How Digital Would You Go? (iPad/Kindle Related)

[DVCLiz]

My new favorite thing to do with my iPad/Kindle combination - I have a print subscription to People magazine (I'm a long time subscriber, but had let it lapse this summer and had not renewed. ) In looking at new apps I discovered the People one - but a single issue cost 3.99. I renewed my print subscription and got the digital version of each issue for free. (I'm willing to have the print edition delivered to my house because of the cost savings for the digital version and also because other family members like to read it - and we have to have SOMETHING to read in the tub!)

I can read People on my iPad, which I did this morning at the hairdressers. People has some really excellent book recommendations - surprisingly, both People and Target have great book review/purchase selectors. I read a review of a new book in People, tapped my iPad to go to Amazon, selected the Kindle version, bought it, and downloaded it to my iPad. Then I went to the Kindle app on my iPad and downloaded the book from Archives to my Home screen and started reading. SWEET!

Honestly, I can see a time when I have all media delivered digitally. Books, magazines, newspapers, movies, music, audio books, all of it is or will be available in digital format.

No more having to store books and DVDs, no more music CDs scratched or lost in someone's car, audiobooks and music on my iPhone or iPod, etc. I am totally in awe of all the technology and look forward to the day I can access anything electronically.

What about you? How much of this kind of media do you/would you get digitally? What do you "need" or want to have in physical format?

Just interested in everyone's perspective...

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I cancelled home delivery of my newspaper and now get it everyone on my Kindle LOVE It!!!

 

[mrsxsparrow]

I don't MIND reading something on a Kindle/iPad... but I don't really enjoy it.

For me, reading is more than the story and the words. I've loved to read since before I could... my whole family is readers. I even majored in English for the first two years of college.

But there's something about a book or a magazine that doesn't translate for me. The physical feel in my hands, the noise the paper makes when I turn the page, even the smell just all adds to my experience and makes it much more enjoyable.

Plus when I was really little my grandmother told me you could always tell if a book was good or not by the way it smells... which I've found to be true! Weird I know... but all the books on my iPad smell the same, how can I tell them apart?

I also cut out pictures and articles from magazines and put them all in a scrapbook type thing so I can always find something later. Can't do that with the Kindle.

 

[DVCLiz]

I don't MIND reading something on a Kindle/iPad... but I don't really enjoy it.

For me, reading is more than the story and the words. I've loved to read since before I could... my whole family is readers. I even majored in English for the first two years of college.

But there's something about a book or a magazine that doesn't translate for me. The physical feel in my hands, the noise the paper makes when I turn the page, even the smell just all adds to my experience and makes it much more enjoyable.

Plus when I was really little my grandmother told me you could always tell if a book was good or not by the way it smells... which I've found to be true! Weird I know... but all the books on my iPad smell the same, how can I tell them apart?

I also cut out pictures and articles from magazines and put them all in a scrapbook type thing so I can always find something later. Can't do that with the Kindle.

Someone on a thread on the Amazon discussion page the other day said he never knew so many people liked the smell of glue and mildew! Those are the only smells likely to be coming from a book unless you have dripped something into/onto it -lol.

You certainly can't keep a paper scrapbook if that's what you are interested in doing, but you can "clip" and store endlessly from digital content. You can highlight, copy and paste, etc. and have a digital scrapbook of the same images. I find that fascinating. No need to clip out and paste if you have digital asccess to the entire issue at your fingertips, though!

I take almost all my magazines digitally now - I have a lot of the "lady" magazines like O, More, Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Food Network, Redbook, and Vanity Fair, and the gossip mags like People, US, and OK Weekly. I either use a stand-alone app or get them from the Zinio app.

The only magazines I still take in paper format are People (since it is so much cheaper to have a print subscription in order to avoid paying the high digital only cost) and The New Yorker. If the Kindle version of the New Yorker would include the cartoon contest on the back page I would go back to reading it on Kindle, but it doesn't so I renewed my paper subscription. I'd also like to get back to reading Time and Newsweek so I think I will look up their digital offerings and see what my options are.

