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technocracygirlSo, I have been pretty much restricted to ebooks for the last two months. Being forced to go to an all ebook diet has made me much more supportive of the idea of ebooks, and I may read more of them as time progresses. But I still have serious issues with ebooks, and I seldom hear them discussed when people talk about "Oh noes! THey're coming to take away my paper books!"
1) The format wars. EPUB and/or Google Books may be dealing with this, but I still hate it. Dear B&N, why don't you make your format accessible to people, even if they don't own a Nook? I might buy from you, if that were the case. Also, I am not terribly inclined to buy a book that I may not be able to read in the future.
2) The lack of help from Google Books. I want to buy ebooks from independent bookstores. I even signed up with Third Place to do so. But I looked at the Google Books help, and then I looked at the forums, and I found a lot of people who couldn't get any help when they had problems. And as much as I may prefer to give money to 3rd Place instead of Sony, at least Sony has a staff of people who can help me out if things go awry.
3) I really liked the idea of "Buy this hardcover, pay an extra $1-5 and get the ebook added in!" I really wish publishers would do this. I'd buy more hardcovers, I think.
4) Households. So we all have to have the same brand if we want the family to be able to read the household's books? What if there are more than five people in a family? In a divorce, or when a child moves out, how do you split up the books? How do you keep your kid from gaining access to those X-rated works you bought, or just books you don't want your child reading right now? If they're physical, you can hide them, but as far as I know, you can't do that with books you buy from reputable sources. (Fanfic and other online stuff don't have to be stored in the same directory, at least with Sony.)
5) Footnotes. They need to get better.
6) Renting books. I still think that Baen is the best on the market for ebooks, and bravo to Nightshade for using Baen to put out their ebooks as well. Unfortunately, there are only so many Baen and Nightshade books I want.
1) The format wars. EPUB and/or Google Books may be dealing with this, but I still hate it. Dear B&N, why don't you make your format accessible to people, even if they don't own a Nook? I might buy from you, if that were the case. Also, I am not terribly inclined to buy a book that I may not be able to read in the future.
2) The lack of help from Google Books. I want to buy ebooks from independent bookstores. I even signed up with Third Place to do so. But I looked at the Google Books help, and then I looked at the forums, and I found a lot of people who couldn't get any help when they had problems. And as much as I may prefer to give money to 3rd Place instead of Sony, at least Sony has a staff of people who can help me out if things go awry.
3) I really liked the idea of "Buy this hardcover, pay an extra $1-5 and get the ebook added in!" I really wish publishers would do this. I'd buy more hardcovers, I think.
4) Households. So we all have to have the same brand if we want the family to be able to read the household's books? What if there are more than five people in a family? In a divorce, or when a child moves out, how do you split up the books? How do you keep your kid from gaining access to those X-rated works you bought, or just books you don't want your child reading right now? If they're physical, you can hide them, but as far as I know, you can't do that with books you buy from reputable sources. (Fanfic and other online stuff don't have to be stored in the same directory, at least with Sony.)
5) Footnotes. They need to get better.
6) Renting books. I still think that Baen is the best on the market for ebooks, and bravo to Nightshade for using Baen to put out their ebooks as well. Unfortunately, there are only so many Baen and Nightshade books I want.
