Readers are ditching eBooks for paperbacks

Kindle nor Kobo will read the e-books I have in LIT format, and so it goes. How long before any of the other formats go the same route?
 
elf_lord_ZC5 said:
Kindle nor Kobo will read the e-books I have in LIT format, and so it goes. How long before any of the other formats go the same route?
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Fortunately there are apps like calibre - have you tried it? Does it work with LITs?
 
elf_lord_ZC5 said:
Kindle nor Kobo will read the e-books I have in LIT format, and so it goes. How long before any of the other formats go the same route?
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LIT was introduced by Microsoft in opposition to AZW, and was only really used by Microsoft products. It was discontinued / no longer supported in 2011.

The good news is that Calibre can convert LITs to both ePUB (Android) and MOBI (Kindle) formats.
 
bwana said:
Really? I just had a skim through the kindle's best seller library and the books were cheaper on Kindle than even the paperbacks.

Personally I prefer dead tree format but there's no denying the convenience of something like a Kindle for many.
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Yeah really.... when ebooks first came out.
They may have dropped in price since then.
 
bwana said:
Really? I just had a skim through the kindle's best seller library and the books were cheaper on Kindle than even the paperbacks.
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Agreed. Still annoyed that it's so high...purely out of principle: There is nothing to justify the 90% cost vs paper when you're just shooting electrons over the internet. Should be 50% max to cover IP costs. imo

Still - even if priced equally I'll rather get ebooks. Don't care.

My personal view is that on books you don't look at price anyway. Was a policy in my parents household too - could buy as many books as desired no questions asked.
 
gfmalan said:
I have 2 problems with eBooks,
1) Price - nearly same price as printed version
2) Want to use one program reader for all ebooks and mags - Don't want multiple apps

I do like the fact that you can take your whole library with you, imagine you have to-do that with real books and mags.
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No 2 is sorted with https://calibre-ebook.com/ on your Main PC. Convert all your Ebooks to the reader of your choice.

Only problem I have with eBooks is that some make it damn hard to share your book to friend's. Unlike physical book's I can just give to someone else to read.
 
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AlphaJohn said:
No 2 is sorted with https://calibre-ebook.com/ on your Main PC. Convert all your Ebooks to the reader of your choice.

Only problem I have with eBooks is that some make it damn hard to share your book to friend's. Unlike physical book's I can just give to someone else to read.
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I'm using Calibre, but so much work to convert everything to the same reader.

But I still like the idea to carry my library on my iPad.

eBooks may be cheaper than the printed versions, but mags much closer to printer version.
 
For fiction I prefer an e-reader over physical books.
Easy to travel with, it doesn't take up bookshelf space and no dust.
Even better I can adjust the font to readable size - nothing is more disappointing than ordering a book and upon arrival discover that the font is uncomfortable.
 
bwana said:
Really? I just had a skim through the kindle's best seller library and the books were cheaper on Kindle than even the paperbacks.
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It depends what books you're looking for. Many older books are only for sale at insane prices. This week I wanted to hunt down some obscure Alien-related scifi books I read as a kid in the early 2000s. $8-9 each. Definitely not worth the asking price for what is basically pulp fiction.

I've had my Kindle for about a year and a half now and most of my books are sourced through, *ahem*, other sources. I'd love to buy the real ebooks off Amazon because questionably sourced ebooks often have layout issues, spelling errors, etc. But it's simply not possible because every book that I've wanted to read in the last year have come with insane pricetags on Amazon.
 
And people are becoming sane again... ebooks are just clumsy to read.
 
rrh said:
After having spent what I classify as a minor fortune on buying books by new-to-me authors (even at second-hand bookstores / fetes / etc.) I subscribed to one of the many "free / low-cost ebooks" daily newsletters.

This has resulted in my finding a number of new authors - that I enjoy - for an average price of pretty-much zero.

And if I don't like the book the fact that it was free means that I don't feel guilty about deleting it after thirty pages.

For those interested the URL for the Kindle newsletter sign-up is http://forms.aweber.com/form/08/1993306408.htm
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Thanks.

Here's another one:
https://www.bookbub.com/home/
 
On topic though, books that are just meant to be read once then Kindle is awesome.

Books that are meant to be used as a reference though, that you need to come back to again and again, then dead tree is better.
 
Swa said:
And people are becoming sane again... ebooks are just clumsy to read.
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How does that make any sense? The main draw of ebook readers is literally that they're more convenient. Ebook readers are tiny and designed to fit your hand, you can adjust the font type and size to whatever suits you best, it's not as clumsy to hold as a book and it weighs a lot less than most books.
 
HavocXphere said:
Agreed. Still annoyed that it's so high...purely out of principle: There is nothing to justify the 90% cost vs paper when you're just shooting electrons over the internet. Should be 50% max to cover IP costs. imo
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I think you're overestimating the cost of printing a book. A paperback can cost less than $1 to print, hard covers obviously more - the majority of the other costs, proofreading, publishers fees, tax (fwiw in the UK physical books are tax free, ebooks aren't so there's an extra 20% there), etc are shared by ebooks and dead tree alike.
 
elf_lord_ZC5 said:
E-books suffer from too many different formats - making a computer with Calibre on it a necessity - the reading devices are primitive - limited battery life, and don't even mention graphics ... , or clumsy e-reading software ...

All making e-books a right royal pain ... , in the proverbial rear
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You obviously don't use a Kindle.

Limited battery life is a non issue there. And I'd hardly call it primitive.

On the flip side a smartphone or tablet is far from primitive and you would charge it for other purposes anyway.

The benefit with Ebooks is that I find myself reading in places now where I never did before.

Because it syncs everything everywhere I can read on my iPhone the queue at the bank and carry on later on my iPad when in bed at home etc.
 
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SauRoNZA said:
You obviously don't use a Kindle.

Limited battery life is a non issue there. And I'd hardly call it primitive.

On the flip side a smartphone or tablet is far from primitive and you would charge it for other purposes anyway.

The benefit with Ebooks is that I find myself reading in places now where I never did before.

Because it syncs everything everywhere I can read on my iPhone the queue at the bank and carry on later on my iPad when in bed at home etc.
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Never mind that a Kindle with a backlight means you can read in the dark without needing to switch on a light and bug those around you.
 
People who think e-readers are clumsy are probably just upset because they can't afford them. :p
 
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