I dropped Martha Stewart and Real Simple but I'd take them again in digital format.

I don't like reading full-length novels on my iPad because my eyes blur after a while, but it is PERFECT for magazine reading for me. Full color, interactive taps, etc. I LOVE it. And I LOVE reading novels on my Kindle - I can read for hours and not get tired. I can read on my iPad longer if I choose the sepia background but I find it too heavy to hold for several hours.

 

[NotUrsula]

...
I also cut out pictures and articles from magazines and put them all in a scrapbook type thing so I can always find something later. Can't do that with the Kindle.

Sure you can (you can do it with all new-generation e-readers, but not first-gen basic Kindles)

All you have to do is cut (or physically scan) the item , convert it and upload it as a PDF.

 

[FireDancer]

It is only a matter of time before newspapers and magazines go pretty much exclusively digital. It costs them way less to put out a digital format and even the editor of the NY Time has admitted that he will most likely still be alive to see the last paper version of their newspaper.

In the tech industry it is already much more common for people to get their news electronically (either to a device like the Kindle or the web).

Text books are another place that needs to go digital.

In each case you create the content and push it out. You don't need to cut down trees, produce ink, apply the later to the former, put it all on trucks/planes/trains, and drive around delivering it door to door (for the paper or magazines) or to bookstores.

The Kindle model for books will eventually get rid of the need for a publisher (thank God) just as digital music delivery allows artists to create content and get it directly to the customer instead of going through a middleman. It is better for the musician/author to distribute directly to their customers because they get to keep much more of the revenue. Since they did the work that is much better as far as I'm concerned.

 

[DVCLiz]

For me, reading is more than the story and the words. I've loved to read since before I could... my whole family is readers. I even majored in English for the first two years of college.

lol - I too was an English major, and I also have an MLS and was a librarian for 17 years. It surprised me how quickly I came to enjoy the Kindle/iPad model rather than the physical book. I have been a reader all my life, too - I remember the thrill of learning in first grade (no reading in kindergarten then!) and I've never been without reading material since.

For me, it IS all about the story and the words. I don't want anything to distract me or detract from my reading experience. That's a personal preference, I know.

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't have an e-reader yet, but only because I'm holding out for color that isn't an Apple product. However, there are some situations where I'll stick with paper books for the foreseeable future, especially at the beach or near a pool; I'll take a $4 paperback into a lot of situations where I don't want to risk the theft or damage of a $100+ electronic device.

Also, as a librarian I buy ebooks, and there are certain uses where people tend to prefer paper. One of them, ironically, is software manuals -- I've been told by more people than I can count that they don't want to juggle toggling back and forth between screens or between two electronic devices when they are trying to work through how to use a complex application.

PS:

The Kindle model for books will eventually get rid of the need for a publisher (thank God) just as digital music delivery allows artists to create content and get it directly to the customer instead of going through a middleman. It is better for the musician/author to distribute directly to their customers because they get to keep much more of the revenue. Since they did the work that is much better as far as I'm concerned.[/

Yes and no. The problem with the direct distribution model in most cases is that those people are not particularly tech-savvy about security, and a good hacker will pirate those materials in a flash. That is what publishers will still be able to do for authors: defend their rights in return for a cut of the profits. The publishers will hire and pay the tech staff and maintain the server farms and law firms that act as gatekeepers. If you don't care about having your work copied and sold by unauthorized individuals then it is fine to distribute it yourself, but for most authors the technical requirements of defending copyright in a digital age make it worthwhile to pay professionals to do it for you.

 

[DVCLiz]

I don't have an e-reader yet, but only because I'm holding out for color that isn't an Apple product. However, there are some situations where I'll stick with paper books for the foreseeable future, especially at the beach or near a pool; I'll take a $4 paperback into a lot of situations where I don't want to risk the theft or damage of a $100+ electronic device.

