Re: the TV format wars, exactly, two more good examples. [nod] The husband and I are waiting to see how the latest one shakes out too.

Angie

But that’s not enough to get me to run out, get an e-reader and give up print books yet. I love the feel of a book in my hands and worry that the sun, sand and damp on the beach would do in most electronic devices.

On another note, although some of my earlier out-of-print books are available as e-books, when I refer readers to those, many say that they would rather try to track down a used book instead.

As for the different formats, I lived through the Betamax/VHS wars. See the battle now going on between HDDVD and BluRay.

Because of that I’m waiting until some kind of format is agreed upon or one version or another becomes more popular.

I have a feeling that a couple of generations from now, the younger people will be used to e-books and think paper books are bulky and inconvenient, the way so many kids today seem to have been born perfectly comfortable with a game controller, and just eyeroll when their parents or grandparents point to the bat and ball. I think it’s a matter of what we’re used to, as much as the clunkiness one still runs into with the developing technology. Another generation or two will probably address both those issues.

Angie

I’m going to have to be convinced the ease speed, and reading experience of e-books makes up for the pleasure of sitting down with a good print novel.

Candice — exactly! It doesn’t matter how easy the conversion might be; it shouldn’t be necessary at all. And when you have an existing library of hundreds or thousands of files, even the simplest conversion becomes a pain.

I remember when a graphics program we used at work for some computerized forms went through a major upgrade. Whenever we worked with an old-format form, when we went to save it with the new format we had to choose a special option, then it asked if we really wanted to, then it explained that the upgrade was irreversible and asked again if we REALLY wanted to, then it asked if we were sure one more time, before doing it. [headdesk] It wasn’t hard, just a menu choice and three mouse-clicks. It didn’t even take an incredibly long time. It was just annoying and obnoxious and everyone griped about it, because we had lots of computerized forms. Now Amazon wants us to do the same thing, only sending every single one through the e-mail. [sigh]

Kate — I’ve heard that from a lot of people, and I guess I understand it intellectually, but I’ve never quite gotten it in my gut. To me, a screen is a screen. It’s like saying, “Well, I stare at a screen all day at work, so when I come home I don’t want to watch TV.” It’s the same thing, staring at a screen, and yet nobody says that about TV screens, only about computer screens. I don’t get it. [shrug] But I know a lot of people who feel that way so I’m obviously the weird one here.

About the rest, there are word processors now that let you make margin notes, so it’s certainly doable, from a technological POV. I’m sure e-books will allow it eventually. I don’t think physically turning pages is compatible with a computer file, but what I miss about pages is the… sort of physical memory of where I was in a book at a certain point, if that makes sense. So if I want to go back and reread something to remind myself of just who this character is or whatever, with a paper book I might remember that we met him about 3/8″ into the book, and I’ll flip back there (while holding my place with one finger) and find the spot fairly easily. I don’t get that sort of memory with an e-book. I suspect, though, that someone who grows up with e-books will get the same sort of subconscious or automatic “feel” for where the slider was on the sidebar that we get now for about how much into the book we were.

Loaning books out is a definite issue. [nod] As someone who’s had stories published electronically, I’d really rather people don’t go around “loaning” copies of e-books to their friends, because in reality those aren’t loans; they’re permanent copies being made, for which I’m not getting royalties. If we could come up with a system for them to really be loans, so that the characteristics of loaning an e-book mapped one-to-one with the characteristics of loaning a paper book, I’d be all for it. And I agree that something like this is going to have to happen or people will just shrug and make dozens of (permanent) copies whenever they feel like it, because we’re used to being able to loan books and we should be able to loan books. :/ I don’t know what the solution is, but I agree that it’s definitely an issue.

Angie

I love the smell and the weight of books. I love the feeling of turning a page. I love the ease with which I can loan a book to a friend, or make a margin note.

B.E. — way back when at work, I used a dedicated word processor that had eight-inch floppies. Before that job I hadn’t known they made them that big. They held less than a 5.25″ disk, too, just as those held less than a 3.5″.

SandyW — I saw that post, yes, and the map. [nod] Definitely a revelation for anyone who was hoping for the download-anywhere feature but wasn’t thinking along coverage lines.

MG — I read most of my e-books here at my desktop (love the monitor size [grin]) but when I want to just kick back on the couch or when I’m travelling, I load books onto my own Palm. [nod] I’ve been thinking about getting a dedicated reader mainly for the screen size, but I’m not willing to invest until this format thing shakes out.

Statch — re: Mobipocket, the fact that the Kindle doesn’t natively support a format that Amazon itself owns just has me boggling. What the heck are they thinking, seriously? o_O And yes, the issue of all the small electronic publishers whose books aren’t available in Kindle’s proprietary format is another issue. That right there eliminates a huge chunk of my existing e-library.

Avagee — I’m probably the only American over the age of ten who doesn’t have a cell phone, but… I don’t have a cell phone. [rueful smile] I’ve heard that books over the cell phone are popular in Japan, though, so I guess it’s not surprising that it’s coming over here too.

Angie