Paper Books vs Digital Books

[JimC]

Both are awesome.

As are fluffy bunnies...

Pink fluffy bunnies to be exact.

It takes me quite a few neat gins before they appear, let me tell you...

[klr]

I will be damned to hell before I buy an E-book that the vendor can wipe off my device whenever it wants. For that matter, I will never buy an E-book that phones home or can be traced in any way to my computer. I also pay cash at Barnes & Nobel because of a case out of Colorado where the police subpoenaed all the purchase records of the Tattered Cover bookstore in order to try to prove that some criminal had bought a "how to" book.

If you don't give the bookstore your personal information, then the police can't subpoena your personal information from the bookstore.

Basic privacy tactics 101.

E-books make the NSA cream its jeans because not only can it track every book you read, it can very probably hack the book and inject a keylogger into your computer so it can see everything you type.

Fucking stupid to buy them if you ask me. When I buy a book, it's MINE, and I can read it, rip it up, or sell it to someone else. The whole notion that you can't sell an E-book you're done with is completely reprehensible and a total shift in copyright law that is detrimental to society because books will now simply disappear into the ether. You'll never see an ancient copy of "The Hunt for Red October" found in a monastery library a thousand years from now.

Mark it well people. I am very largely in agreement with Seth here. Much as I love the convenience of all things digital, I (currently) draw the line when it comes to E-books, largely for the reasons given above.

They are also very expensive - never mind the fact that I'd end up paying twice for many books, since many of the ones I'd like in E-format are those that I have in print already.

[orpheus]

I will be damned to hell before I buy an E-book that the vendor can wipe off my device whenever it wants. For that matter, I will never buy an E-book that phones home or can be traced in any way to my computer. I also pay cash at Barnes & Nobel because of a case out of Colorado where the police subpoenaed all the purchase records of the Tattered Cover bookstore in order to try to prove that some criminal had bought a "how to" book.

If you don't give the bookstore your personal information, then the police can't subpoena your personal information from the bookstore.

Basic privacy tactics 101.

E-books make the NSA cream its jeans because not only can it track every book you read, it can very probably hack the book and inject a keylogger into your computer so it can see everything you type.

Fucking stupid to buy them if you ask me. When I buy a book, it's MINE, and I can read it, rip it up, or sell it to someone else. The whole notion that you can't sell an E-book you're done with is completely reprehensible and a total shift in copyright law that is detrimental to society because books will now simply disappear into the ether. You'll never see an ancient copy of "The Hunt for Red October" found in a monastery library a thousand years from now.

Mark it well people. I am very largely in agreement with Seth here. Much as I love the convenience of all things digital, I (currently) draw the line when it comes to E-books, largely for the reasons given above.

They are also very expensive - never mind the fact that I'd end up paying twice for many books, since many of the ones I'd like in E-format are those that I have in print already.

For the first time, I agree almost completely with Seth.

I do read ebooks on my iPhone when fibromyalgia flares up and makes it too painful in my wrists and hand joints to hold a book. (Even paperbacks, unless really light, can be a problem.) But in general I'm an old-fashioned book guy.

Also, for another reason besides the excellent ones others have already given: with a paper book, that text is there. In that specific, unique spot. No other text will occupy that spot. It has identity in a way an ebook cannot.

This - a book's identity as a physical object - also allows for personal associations. That hundred year old book on my shelf that has marginal notes from my mentor, that he touched with his own hands - that you can't get in an ebook. Same with that book that was a gift from my wife, etc.

[laklak]

Ebooks for the schlocky stuff, acid free paper for the important things.

It's easy to mislead the NSA on this. Just keep a separate tablet or laptop that you only use for online purchases. Buy it used, off Craigslist and pay cash. Better still, trade ammo for it. Get one of those prepaid debit cards from Amscot and only use cash to load it, then hook that to a bogus Paypal account. You may need a bogus Social Security number, but I'll assume you already have one. Dead people with your birthday are a good place to start looking. Only use public wifi networks to order. Download to the computer and use DRM disabling software to crack it. Then load to your e reader via cable. Never let the e reader connect to a network. Do not store the laptop in your home. One method is to place it in a weighted, waterproof case and keep it in your septic tank.

