Comments on: Wow, really?

By: martha

martha — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:28:22 +0000

I think this issue – of saving back-up copies and 'loaning' to a friend – one that need to be resolved before e-books are truly accepted.

By: Jo

Jo — Sun, 30 May 2010 06:21:00 +0000

I don't know if I can digitally send an ebook, never tried.

By: Jo

Jo — Sun, 30 May 2010 06:19:48 +0000

Re ereader, yes Glenda I can download the books I have purchased as often as I want. I don't know about sharing, I don't know anyone with a similar system anyway. Quite a few of the books are encrypted and can only be opened by me anyway. I don't usually open them from my PC but when I want them. I can sort and search in the Fictionwise library.

My Palm is about the size of a cell phone so can fit on my belt or waistband. As it is then under my shirt, it would be less easy to snatch. Same with a cell phone, keep it on my waistband. I also use a purse on a string which fits over my neck and is less easy to snatch too.

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:46:38 +0000

Yeah, Martha, I'm in the same boat re too many books. And when you get older you look to downsizing accommodation and housework, not increasing it by buying still more books and bookshelves.

One of the problems authors, publishers and sellers are trying to solve at the moment is the problem of DRM and whether one should be allowed to save multiple copies, or loan eBooks, etc. If you buy a paper book, that's all you get, one copy. Sure you can lend it, or re-sell it, but it still remains a single copy. What if you buy an ebook and then lend it out to 100 friends? Is that fair to the author, publisher? Is it fair to you, if you have to buy it all over again when something goes wrong with your ereader?

Living in a place where bag-snatching is rife, I have a horror of having expensive phones computers – or ereaders were I to buy one – with me. I'd hate to lose an entire library because I left my ereader in a bus!!!

What's the case with your reader, Jo? Is it easy for you to save a copy? Are there any restrictions to you sending a digital copy to someone else? As Fictionwise is keeping your library too, does this mean you can download the same book free of charge if you somehow "lose" it?

By: martha

martha — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:10:51 +0000

Our guide, in typically coy guide-like fashion (I should know I am one) didn't tell us what it would do if a virgin ever tried to walk across that bridge.

These stories usually involve a town or place sinking under the waves or being destroyed. Here in Estonia, we tell the story that if our capitol city Tallinn is ever finished, the giant asleep in Lake Ülemiste will rise up and destroy the city.

By: Jo

Jo — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:35:14 +0000

Looking for virgins eh, to eat them or to ravish them? I love dragons.

I should also add, about ebooks, that Fictionwise, where I buy most of mine, maintain a library of my books, however, as an added precaution I keep copies on my PC as well.

By: martha

martha — Fri, 28 May 2010 09:33:41 +0000

Peter First:
I think it's or will be easier to back up an e-book than it is a 'real' book. In this e-format it's just a file. I've left so many books behind in my various moves, that I would still have with me if I could have put them into some kind of electronic form.

Jo:
I still LOVE real books but it breaks my heart to not have a place to put them. And with all the stuff I habitually carry in my work bag, they often get mashed up

The dragon is guarding a bridge in the centre of Ljubljana, apparently looking for virgins, they told me.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:58:50 +0000

I am 10 years younger than you Martha but have the same problem with book storage – not to mention the worries about silverfish et al.

I had this vision of my considerable printed book collection residing on an e-reader that gets stolen.

Can you make a backup of an e-book?
Does insurance cover the loss?

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 26 May 2010 06:14:56 +0000

By the way, love your dragon Martha.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 26 May 2010 06:14:34 +0000

That could be very true Martha, never thought of it before, I certainly qualify in the age bracket (71). I have been reading ebooks for many years now on my Palm Zire. I like it because I can always carry a book around with me easily, and not just one, I usually have 3 or 4 on my Palm. However I find I still prefer a paper book for some reason.