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More ebooks that you don't have time to read
Submitted by Capt. Xerox on June 18, 2007 - 7:39pm.
The web is looking a lot like my bookshelf. It's overloaded with more ebooks than I'll ever have time to read. Here's a small collection of ebooks to add to my library that collects Fritz Lieber's novella Gonna Roll the Bones, Robert Heinlein's short story By His Boostraps and Jack Vance's short novel The Brains of Earth. I'm not sure how legal the editions are, but it once had a copy of Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but it was removed at the request of his estate. I also stumbled across this link recently to the Isaac Asimov short story The Last Question. For even more reading, here's the Kurt Vonnegut Library.
Ebooks are great, but you still can't beat dead-tree versions. How on Earth can an author ever autograph an ebook? The same goes for a gift-giver inscribing a prized book to a friend or relative.
Canadian author Robert Sawyer has a book imprint called, not surprisingly. Robert J. Sawyer Books. While some authors and publishers say it helps business to give away free electronic editions of their books, Sawyer's not ready to give away the store. He's only offering sample chapters to download.
Have you ever bought a book on the strength of a sample chapter or a free electronic edition. I haven't.
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The first taste is free
I've spent a considerable amount of money at Baen.com after reading free sample chapters.
For me, the advantage of ebooks is that I can load a handful of books onto my PDA and take them onto a plane with far less weight and space than dead trees.
Some years ago, I'd go on two-week business trips to China with 7 or 8 paperbacks. I could have saved several pounds if ebooks had been available.
I don't mind the small screen of the PDA. It's not big, but it is (just) big enough. But I'm also thinking of buying a Fujitsu Lifebook with an 8.9" screen, partly because it'll be great for ebooks.
Snowcrash
I distinctly remember coming across Snowcrash in a Waldenbooks, reading the first chapter in the store, and deciding I had to have that book. So, yeah, it was old school, but I was sold by that first chapter.
OTOH, there's a far greater number of books that I sampled, and found wanting.
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