Oh yeah, this is the most important bit. You need to modify the laptop. Put about an ounce of Semtex inside the case, and you'll need to hack the operating system to detonate the Semtex with three invalid password tries.

[Jason]

Well, don't debate about it like cave trolls. Don't you know you'll turn to stone when the sun rises? Time is running short, the family owns 6 million dollars of the crown, and my father will be here soon.

I am glad, however, you've said it words clearly. A small weight has been lifted from my tiny shoulders. However, I'm still here. If your aim is simply to make me go away, then you must know you'd have to do better than that.

You want dictation? Here's a simple one: I don't take orders from you.

Misunderstood? Yes. Certainly. Fine last words? Not really. So hurry. Make up your minds. Or try to consolidate them into one hive. It's all the same to me from my position, tied to this chair.

[JimC]

Ebooks for the schlocky stuff, acid free paper for the important things.

It's easy to mislead the NSA on this. Just keep a separate tablet or laptop that you only use for online purchases. Buy it used, off Craigslist and pay cash. Better still, trade ammo for it. Get one of those prepaid debit cards from Amscot and only use cash to load it, then hook that to a bogus Paypal account. You may need a bogus Social Security number, but I'll assume you already have one. Dead people with your birthday are a good place to start looking. Only use public wifi networks to order. Download to the computer and use DRM disabling software to crack it. Then load to your e reader via cable. Never let the e reader connect to a network. Do not store the laptop in your home. One method is to place it in a weighted, waterproof case and keep it in your septic tank.

Oh yeah, this is the most important bit. You need to modify the laptop. Put about an ounce of Semtex inside the case, and you'll need to hack the operating system to detonate the Semtex with three invalid password tries.

[Ayaan]

I like both paper and digital books. With digital, I can carry around a huge library in the space of a small tablet - downside, you may fire up your device one day and fine that the publisher or book seller has decided they want the book back. With paper, they take up much more room, however, the book is yours. The publisher or book seller won't come back later and take it off your bookshelf or coffee table.

That said, most of my e-books were free - can't say that about too many of my paper books.

[Sean Hayden]

I like my Kindle. I still buy paper books too. I don't even think to compare the two except when I'm in the bookstore sometimes I'll make a mental note of the books I want to see if I can get a better deal on them or similar books for the kindle.

[Seth]

Ebooks for the schlocky stuff, acid free paper for the important things.

It's easy to mislead the NSA on this. Just keep a separate tablet or laptop that you only use for online purchases. Buy it used, off Craigslist and pay cash. Better still, trade ammo for it. Get one of those prepaid debit cards from Amscot and only use cash to load it, then hook that to a bogus Paypal account. You may need a bogus Social Security number, but I'll assume you already have one. Dead people with your birthday are a good place to start looking. Only use public wifi networks to order. Download to the computer and use DRM disabling software to crack it. Then load to your e reader via cable. Never let the e reader connect to a network. Do not store the laptop in your home. One method is to place it in a weighted, waterproof case and keep it in your septic tank.

Oh yeah, this is the most important bit. You need to modify the laptop. Put about an ounce of Semtex inside the case, and you'll need to hack the operating system to detonate the Semtex with three invalid password tries.

Adequate, but far too complex. I'll just go buy a book for cash. As for Semtex, that's problematic because of the number of explosives-detection dogs running around these days. One just can't walk around with a briefcase full of Semtex or pretty much any other explosive without getting the stink-eye from some cop.

My nifty Ironkey 64GB thumb drive not only has on-board on-the-fly hardware encryption but if you enter the wrong password ten times in a row, the device fries the memory chips making them physically useless. I asked them to put in a "duress password" feature that would allow me to enter a special password that would fry the device if I was being forced to unlock it, but haven't seen that yet.

The other thing about E-books is that they require electricity, whereas I can stuff a paperback in my backpack and still read it any time I like, even ten years from now.

[orpheus]

Ebooks for the schlocky stuff, acid free paper for the important things.