Also, as a librarian I buy ebooks, and there are certain uses where people tend to prefer paper. One of them, ironically, is software manuals -- I've been told by more people than I can count that they don't want to juggle toggling back and forth between screens or between two electronic devices when they are trying to work through how to use a complex application.

PS:


Yes and no. The problem with the direct distribution model in most cases is that those people are not particularly tech-savvy about security, and a good hacker will pirate those materials in a flash. That is what publishers will still be able to do for authors: defend their rights in return for a cut of the profits. The publishers will hire and pay the tech staff and maintain the server farms and law firms that act as gatekeepers. If you don't care about having your work copied and sold by unauthorized individuals then it is fine to distribute it yourself, but for most authors the technical requirements of defending copyright in a digital age make it worthwhile to pay professionals to do it for you.

Those are both excellent points, Ursula - I think there will still be a role for publishers to play but I do think the relationship will evolve into something different than the current model. And, of course, there will still be a need for professional editing.

 

[mrsxsparrow]

Someone on a thread on the Amazon discussion page the other day said he never knew so many people liked the smell of glue and mildew! Those are the only smells likely to be coming from a book unless you have dripped something into/onto it -lol.

I know! There is no rhyme or reason I suppose but like I said... it was a tradition my grandmother started and I've been following it since I was three so now I love it

Sure you can (you can do it with all new-generation e-readers, but not first-gen basic Kindles)

All you have to do is cut (or physically scan) the item , convert it and upload it as a PDF.

Eh, for me it isn't the same. I'm on the computer all the time but I like the physical cutting and pasting. Just personal preference.

 

[FireDancer]

Yes and no. The problem with the direct distribution model in most cases is that those people are not particularly tech-savvy about security, and a good hacker will pirate those materials in a flash. That is what publishers will still be able to do for authors: defend their rights in return for a cut of the profits. The publishers will hire and pay the tech staff and maintain the server farms and law firms that act as gatekeepers. If you don't care about having your work copied and sold by unauthorized individuals then it is fine to distribute it yourself, but for most authors the technical requirements of defending copyright in a digital age make it worthwhile to pay professionals to do it for you.

While a good point in theory there is no technology that can keep someone from pirating a work (book, movie, song, or software). Even the most sophisticated DRM is hacked in days and sometimes minutes. Look at the iPhone jailbreaks. In some cases the new versions are jail broken while they are still in beta or the day the are released and Apple has some of the best security personnel in the world trying to prevent it.

No matter what kind of encryption or DRM a publisher comes up with everything has to be decrypted before it can be read, watched, or listened to, and that is the loop hole that will always be un-closeable.

Piracy is also looked at completely wrong in the mainstream. There will always be some people who pirate no matter what and while wrong these people are not lost customers because they were never going to buy the material in the first place. The best way to keep most people from pirating your material is to make it just as easy to purchase it digitally as it is to pirate. Look at the Beatles for example. If they released their music for purchase digitally people would buy it. Right now the only way to get the entire Beatles catalog digitally is to pirate it.

It is ease of access that keeps piracy in check, not DRM or encryption. All both of those do is inconvenience your customers. It is sad that it is still easier to pirate then it is to purchase many works (try to buy a legal ISO of most movies for example) and as long as that is the case people will pirate.

 

[NotUrsula]

Piracy is also looked at completely wrong in the mainstream. There will always be some people who pirate no matter what and while wrong these people are not lost customers because they were never going to buy the material in the first place.

But it isn't amateur pirates that are the real revenue-drain; it is the professionals. Someone who pirates your material and then sells it on the black market is going to cost you quite a lot more than someone who steals just for himself. Ask JKRowling if you don't believe me; there are pirated versions of the HP series (the books AND the films) selling literally millions of copies in China. The legitimate versions still do well, but the pirated ones are cheaper, so they sell even better.

Lower-pricing and easy availability isn't going to help you when your problem is black-market piracy -- what you need are attorneys.