Oooooops.............BOHICA
Is anyone else addicted to these things. I buy 'em; read 'em . . . and can't bring myself to throw them away. As a consequence, I have 85 issues of Woodwork Magazine and 168 issues of Fine Woodworking taking up 64 inches of shelf space in an already crowded study. My wife will probably have one helluva bonfire when I cash it in.
I don't throw any away either, but in reality I don't have them organized such that I could ever use them again. Let's see, most of the FWW issues, all of ShopNotes, I think all of WoodSmith, about 7 years of Wood and American Woodworker and another I can't think of right now, several years of Workbench, plus a hundred misc one-off issues of various mags. Boxes and boxes of the damn things. Then throw in a hundred books and my house isn't big enough. No wonder my shop is so dang small. One of these days I need to at least organize them into boxes so I can actually find a particular issue.
Mine go into the 'library', on a built-in bookshelf next to the water closet. I pick one at random every morning and continually find new projects that I want to start immediately after the current one is finished ... then back on the shelf it goes, perhaps never to be seen again except by random fate.
Too bad corporate greed keeps digital ink from blossoming. My recreational reading has been done on an electronic book for the past five or six years and my once yards of bookshelf space in almost every room of the house has been reduced to a couple of CD's. Beside, my eBook holds 50 novels, and those bits and bytes weigh next to nothing when you go to packing for a trip.
I don't feel so bad now.
I'm in the same boat - I've got boxes of magazines in my basement full of magazines that aren't organized, and piles of books throughout the house - in real convenient locations - bathrooms, bedroom, by the computer, etc.
While I might remember the article, I would be hard pressed to find the book or magazine. Why do I keep them? I dunno, I sure can't part with them.
SWIMBO doesn't understand any of the above, and is constantly urging me to throw them away for that very reason. She's constantly reminding me that there are literally thousands of dollars tied up in books and magazines here.
Oh well. Maybe someday I'll glue them all together and make a cabinet out of them.
Brian
I am not sure that it is corporate greed that has slowed the momentum of e-books. There have been technology issues, and problems with authors who are concerned about the potential piracy of their work.
Bob McBreen
Then they shouldn't publish their work as an E-book. Personally, I hate E-books. I'm much more comfortable with a 'real' book in my hands, plus I can carry it outside etc, I can drop it and its ok. Not so with a 'pewter.
Suffice it say that if your e-book reading experience has been limited to computer screens, hand-held pda's, and even the "Bookman" or HieBook, you have yet to experience the technology that will eventually replace "real" books for many purposes.
Swingman responds:
I've not seen this technology, but I have some trouble envisioning truly tough electronic circuitry, the kind of tough that will take the battering even a paperback will take. I'd like to see something along that line, as I am learning a little more about electronic publishing almost daily, and hope to eventually turn out some good quality CD books for woodworkers. Slower going than I thought for a variety of reasons, starting with a house fire and then getting complex (little things like learning book layout, checking out some of the programs used to lay out print and e-books, etc.).
My concept still involves a computer, primarily because I know zip about any other form of electronic publishing. That may change, but at the moment, I don't see it. There's nothing out there on a large enough basis for me to work at making the transition. If I do my books in formats that only one person in
100 (since we're already into a specialized audience called woodworkers) how many am I apt to sell? That may be greed, but someone somewhere has to pay my bills while I work.So, should I google on Bookman and HieBook to see what's workable? Or is out of sight? Will digging back a message or 2 and googling on your names help? I'm gonna give it a try.
Charlie Self "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." Mark Twain
Rarely are these studies NOT skewed in some manner ... because of a number of factors, but mostly because they are based on use of hand-held pda's and computer screens. Unfortunately it is an old, and sad, oft repeated myth in the industry .. or what's left of it.
Nothing funny, or conclusive, about it. See above... and my reply to his post. ;>)
Thus far the only acclaimed "satisfactory reading experience" has been on the Rocket eBook (and I've tried, and tested, them all). Had its reception been met on the publishing side with the same vision and foresight as went into its design, you would see school kids walking around without back packs at this point. ... and you have to keep in mind that it was a first generation device.
Unfortunately, I would not recommend either the Bookman, or the HieBook as an introduction to e-book readers as they are not nearly as well designed, or as ergonomic, as the ReB, which is no longer being produced. It was proverbially "ahead of its time".
I own all three, and four ReB's. Other than magazines, I have read NOTHING but a ReB since 1998, and I read vociferously (spent as much as $200/month on books prior to that time). BUT, I have had to confine my recreational reading to what is in the public domain for the past couple of years because of the issues on publishing side of the coin.
While you may still be able to find a ReB on eBay, my advice is to wait for "digital ink" based on nanotechnology ... those who (mis)judge the reading experience solely on prejudicial experience with computer screens and pda's will likely favor the next wave of technology.