It's easy to mislead the NSA on this. Just keep a separate tablet or laptop that you only use for online purchases. Buy it used, off Craigslist and pay cash. Better still, trade ammo for it. Get one of those prepaid debit cards from Amscot and only use cash to load it, then hook that to a bogus Paypal account. You may need a bogus Social Security number, but I'll assume you already have one. Dead people with your birthday are a good place to start looking. Only use public wifi networks to order. Download to the computer and use DRM disabling software to crack it. Then load to your e reader via cable. Never let the e reader connect to a network. Do not store the laptop in your home. One method is to place it in a weighted, waterproof case and keep it in your septic tank.

Oh yeah, this is the most important bit. You need to modify the laptop. Put about an ounce of Semtex inside the case, and you'll need to hack the operating system to detonate the Semtex with three invalid password tries.

Adequate, but far too complex. I'll just go buy a book for cash. As for Semtex, that's problematic because of the number of explosives-detection dogs running around these days. One just can't walk around with a briefcase full of Semtex or pretty much any other explosive without getting the stink-eye from some cop.

My nifty Ironkey 64GB thumb drive not only has on-board on-the-fly hardware encryption but if you enter the wrong password ten times in a row, the device fries the memory chips making them physically useless. I asked them to put in a "duress password" feature that would allow me to enter a special password that would fry the device if I was being forced to unlock it, but haven't seen that yet.

The other thing about E-books is that they require electricity, whereas I can stuff a paperback in my backpack and still read it any time I like, even ten years from now.

The thumb drive sounds very cool and useful, Seth. No joke - I mean it.

Re your last point about electricity: even if I know I've got books I can read on my phone, wherever I go, I always have a print book with me. For exactly that reason. No worry about the battery going dead and leaving me book-less.

[laklak]

I like the thumb drive idea also, Seth, I'm going to get one. With that, NO ONE will ever get my recipe for hot pickled cauliflower!

[JimC]

I like the thumb drive idea also, Seth, I'm going to get one. With that, NO ONE will ever get my recipe for hot pickled cauliflower!

Sorry, mate, I hear the NSA already has that. They sent it to Angela Merkel as a "sorry" offering...

[Pappa]

I've got a Kindle, but I barely use it. Perhaps if I read more novels I'd prefer it to print, but almost every book I've picked up over the past couple of years has been a tech book and I just find print a much better medium for tech books, even though they weigh so much you can only carry one at a time.

[Blind groper]

If the NSA wants to check what books I buy, they are welcome. Such uninteresting data will whittle down their numbers as they die of boredom.

I bought my kindle for about $NZ 200. I buy about 50 books a year, and save about $NZ 20 per book compared to what I would pay for the same book in paper form. The arithmetic is not exactly complex!

I also get a much wider selection, since the ebook libraries are well over a million titles. No book shop has that number of paper books.

I prefer to read the ebook, since it is lighter in weight than a paper book, and turning pages is easy. When my vision starts to deteriorate, I can use a larger font. A computer or iPhone or a tablet is not as good as an ebook, since the screen technology is different. An ebook screen is just like black ink on paper, and can be read just as easily in full sunlight.

My wife now has the new kindle paperwhite, which has a built in light, so she can read it in any lighting conditions from full sunlight to dark night.

Recharging is overnight once per fortnight at most. Anyone who thinks this is a problem should return to his wanking.

[cronus]

If the NSA wants to check what books I buy, they are welcome. Such uninteresting data will whittle down their numbers as they die of boredom.

I bought my kindle for about $NZ 200. I buy about 50 books a year, and save about $NZ 20 per book compared to what I would pay for the same book in paper form. The arithmetic is not exactly complex!

I also get a much wider selection, since the ebook libraries are well over a million titles. No book shop has that number of paper books.

I prefer to read the ebook, since it is lighter in weight than a paper book, and turning pages is easy. When my vision starts to deteriorate, I can use a larger font. A computer or iPhone or a tablet is not as good as an ebook, since the screen technology is different. An ebook screen is just like black ink on paper, and can be read just as easily in full sunlight.

My wife now has the new kindle paperwhite, which has a built in light, so she can read it in any lighting conditions from full sunlight to dark night.

Recharging is overnight once per fortnight at most. Anyone who thinks this is a problem should return to his wanking.

You cut and pasted that from a ad didn't you? I'm gonna rush out and buy a hammer for any kindle that ever enters my domain. A million books would be such a waste of one lifetime.