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Damien 10-10-2013 19:08
Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ted-books.html

Quote:
The Queen has voiced concerns about children preferring computer games and e-books to the traditional printed word.
I get the feeling she doesn't quite understand what an e-book is. I don't see any problem with e-books when it comes to the act of reading and comprehending...

thenry 10-10-2013 19:18
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Kindles make me sick.

Damien 10-10-2013 19:25
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
ok...I have been reading the Bill Byson's new book and it's far easier on Kindle than the massive tomb it is if you got the paper book.

thenry 10-10-2013 19:27
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
no I haven't got anything against e-books. I just don't like Kindles.

Chris 10-10-2013 19:32
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35630528)
ok...I have been reading the Bill Byson's new book and it's far easier on Kindle than the massive tomb it is if you got the paper book.
Would that be tome as in a large book, rather than tomb as in somewhere you put a dead body? :scratch: :D

Damien 10-10-2013 19:36
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35630534)
Would that be tome as in a large book, rather than tomb as in somewhere you put a dead body? :scratch: :D
I clearly don't read enough. :dunce:

martyh 10-10-2013 22:06
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
To be honest as long as the kids are reading i couldn't care less what they are using to read .Yes books are nice to handle and look at ,i have a nice collection myself but it cannot be denied that e readers are more practical and just because something is newer and different from a more traditional item doesn't make it wrong or a cause for concern

MalteseFalcon 10-10-2013 22:12
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
I love the smell and feel of a new book, but it is just so much easier to have them on the Kindle. Especially when space to keep proper books is limited.

Dash: CF noob 10-10-2013 22:12
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
one is not amused ...

techguyone 11-10-2013 07:37
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
My only concern with e-books is the outrageous profiteering regarding pricing.

It's not as if there's comparable costs involved in making, storing or distributing say 50,000 e books vs 50,000 paper copies.

arcimedes 11-10-2013 08:32
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkC1984 (Post 35630635)
I love the smell and feel of a new book, but it is just so much easier to have them on the Kindle. Especially when space to keep proper books is limited.
When one is the queen then space is not an issue :D I was being moaned at for having too many bookcases( I only have four) and as has been said a kindle takes up no space at all. I also have the kindle app loaded on my phone.

Maggy 11-10-2013 08:38
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by techguyone (Post 35630687)
My only concern with e-books is the outrageous profiteering regarding pricing.

It's not as if there's comparable costs involved in making, storing or distributing say 50,000 e books vs 50,000 paper copies.
The issue is that the book has to be recoded for the various ebook formats which has to be done by someone who will usually want some dosh for the effort. All this over at the Gutenberg site, have been done by volunteers for de nada.At Amazon people want paying.
;)
However my complaint in the past has been when the kindle version costs more than the paperback.:mad:

Chris 11-10-2013 11:50
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggy J (Post 35630729)
The issue is that the book has to be recoded for the various ebook formats which has to be done by someone who will usually want some dosh for the effort. All this over at the Gutenberg site, have been done by volunteers for de nada.At Amazon people want paying.
;)
However my complaint in the past has been when the kindle version costs more than the paperback.:mad:
That doesn't make sense. A hardback is typeset, then a few months later the paperback has to be typeset again, but in all cases the paperback is cheaper, because the cost of production is lower (cheaper materials, higher volume, lower distribution weight).

Even if an e-book has to be typeset separately for Kindle, Nook and whatever else, the final cost of production is lower because there are no physical materials or distribution involved. The reason they aren't cheaper is because the publishers are trying to protect their market. In many cases they have large stocks of printed materials that they want to shift (warehousing costs money too). They may also be trying to protect favourable terms with high street book sellers. But whatever is driving the price of ebooks artificially high, it isn't the typesetting.

Maggy 11-10-2013 12:53
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35630797)
That doesn't make sense. A hardback is typeset, then a few months later the paperback has to be typeset again, but in all cases the paperback is cheaper, because the cost of production is lower (cheaper materials, higher volume, lower distribution weight).

Even if an e-book has to be typeset separately for Kindle, Nook and whatever else, the final cost of production is lower because there are no physical materials or distribution involved. The reason they aren't cheaper is because the publishers are trying to protect their market. In many cases they have large stocks of printed materials that they want to shift (warehousing costs money too). They may also be trying to protect favourable terms with high street book sellers. But whatever is driving the price of ebooks artificially high, it isn't the typesetting.
Well I'm only passing on what I was told about the costs by one Jeffery Carver author of Neptune's Crossing who does his own coding rather than pay someone else.

alanbjames 11-10-2013 13:41
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
When i read the headline i thought u meant the band!

Chris 11-10-2013 15:14
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggy J (Post 35630840)
Well I'm only passing on what I was told about the costs by one Jeffery Carver author of Neptune's Crossing who does his own coding rather than pay someone else.
And I'm passing on industry information of my own. ;) Being an author doesn't necessarily make you au fait with the costs of producing physical books. It really doesn't matter how many digital editions you have to typeset for, all you end up with is one typesetting charge per edition, exactly the same as you have a typesetting cost for a printed book. And, when print, Kindle, Nook, ePub and everything else are all typeset, you *still* have to print the print edition. eBooks are substantially cheaper to produce because you *don't* have to print them.

Maggy 11-10-2013 16:06
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris (Post 35630932)
And I'm passing on industry information of my own. ;) Being an author doesn't necessarily make you au fait with the costs of producing physical books. It really doesn't matter how many digital editions you have to typeset for, all you end up with is one typesetting charge per edition, exactly the same as you have a typesetting cost for a printed book. And, when print, Kindle, Nook, ePub and everything else are all typeset, you *still* have to print the print edition. eBooks are substantially cheaper to produce because you *don't* have to print them.
Of course it SHOULD be cheaper but there are times when I have to pay more for a digital than a hard copy..I merely gave you one of the replies I received to my inquiry about WHY I was asked to pay more.I'm not trying to argue black is white here.:shrug:

Hom3r 11-10-2013 17:53
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
IMHO I would only use a e-book if I travelled a lot and read a lot of books.

I would rather a printed book, I spend to much of my day looking a screen.

multiskilled 11-10-2013 19:01
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
EMP whose that by, is it a post apocalyptic storyline.
Can't seem to find the first one on Google books. ;)

Damien 11-10-2013 19:16
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
What coding needs to be done for an e-book? My understanding was that it was just a formatted file which the reader would handle..

Maggy 11-10-2013 19:24
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35631012)
What coding needs to be done for an e-book? My understanding was that it was just a formatted file which the reader would handle..
Ask Amazon?Plus don't forget VAT is charged ONLY on digital format books.

Chris 11-10-2013 19:51
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien (Post 35631012)
What coding needs to be done for an e-book? My understanding was that it was just a formatted file which the reader would handle..
The reader formats are proprietary and differ one from another. If you have written a manuscript in MS Word or even just in rich text, you need to convert from your manuscript to the relevant ebook format and then you need to proof read the thing to ensure it has dealt with all your document formatting correctly.

Mr_love_monkey 11-10-2013 22:49
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggy J (Post 35631015)
...Plus don't forget VAT is charged ONLY on digital format books.
Never understood that one....

Doug P 12-10-2013 16:25
Re: Queen 'concerned' about e-books
 
I have a Kobo but having read about the Queen's concerns in the paper I think she has a point....


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