Thursday, November 11, 2010

Prithee, Inform Me: The E-Complaint Box

Happy Veteran's Day, everyone! If you haven't yet thanked someone who has served or is currently serving our country, please do. (Thanks, Dad!)

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, mes auteurs, only 7% of on-line adults who read books say they read e-books. For the 93% of you who don't (yet), my question is: why not?

I've heard a variety of complaints against the e-book format, from pricing/cost to display issues to nostalgia/preference for the printed page. Wherefore the holding out, all ye hold-outs? You can't all be waiting for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa.

To the comments!

37 comments:

  1. I actually prefer the feel of a book--the heft, the cover, the easy ability to see how much I've read and how far I have to go. Perhaps a contemporary book would work as an e-Book, but I can't imagine reading Melville, say, or Dickens on a screen.

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  2. I don't read them because I don't own an e-book reader (aside from my computer) and while I do read internet-based fiction, I like being able to step away from the computer and read printed books. I'd rather spend the money on filling my shelves with print books than buying an e-reader.

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  3. No Kindle. But much Kindle-envy! Actually, I'm really coveting an iPad. Who knows, Christmas is coming. Those numbers will change soon enough~ :o)

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  4. I've only tried my husband's e-reader. He got a fairly small one so it would be compact, but I found the screen size too small. I had to keep hitting the "next" button way too often for my liking.

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  5. I too like the feel of the printed book, and bookshelves filling up. Also, though, I find it very difficult to "flip through" an e-book to find a specific passage and I am an avid re-reader, discusser, and quoter of beloved books. It's hard for me to read on a screen. I also like the idea that when I curl up to read a book, I'm taking a break from buttons, so to speak.

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  6. I read a couple chapters on my dad's Kindle and didn't mind the screen, although I prefer real books. I will get an e-reader eventually, but probably not until the next generation technology is available (what- and whenever that may be).

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  7. Kindle's great. Easy on the eyes. Lots of free samples to read before buying. No glare. Better price. Can't go wrong. The color Nook looks cool though.

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  8. I'm definitely putting in my vote for 50%/50% poverty/nostalgia. It's the same reason I'll never buy clothes entirely online either...going to the store (or library) is an experience, and I like to get a feel for the quality (in this case, check out the jacket design, flip through the pages, etc.) before I buy!

    I'm fascinated by emerging technology and the direction books are going in (especially the new childrens/color e-readers), but I have no inkling to switch over myself anytime soon.

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  9. Its easy to share a good book, not so much on an e-reader. All my friends keep saying its the wave of the future so I may end up publishing my book on one but it makes me said to think paper books would be a thing of the past.....

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  10. My qualm is with the pricing. Most of the e-books I want to read are $9.99. Why buy an e-book at $9.99 when I can buy a used book for under $5.00, including shipping through Amazon's fast and free delivery? Not to mention I'd have to buy and e-reader. Until major publishing houses can beat the price I'm sticking with paper books and the library. Plus, I've always dreamed of having a library in my house one day, can't do that with digital books.

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  11. I don't want to pay a hundred bucks for another gizmo I do not need.

    That said, I may get an e-reader someday anyhow. My knee jerks against consumer culture, but my apartment is, admittedly, quite wee.

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  12. My biggest complaint is pricing...not of the books themselves, but of the e-readers. I would buy a book for 9.99, if I can buy a paperback for that much, I can buy an electronic book for that much. I, however, can't afford to spend 150 bucks on an e-reader when I have to get college text books every other semester.

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  13. I do most of my pleasure reading while stretched out in bed or on the sofa, for that reason I read mostly paperbacks. I have found the hardbacks to be heavy, and when I fall asleep and the book hits my glasses.... I can only imagine what will happen if I fall asleep reading a nook, and IT falls and hits my glasses.... How do I explain the broken nose to the ER doc??? ;-) Potential broken noses aside, I am considering a nook for my Winter Gift from me to me. I like the idea I can loan an nook book to a friend for a couple of weeks at no charge to either of us, that nook won't take the book back like Kindle has done a couple of times, and that customer service is ever so much easier to access.

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  14. I've owned a Sony for several years. It great for traveling and I love the adjustable type size. Even used it to read my own work at a writers conference.
    But even in e-formats I couldn't afford all the books I read. Libraries are beginning to offer eformats, but it's still new a new service. I borrow most of new fiction I crave in audiobook format, load it into my Ipod and listen when and wherever.
    After long, long hours at the computer screen, I book feels like a break.

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  15. Nothing against e-books per se, but I'm reluctant to purchase a dedicated reader. I'm hoping for a tablet that can toggle between an e-ink and LCD display. May be waiting a while, but I'm good with physical books until then.

