I got an iPad right after Christmas, also, I am sick.

[clynne]

So, eBooks are kinda bullshit, right? Because anything even remotely modern costs the same as hard copy, only you can't just chuck it around or leave it somewhere because of the couple hundred dollar "I just lost/broke my fancy device" surcharge. I mean, I'll soak an $8 paperback in the tub without worrying, but my $808 paperback isn't going

Comments

[ross_teneyck]

I find the whole e-book thing interesting on a number of levels.

On devices: I'm pretty certain that the vast majority of e-readers are going to end up being apps on phones and general-purpose tablets, rather than dedicated reader devices like the Kindle. However, I expect the dedicated readers to hang in as a small segment of the market, because the ink screen really is much easier on the eyes if you read it for long periods.

On prices: I think the publishers are still afraid of e-books, and are pricing accordingly. However, even the ones who aren't are still struggling to find the right price point. The cost of an e-book isn't zero; you have non-trivial fixed costs in acquiring, editing, and promoting the book, and those costs have to be amortized over all the copies sold, physical and electronic. The incremental cost of selling one e-book is close to zero, though. As e-books become a larger proportion of all the sales of a book (if that in fact happens, but I think it will) then these calculations become more critical.

I've seen some publishers who appear to be setting their e-book prices by the formula $(price of cheapest currently-in-print print edition) - $(small delta). So when the book first appears in hardcover, the e-book costs slightly less than hardcover price; later, when the mass-market paperback comes out, the e-book price drops to slightly less than MMPB price. In theory, when the book eventually goes out of print, the e-book price could be dropped to a dollar or two. By this formula, the premium you pay for buying the e-book earlier is for being able to read it now, rather than in a year from now.

Other publishers are obviously following different formulae.

On e-books vs. print books: on the whole, I still prefer print books. But there are cases where e-books have advantages: for instance, if I'm going on a trip, I can just pack my Kindle rather than a stack of print books.

To me, the biggest downside of e-books is that they're transitory. Amazon keeps track of all the Kindle books I've bought from them, so if my Kindle gets lost or broken I still "have" all my books... so long as Amazon stays in business. Will they be around ten years from now? Twenty? Thirty? I've got print books I've had about that long, and I plan to hang on to them for at least that much longer.

All in all, I've found that the Kindle is a useful adjunct to my reading, but I still like print books for most purposes.

[clynne]

All in all, I've found that the Kindle is a useful adjunct to my reading, but I still like print books for most purposes.

Yeah, that's how I feel about it. I can see where, if I'm on a trip, the iPad will let me pack a lot of books without worrying about space/weight issues. When I'm home sick, it's great because I don't have to wait for Erich to make a library or bookstore run. And I could see other uses -- when camping, it doesn't require me to have a light source, or when sleeping in a dormitory/roommate situation, I can read at night without bothering the other denizens of the room.

On the whole, though, just like with MP3 players, I prefer to have the physical media in my possession. Moreso than with music, actually, because in this case the physical media has utility that the digital doesn't.