The book fights back? Waterstones to stop selling Kindle as book sales surge
- Thread starter editor
- Start date
2hats
Dust.
A lot of council libraries offer ebooks (variously mobi, epub and/or PDF) on line. You just have to register with them and link your 'standard' library registration to it, then they issue you with some password/PIN to access the catalogue (details vary from council to council). You can then select and download ebooks (and audio books) via a web interface. The ebooks are often managed via Adobe Digital Editions but it's possible to do it other ways.
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
I'm going to France next week to visit my daughter. I'm likely to take several books. Even as hand luggage the number of book I take will not exceed the weight allowance. I don't have a problem carrying several books.
Now, my sister likes to go on long distance hikes. Hard core stuff. Weeks in a tent in mountainous locations. And she finds a Kindle useful. So, yes I grant that it's a boon to her in those occasions. But it's instructive that when at home she reads books rather than her Kindle.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
If you have your bag nicked, you'll only lose one book, as opposed to all of them.
Why Waterstones ever stocked Kindles in the first place is beyond me. They were obviously always going to phase them out, seeing as they get about one penny if you then buy a book - from Amazon - whilst using Waterstones' wifi. You would have hoped that a company linked to HMV would have seen what went on at HMV (too much hardware that is available cheaper and with more choice elsewhere) and not make the same mistake. But apparently not.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Your purchases are all stored on your account, so you can just download them again, meaning you don't lose any!
Also means you don't lose anything you have sentimental value for, which is probably one of the biggest pluses for books in the first place.
8den
No I'm pretty sure that was 8ball...
I bought a kobo, a mini ereader 2nd hand a few weeks ago and aside from dumping my book collection on it I've not used it. But I'd like to have it for holidays and situations were space is at a premium. But yes this is the first year in a while we're I've bought and read over a dozen physical books and I've been surprised how much I missed them
8den
No I'm pretty sure that was 8ball...
If its Diamond he'll find a way to seamlessly drop the title into the conservation.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
My mum eats books, tears through them, and so when we'd go on holiday for three weeks (dad and kids all had academic holidays so we tended to do it all in one go) she'd have to ration herself because she couldn't carry the number of books she'd normally read in that time. Now, she's got no problem
Of course, we don't go on holiday for three weeks anymore...
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Only if you go and buy another kindle whilst on holiday. And you haven't dodgily downloaded any of your books in the first placeYour purchases are all stored on your account, so you can just download them again, meaning you don't lose any!
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Well yes, you have to get another device. But you'd have to do that for a book, too (admittedly, probably cheaper).
If you've dodgily downloaded any of your books you can just do that again!
Plus, the Kindle app can be used on lots of different devices, so even if you lose your actual Kindle there's still the possibility of using another device. I'm pretty sure my mum uses her iPad as much, if not more, than her Kindle to read Kindle books at the moment. I could be wrong though, I think the reading experience is still preferable on a dedicated e-reader.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I think there is a market in selling dust jackets on their own here. Then you can hide the kindle in the War & Peace dust jacket while reading John Grisham on the sly so nobody knows you have a thing for crap legal thrillers from the 90s
Blagsta
Minimum cage, maximum cage
You can show off to other people what you're reading
wtfftw
roof's about to blow ♩♪♩♬ ♬♩♪♩
The one right by new street station?
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
absolutely, all true. But I was replying to a post about the advantages of books over kindles whilst on holiday, where it would be rather trickier to do the things you suggest.
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
I go through about 3 a week when on holiday. So if I'm going for 2 weeks I take 7 books. This has never caused me any problems. And I often buy more books when I'm on holiday, so I return with more than I went with.My mum eats books, tears through them, and so when we'd go on holiday for three weeks (dad and kids all had academic holidays so we tended to do it all in one go) she'd have to ration herself because she couldn't carry the number of books she'd normally read in that time. Now, she's got no problem
Of course, we don't go on holiday for three weeks anymore...
If you find that inconvenient, then I get why a Kindle would be useful to you. I'm not decrying that. And I'm glad that there's a solution to your woes.
But at the end of the day, for me, a book is a book. A Kindle is a tool, and not a replacement for the real thing.
Blagsta
Minimum cage, maximum cage
Yeah that's the one, by the ramp up to New St
danny la rouge
Ninja swords for all disabled people
Striking up conversations is removed a further step.
If you see someone reading an interesting book you can ask them about it. If you see someone reading a Kindle you first have to ask them what they're reading. Then they might say anything from "50 Shades of Grey" to "More Competition Law for Dull Corporate Lawyers". If you could already see that, you'd know to keep the chat to the weather.
wtfftw
roof's about to blow ♩♪♩♬ ♬♩♪♩
Oh OK. Last time I looked into it it wasn't possible or maybe my kindle is ancient.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
You can get waterproof cases.
2hats
Dust.
In general I'd much rather read a traditional book than an ebook as I find it easier to flip back and forth between sections, make notes. Sometimes I print out sections of PDFs so I can scribble notes over them (most of what I read is material I'm learning something from and reading from any sort of screen all day will leave me cross-eyed). Also, many ebook formats are highly suboptimal where there is a lot of graphical content (I prefer printed or PDF/djvu if needs be). However there are times ebooks win out - from a storage point of view (I only have so much shelf space), when needing to search for specific information and when travelling. E-ink based readers I find less tiring than iPad and other multi-use tablets. I expect that most of my personal library will eventually tend towards mainly ebook with just a handful of traditional books.
8den
No I'm pretty sure that was 8ball...
It has its merits though. I really didn't need to see that the woman a table over from me was reading "50 shades of Grey" in a cafe, over breakfast.
krtek a houby
Saoirse don Phalaistín!
I can see the attraction of using e books. Don't have one myself; I get 99% of my books from various charity shops, 2nd hand bookshops.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I own no ereader dedicated to that function, I use a chrome app to read .epub on my netbook. Magic scroll. It's free! long sesions of computer screen reading often lead to grainy/square eyed feelings though, minor drawback considering how free or cheap I can get .epubs for.
8den
No I'm pretty sure that was 8ball...
I bought a mini ebook reader for 30quid. It has about 800 books on it (and isn't even close to full) and fits in my jeans pocket.
Public libraries do lend e-books. Also, you can (legally) acquire loads of out-of-copyright e-books free from sites like Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/
I know the latter just didn't know about libraries loaning them.
Similar threads
