E books and E book readers

[mischief]

What do you think of e books and e book readers?
When I saw my step brothers' kindle I just had to have one.
All I could see was no trees cut down to make paper books,easy to get-I can shop on line so I dont have to use my car to visit the local bookshop.
It seems like a perfect idea.
Is it?
Are there any minus points for these things?

[S.O.P]

Like any technology they get better all the time.

Take for example, my wife was given a used Kindle 1. I decided to buy Gaia's Garden 2nd Edition with it. The pictures were terrible and entirely lessened the book for me. Would a new Kindle resolve that? One would hope.

Basically anything can be used as a e-book reader these days, from smartphones to tablets to purpose-built. Plus you have e-ink and IPS displays, some prefer one over the other.

Plus, are they worth it? What about the Foxconn suicides? Companies forcing their employees to churn out fancy devices for the western world? What about the throwaway mentality of these devices? Power usage, DRM, costs? Is a well-kept book just as good, infinitely more portable and will probably last longer? Only negative is the weight of a 1000 books vs a 1000 files.

[annette]

yeah I don't know. I like to keep my favourite books in print. not adverse to technology but like to hold a book in my hands and flick through to my favourite parts. But I am a technophobe. I like printed books. Old fashioned I guess.

[Unmutual]

I like both. I mostly use my Nook for magazine reading at work, with a little deeper reading mixed in(I get to spend ~half my time reading at work). I "found" a digital copy of the designers manual, but any illustrations were subpar, mainly because of the size of the screen. Needless to say, I ended up paying $107 for a hard copy of the designers' manual.

However, the Nook version of the green pharmacy is nice. I haven't had to zoom yet. I guess you get what you pay for.

[labradel]

tets remember trees are fully renewable and when the tree is used for almost any purpose that all the root system (read sequested carbon ) stays in the ground

[S.O.P]

But what if it is clear-felled and then burned? That carbon would return to the atmosphere if it was only grass left over what was a thriving rainforest.

Sorry, I just got back from Fiji and I forgot how shit it looked.

[labradel]

yes well there extremes in all things moderation is the answer but even burning should not remove the root carbon from the ground and burning the trash is in my opinion is just plain silly

[Bryan92]

Call me old-fashioned but I prefer papers. I love my large home library with all those books on the shelves, basically, I like to own things. And I hope my kids will pick some up from the shelf someday just because of the curiosity, which is impossible with all those Kindles

[pebble]

That would be spam then Bryan92.

>>All I could see was no trees cut down to make paper books,easy to get-I can shop on line so I dont have to use my car to visit the local bookshop.

Have to agree with the comment above about the usefulness of trees even when harvested. Trees are sustainable, and a paper book lasts a very long time with care, whereas a kindle is designed to be obsolete within a a specific period of time (less than a decade?) and currently where I live it would most likely end up in the landfill (although e-waste recovery is getting better). Then there is the huge cost to the environment of the internet, as well as the kindle hardware (see the current issues around metals and mining and peak minerals).

Kindles are cool, but I think for most people it would be hard to claim any green advantage.

[Lighboxes]

I agree with Bryan92 ... Ebooks will never replace paper books!