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  16. I'm thinking about buying a reader, but I don't know which and haven't had time to research the options. I'd want one with a good display, I strongly object to being tied to a single vendor, and I have to be able to share them with others without lending them my reader. My wife and I read a lot of the same books, and she's local, but I also send my niece anything I'm done with that I think she might enjoy, and she's in another state.

    The prices most sellers charge also seem to me to not reflect reality yet. We're still being asked to pay a premium for novelty -- publisher protestations of how much more it costs to produce these than we would think, have completely failed to convince me. I've never been a big hardcover buyer, so I'm not really interested in paying more for the decreased convenience of an ebook. So that also accounts for some of my resistance.

    Not to mention, I like to go down to Uncle Hugo's and see what I can find in the used section or what the employees recommend.

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  17. I forgot to mention that when I buy a book, I own the book and can (try to) resell it if it's not a keeper or even return it if it's a real stinker. Maybe I've misunderstood, but I've yet to see a market for second-hand ebooks.

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  18. I'm a hold-out for a lot of reasons, but if I'm being completely honest, the largest one is prestige.

    Simply by holding a book, people perceive you as intelligent or cultured. People with an e-reader are perceived as having the newest toy. Maybe I'm shallow, but it's the truth and I doubt I'm the only one feeling this way.

    That said, just because they're not for me, doesn't mean I don't love e-books. I think they're fantastic and getting better all the time. E-readers are increasing how much people read, even drawing in people who don't normally read. That's incredible!

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  19. Looking at a screen for too long gives me migraines- and I often read in order to unwind before I go to sleep, which reading on a screen really doesn't do!

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  20. Alright: printed books don't run out of battery, don't break down from electronics failure, don't attract late train muggers, don't break if your bag receives a hard knock (and are cheap to replace if they did), aren't bound to a specific file format that may be obsolete five years from now, can be bought and sold used, and cover 100% of every publisher's catalog (unless some books are only published as e-books? I've never encountered this, though.) E-readers are cool gadgets, but as far as I'm concerned, may be better suited for episodic, throw-away contents.

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  21. I considered a Kindle right about the time the second version came out, but I was afraid it would become just another gadget sitting in the corner collecting dust. I also tend to browse for books IN the bookstore with friends who like the same kind of books. We're in the same aisle, walking back and forth pointing books out to one another, reading cover copy out loud, ohhing and ahhing and cracking jokes. We lend books to one another when one person isn't sure yet that they want to invest in a new series. The hard copy book is part of a social experience for me. And finally, after staring at a computer screen all day, the printed page is a nice change. I also spent quite a bit of my time the last year in doctor's offices with my dad, reading whatever paperback I had tucked in my purse, without worrying about the 'no electronic devices" signs on the walls of the testing rooms.

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  22. Why I have not bought an e-book reader or e-books.
    1) I don't want to have a single use piece of equipment. I don't have the latest generation of phones, so I don't have a screen I can read on.
    2) The cost per reader is too high
    3) the cost per e-book is still higher than most paperbacks. 99% of my book purchases are in paperback format.
    4) the technology gets dated very rapidly which makes items 1 through 3 very annoying
    5) there is no way to back up my e-book files and no guarantee that future e-book readers will read old format e-books.
    6) most e-book programs are lease-only options. I don't actually buy the file.

    To summarize, e-books are more expensive and less durable than paper books.

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  23. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a reading device, when I already have hands/fingers/thumbs installed?

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  24. I'm just waiting for the inevitable compatibility shake up so that in a year or two I don't find myself with a useless piece of several hundred dollar plastic.

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  25. I was an eReader holdout until geography drove me to eBooks and I found that I really like them. No bookstore, a limited library, and small kids made my book addiction difficult to feed. Regarding cost, especially for students, there are a couple of things to consider.

    1. Public Domain. These eBooks are free, the print ones are not. If you are in 9th grade a $150 eReader will pay for itself in required reading literature before you graduate. For textbooks that you have to purchase the hyperlinks to index, dictionary, etc. are great time savers.

    2. I buy a lot of eBooks for $6.99 or less, often bestsellers, and many series writers will offer the first of a series as a free download when a later book pubs. I've found some of my favorite authors this way.

    3. I get 20%-25% off one title offers in my inbox all the time from B & N, Amazon, and smaller ePub only imprints.

    4. Novellas! Won't buy them at a brick and mortar because honestly, there aren't many. There are lots of them on the internet, often by novelists I really like, and priced at $2.99 or less.

    And finally, if I have my computer I have access to my entire (recent) library. Anywhere I go. Beats travel with extra book poundage.