"Brian L" wrote in news:zlPUb.32145$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:
She's urging you to throw them away, and then in the same breath telling you that they are worth thousands of dollars?
Am I the only one going "WTF?!".
Typical SWMBO logic, I guess.....
But it really makes me sad these days to see how reading, books, and knowledge are denigrated in popular culture...
I guess that I don't have much more to say. I told you the methodology for deriving my opinion and another poster independently gave you the same opinion, but you don't buy it. Time to move on to other topics.
Bob McBreen
You're correct, I don't buy it. Unfortunately, it's an all too familiar and tired old saw from folks who are operating from preconceived notions and who are equally unfamiliar with the concept and the technology. It is notable that the same mentality has pooh poohed almost every technological advance from the wheel to the moon lander.
??? Was this a serious reply or just being a smarty pants?
Sorry I didn't reply to this part of your message earlier, but I was doing a complicated glue-up in steps and couldn't leave it for more than a few minutes at a time. (OBWW) ;>)
Unfortunately, you've hit the current 'state of affairs' nail on the head. It doesn't have to be that way, because the technology has been there for a while, but it currently _is_ that way because of issues I alluded to in other posts with regard to the publishing industry, along with the following, current 'show stoppers':
What is reckoned to be the largest factor of general non-acceptance thus far is a no brainer - "Cost", due to economies of scale. Those in the know reckon that a reading device must sell for well under $100 to gain ubiquitous acceptance by the masses, and preferably "free". Thus far the best devices have been double or triple that. Many reckon that once economies of scale kick in, reading devices will likely be given away as an adjunct to purchases.
Standardization on a format which can be used by different manufacturers has been the next biggest fly in the ointment, and is probably more responsible, in combination with cost, in non-acceptance thus far. One of the factors in this regard is that Microsoft got into the fray, wrongmindedly as usual, and muddied the waters to the extent that they have yet to clear.
Next biggest bugaboo is digital copying. Digital Rights Management is ostensibly the biggest factor/excuse for the publishing industry being scared to move forward with digital publishing. They, like the recording industry, simply do not have a clue how to handle digital rights, nor do they understand how to create a business model to take advantage of digital publishing. NuvoMedia had a workable solution to this to a great extent, but NO encryption system in current use is hack proof and easy enough for publisher and consumer alike. However, NuvoMedia/GemStar's encryption system did work, and worked well for a couple of years. Barnes and Nobles, and Powell's, sold many best sellers in NM's format, and so did GemStar, but the publishing industry never really got behind it. GemStar had a shot a getting it right, but was reckoned too greedy in the final analysis.
The least important aspect, but one that was hyped in the media and the Internet, is/was the misconception that you've seen propounded here today as THE reason. That is, the actual experience of "reading a book" is missing in e-book devices. Nothing could be further from the truth for most people who have actually tried a well designed device like NuvoMedia's. However, the publishing industry was all to eager to get behind this misconception and make sure it got plenty of publicity. What you get is opinions from those who have never used a good device, particularly the all too predictable "computer screen" and "pda" analogies, which are comparing apples and oranges Then there are those who will only be dragged kicking and screaming to any kind of "change". I will say this, damn few lovers of reading and books who have spent overnight reading NM's original device are willing to give it up, and I've never met a single one. I can't tell you how many 'off the cuff' presentations I've given in air terminals and restaurants when folks see me reading one that really does "read like a book".
None of this does much for your efforts in self publishing, but have heart. The big factors for acceptance - cost, standardization, and digital rights management, will be solved in the not too distant future. And the newer nanotechnology that is on the drawing board will mean that you will be able to fold up your entire library and stick it in your pocket.
ITMT, if you want to pursue digital publishing on your own, I'd say (and hate to do so) that Microsoft Reader probably has the most ubiquitous acceptance on the most device, such as they are ... but at this point you still have to figure out a way to protect your intellectual property from unauthorized copying.
On a serious note, then perhaps I'm missing something. Please enlighten me.
Well, my efforts are a lot more mundane, I'm afraid. The essential book is going to be a book, done on a CD, with PDF formatting.
Any writer learns to accept the fact that the occasional theft of copy will happen. There really isn't much that can be done, because catching the culprits is nearly impossible. That said, an astonishingly large percentage of the public is honest and won't steal even given the chance, so the odds are good I can make enough money (especially since everything is mine to keep after expenses that do NOT include 85-90% to the publisher and bookseller) from each book to make it worthwhile, IF I can figure out the marketing end. Just putting the offer up on my web site, when I get one, is not apt to be enough.
But that's probably 8-10 months away now. I'd like to get it rolling in time for the Christmas market, but who knows. All my predictions in the past 26 months have laid themselves out below the holes on a busy two seater, so there's no reason to expect a change now.
Charlie Self "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." Mark Twain
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