade son gave his dad lip, I was grateful for the physical book in my hand because I could haul off and thwok him on the head with it.  Wouldn't try that with my Kindle--too valuable.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

CNDudley said:


> There's certainly nothing more distracting than trying to read a physical book that SOMEONE ELSE has highlighted! At least with Kindle you can turn it off...
> 
> I read both physical and ebooks, but discovered one forgotten selling point of paperbacks the other day. *When my fourth grade son gave his dad lip, I was grateful for the physical book in my hand because I could haul off and thwok him on the head with it.* Wouldn't try that with my Kindle--too valuable.


Guess you could carry one around just for thwoking purposes.


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## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think some folks were just taught from a young age not to write in books. . . .I certainly was. I mean, a LOT of the books I read as a youngster came from the library, so they didn't belong to me. Writing in them would have been just WRONG, which was made extremely clear to my by my mother and the librarian.
> 
> Those kinds of strong lessons stick with one and even when you logically say, "but this one is MINE and I need to mark this passage somehow", it's a huge amount of early conditioning you have to get over!
> 
> I would highlight in my books for school, but, frankly, there were rarely margins large enough to make a useful note. . . . .I'd have a separate notebook and would make notes there with a cross reference to the page/paragraph/line where the passage I'm reacting to was located. For me, I think that would be a lot easier with a Kindle, once you get used to it, but I'm not really in need of highlighting and note-taking any more as I pretty much only read for personal pleasure now.


I can still hear my grandmother's voice booming at me if she caught us being neglectful with _any _book. Didn't matter if it was a leather-bound collector's piece or the instruction manual that came with my Radio Shack 50-step programmable calculator. No writing in it, no creasing the corners of the pages, never set it down open (especially with the pages down, to save your place)... if you need to save your place, use a bookmark. If you need to make a note, use a slip of paper. Never set a book on the floor. Never drop a book. Don't read while eating. Always treat a book with respect. On and on... to this day I only "mark" my paper books with slips of paper, never writing on the pages. I cringe when I see someone writing in a book, bending the corners of the pages, scuffing up the cover, accidentally dropping one, and so forth. I have learned to keep my mouth shut though!


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

fuschiahedgehog said:


> I can still hear my grandmother's voice . . .


I like your grandmother's and your approach to books.


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## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

I still have that calculator manual.  It's over 30 years old - it outlived the calculator by 25 years!  Wish gram was still around though!


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Just a to each,their own thing I guess.  I've never been a book collector.  Most books I bought in the past got donated to the library before a move etc.  That's a big reason I made the switch to ebooks--no more hassling with buying a paper book I'll read once and ditch when I move, nor hassling with the library's limited selection, wait times and due days.

In terms of marking books up, I've never done that with leisure reading.  But I mark the hell out of textbooks, academic books, scholarly journals etc.


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## Alan Ryker (Feb 18, 2011)

#6: You can't prop up a wobbly table leg with an ebook.


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## Violet Yates (Feb 28, 2011)

fuschiahedgehog said:


> I can still hear my grandmother's voice booming at me if she caught us being neglectful with _any _book. Didn't matter if it was a leather-bound collector's piece or the instruction manual that came with my Radio Shack 50-step programmable calculator. No writing in it, no creasing the corners of the pages, never set it down open (especially with the pages down, to save your place)... if you need to save your place, use a bookmark. If you need to make a note, use a slip of paper. Never set a book on the floor. Never drop a book. Don't read while eating. Always treat a book with respect. On and on... to this day I only "mark" my paper books with slips of paper, never writing on the pages. I cringe when I see someone writing in a book, bending the corners of the pages, scuffing up the cover, accidentally dropping one, and so forth. I have learned to keep my mouth shut though!


I also was taught not to mark a book up. But when you're in college and paying exorbitant amounts for text books and lit books (I was an English major), people tend to mark books up. It should only bother someone if, say, that person then tries to sell it and doesn't tell the buyer about the highlighting. I was reading about 30 books a semester, didn't have the luxury of keeping a separate notebook for each book. I did take copious notes, though. But if I spent all my time copying from a book I would have gotten a lot less done. 
Library books are another story- I use bookmarks and am very careful with them. I never write in them.


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