    I still love books, real books, for a lot of the reasons cited here and I always will but I have to say once I took the plunge I haven't looked back. Convenience and affordability after the initial investment are great. And if a computer screen doesn't bother your eyes, you don't even have to buy a dedicated device.

    I'm drinkin' the kool-aid these days.

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  26. I don't do e-readers for the simple fact that I spend enough time on the computer (on the average about 15 hours a day) so the last thing that I want is a small object that I can't hold or control (muscular dystrophy in my hands) and that I have to either squint to read or strain my eyes until I get blurry vision.

    My preference will always be the printed word on wood fiber.

    And I will probably be the last one on the planet Earth without one.

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  27. I do have an e-reader, but I've never purchased a book for it. My library lends ePub books, so my e-reader is not much more than a very handy library book at present. Then, too, there's Gutenburg. When I love a book, however, I do still go buy the physical book.

    @G, I'm not sure how muscular dystrophy affects your hands, but I have other problems in my hands and have found there are benefits. For instance, my hands can ache for days after holding a book open for a few hours, which I don't have to do with an e-reader. And since most of my problems are with my right hand, I can use my left hand exclusively if I need a rest. Also, I'm not sure about other brands, but my e-reader (a Nook) allows me to adjust the print size, so no squinting. So you know.

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  28. I don't need more gadgets, I stare at screens too much already, and just about everything that balinares said, above....

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  29. My main holdout is book loaning. We have a limited selection of new/genre books on this side of the world. Those of us who read have to share what we've got. It's not worth $100+ to me if it means only I get to read the books I buy (even if I have access to more books).

    And the "one-time loan, two weeks" thing doesn't work for me. I don't always finish a book that fast.

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  30. I'm holding out for an edgy e-reader that sneers at the current format-driven culture of Sneetches we have now. I want to buy some books at Amazon and others at B&N or Borders and still be able to upload my own .doc files without having to run them through four conversion files first. The IPad is too big and too expensive.

    I am a patient woman.

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  31. I don't have an e-reader because I'm reluctant to spend that much money on a unitasker, even if it's a shiny unitasker full of indie books. Instead, I'm planning on upgrading my Mac OS so I can get the Kindle For Mac app. I do like the thought of squirrelling away more reading material in my laptop!

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  32. I had resisted the ereader for the same reasons many hear cite;feel and smell of a book, nostalgia,etc,but after doing a purging this summer, I decided that I would get one by the end of the year. There is just nowhere else to put books and my family begged me to do something. Well, I won a Kindle a few weeks later. For the most part I am enjoying it. I have some issues with pricing but I have availed myself of the numerous free books available, some pretty good and of course a lot of the classics I haven't read since high school or college. I am doing about 1/3 Kindle and 2/3 books and right now that is working. I go to many author events and most of them I want to have a signed copy, especially my favorite authors. I am purchasing less paperbacks but there are still one or two authors like Beverly Jenkins that I just have to hold to read; I have a ritual with her books. We'll see how it goes. Of course, I will never give up books.

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  33. I spend so much time on the computer that for me to lie in bed with a book is a huge treat and relaxation. That being said, I've never tried an e-reader, so I don't know if I'd feel the same. I doubt it. Also, a writer, I often scan my bookshelves and pick something up for inspiration, flipping through the pages. It's just not the same in a digital environment - I know this because it's the same with CDs, I'm very visually and tactile orientated -- scrolling through my iTunes list is nothing like going through a pile of CDs. In fact, I listen to less music now that most of it is on iTunes.

    But If I had the money, I might buy an e-reader for travelling.

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  34. I don't like reading books on the computer because staring at the screen for hours (which I already do far too much for work) gives me a headache. If I could afford a Kindle I might be tempted, since they are less glare-y, but I still like having some things that don't require charged batteries to work!

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  35. I simply don't have the cash to buy it. Also, the whole e-book ease has yet to come to where I'm living right now so I don't see the need to have it yet.

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  36. I don't have an e-reader and have absolutely no interest in buying one. But that's a different issue, because I can still read PDFs on my computer.
    I just don't like reading books on the computer though.

    1) Reading books is part of my time away from the computer - I spend enough time staring at the screen as it is.
    2) I find that I skim over things more when I read on a computer, and I really don't like doing that.
    3) I get headaches when I'm reading on the computer. Headaches are bad.

    I like being able to flip through books and re-read my favourite bits. I like being able to look at my books on the shelf.

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  37. Delia: I have no manual dexterity or griping ability to speak of (but yes I can still type at about 15 words a minute), so to hold something that small without dropping it (major problem as of late) is simply impossible for me to do. Even if I was able to hold it, working the buttons would present a severe challenge.

    I can actually hold a book reasonably well because I use rubber fingertips on both hands and use my stomach (please insert chuckle here) to prop the book on.

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