All of a sudden, I don't hate Kindle quite as much...

...Hell, I must grow to like the thing. Of course, I'd still want a paper version of my work still around, and I'm not sure this would help publishers in the long run.

"The Book Vs. Kindle, Rnd. 10." They Have Saved The Best For Last

Well, Green Apple Book Store has made their point-

very...

well.

And let's face it, there are very few fence-sitters when it comes to this subject. I fall squarely in the pro-book crowd, though Green Apple isn't going to pile it on any more and after this post, neither will I as I already do a small amount of business with the Not-so Nice Empire.

So for Round Ten, a prominent San Francisco author makes an appearance...


...and it leads to an unfortunate event.

Big Brother Has Got Your Nose

I've never been a huge fan of E-books, though I know they will eventually be the future, because publishers prefer them from a cost standpoint. The material and shipping costs are much lower, and if they can get around bootlegs and illegal copying, there is loss on theft (yeah, right!).

So I read this post over at Corey Wilde's blog, "The Drowning Machine" last night and it made me chortle-

Suppose you walked into a bookstore, purchased a copy of 'Animal Farm,' went home and began reading it. About halfway through it you get a phone call lasting perhaps five minutes. When you return to your book, it is gone. The bookseller has forced his way into your home and taken your book away (along with the notes you had made in the margins for an essay), leaving a notice and a refund in its place. The note says, 'sorry, this publisher didn't have the rights to print and sell this book.'

Just how high would your blood pressure go?

Because that's what amazon.com did to Kindle users today. Removed two of George Orwell's books from Kindles everywhere. Most Kindle users weren't even aware amazon could do such a thing. It surely doesn't surprise anyone that, with that power available, that amazon would do such a thing.


Chortle, scoff and...hah!

Yeah, uh, I was actually contemplating buying an E-book when they actually got around to perfecting the durability and contrast issues. Now I know I never want to buy one, unless the only way a story is going to be offered, is via an E-reader program. Even then, I will download it on my computer and I will print it on paper, to be read later.

Further down the post, Corey linked a blog post by Seth Marko listing every misgiving I have with E-crooks, er, books. Including one that I should have given a whole more thought to-

Independent booksellers cannot sell you one, nor can B&N or Borders, actually - Amazon has proprietary rights over the unit and the software.

Grrr, strike another deadly blow to the indies? My guilt already overwhelms me on that issue.

And I leave you with the most salient point on that list, which you can click and see Seth's list in its entirety-

You can't jump in the ocean & leave your Kindle on your beach towel. Someone will steal it. If they are a bookseller, they will most likely throw it in the ocean. (Seriously, think about that - do you ever read books in a public place? What a drag that would be to have to worry about some d-bag stealing your ENTIRE library while you're in the men's room...)