Is there any point to collecting books?

Ray McCarthy

Ray McCarthy

Sentient Marmite: The Truth may make you fret.
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I'm not interested in first editions, rare books etc, but in collecting books I want to read and probably read again. It's something too that can be passed on. That's why I buy DVDs and CDs and have little interest in subscription reading, music or video over the net.
I do have some bought eBooks*, but most of my 700+ eBooks are free or DRM free, they are backed up, as are my CDs (eventually I might put all the DVDs etc on HDD). I do like a decent hardback, because the paperbacks are not so durable, but I rarely pay extra for them.

I have maybe 2000 to 3000 printed books, I'm not sure...

I do collect a few kinds of things just to collect them. But not books, they are for reading or they are pointless?

A Point of View: Is there still any point collecting books? - BBC News

[* Like TBP scheme of buy physical book and get eBook included. I'd prefer to buy all my books like that. I use Calibre to convert & organise my eBooks for my Kindle and Kobo readers]
 
I love paper books, but I have very limited storage space. I finally caved a year or two ago and bought a Kindle, and I haven't looked back. I'll still buy some paper books, but mostly I go for e-books now. I no longer have to worry about which books to take to the charity shop so I've got space on my shelves for the next one.:)
 
Well, paper books have always been tax-free. Electronic versions are 'software' and are taxed.

Try dropping a book. Pick it up. Still a book, yes? Now try dropping a Kindle. Pile of expensive components that will never function again is the usual result.

Ever had a paper book whose batteries ran dry? Ever needed to recharge a paper book?

Cheap or even free electronic books are good for those with a terminal lack of cash, but how does one use them without the wherewithal to afford the expensive device to read them? Paperbacks 50p, hardcovers £1 in the charity shop. Free from libraries, but they have to go back.

When the 'Earth-savers' have won, and all energy production is via 'green' renewables, how do you charge up your electronic reader on a dull day with no wind? All of publishing history unavailable due to blah weather.

The smell of paper, ink, even leather, versus the smell of plastic? Hmmm.

.
 
I think books really will become a thing for collectors, the real lover of books. I didnt think I would turn solely to e-books, but I have. I used to have a large book collection, now, I only keep physical copies of books i truly love.
 
Ray McCarthy said:
I do collect a few kinds of things just to collect them. But not books, they are for reading or they are pointless?
Click to expand...

Everyone is different, like the purchaser of a 13th century copy of Chaucer who will probably never actually read his £7 million tome. And without a series of other collectors across 700 years he wouldn't even have had the option.

.
 
I now buy books as cheap-second hand copies - but any worth keeping I'll have as an ebook or a new physical copy.

From a writing perspective, ebooks are very user-friendly for searching through the text to examine how the author handles prose and technical issues - and remembering minor character names!

Also, I've come across a lot of books for research that are prohibitively priced as paperback or hardback, even when second-hand, but are very reasonably priced for the Kindle.
 
Paper all the way. I can't stand ebooks, only look at them if I need to do a review of something I can't get the paper version of. I've tried to like them but I hate them with a passion. It feels like work, reading them.

I also collect books. Without them in my house, surrounding me in every trim I wouldn't feel like it was home. My husband is worse and we keep having to buy new bookcases...
 
The feel, the scent, the texture. Oh yeah. Sadly, the way the world is going we could within a decade or two, or less, see the extinction of the wonderful paper book. It's possible you know? I really hope I'm wrong but I don't think so. :cry:
 
steelyglint said:
Now try dropping a Kindle. Pile of expensive components that will never function again is the usual result.
Click to expand...
True of a tablet and many phones. Kobo, Kindle, Sony PRC etc tend to survive due to eink display. Later displays than "pearl" (From Mk III Paperwhite and others) have no glass substrate and are more durable. But you CAN lose 3,000 books in one go, hence I have three separate backups of all my eBooks, inc the DRM ones (if Amazon stops selling Kindles then I'd strip the DRM).

I do like physical books. It's nice to have old editions too. I'd at least read some of the 7M rare Chaucer if I had it and read the rest on side by side paper back (Translation on facing page). We need a folding two "page" eBook reader for the side by side of old English, Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Latin texts. They are usless on current eBooks. Microsoft had the prototype Courier, which was two LCD tablets in a folding cover. I know why it was scrapped, but it would have been nice. An eInk verision is possible by hacking two older kindles and adding a 3rd computer to use as the actual eReader, the older kindles and Kindle DX series can be easily hacked as USB network terminals or serial terminals (TTL serial port inside).
 
Jo Zebedee said:
I can't stand ebooks,
Click to expand...
On a modern eInk Kindle or Kobo, or a tablet/phone/laptop? I can't stand eBooks on those. Ghastly. I can't stand to read much on LCD or OLED screens. Esp. the bright shiny ones. An Apple iPad or Android tablet or phone is horrendous to read on compared to even older eInk displays.
 
What's wrong with having your own library? I read sci-fi, some fantasy, crime thrillers, historical, horror, even a series of 'modern day navy' (starts with Falklands and follows career of navy helicopter pilot to warship commander, but probably still end a decade before now).

My mother (who had the 'bug' before me) loans out my Mark Billingham and Tess Gerritsen books to her friend.

Maybe I can open a library/second hand TRADE bookstore. An exchange bookstore would be better. Want to read my second-hand book? Leave at least one of yours behind to replace it.
 
Great idea, Stuart. Go for it. This is starting to remind me of the later part of Logan's Run. Think about it folks.
 
But Brian, the sensation. Even new books have a feel to them. Electronic media is cold, heartless, impersonal. Books are old and new friends waiting for you to welcome them in. Unless, of course, they're crap. :whistle:
 
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