Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

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Zarathustra
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Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Zarathustra »

What would be better buy for the same book in Kindle or paperback copy?
Kindle is about 60% cheaper than the the paperback copy, but
I wonder if it would have some negative side or prospect for the long run, or in actual keeping and reading.
Any thoughts? Thanks
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Sculptor
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Sculptor »

When I got my Kindle I used to buy only Kindle.
A kindle is great for the classics which can be bought for nothing. You can also get stuff from Project Gutenburg.
But for more recent books and re-prints the price difference is not much and one feels that you are locked into Amazon for the rest of your life should you want to re-rad the book ten years hence.

These days I tend to look for second hand print books before I stump up full price for a book, and often I find I save lots of money.
I use Abebooks mostly.

Kindles are great for collections. I'm into Sci-fi and Amazon does MEGA packs, collections of short stories for example.
But the complete works of Haggard, Doyle, Dickens, etc.. for under a quid.
Impenitent
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Impenitent »

kindle books...

Fahrenheit 451...

-Imp
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Zarathustra
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Zarathustra »

Sculptor wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 6:58 pm When I got my Kindle I used to buy only Kindle.
A kindle is great for the classics which can be bought for nothing. You can also get stuff from Project Gutenburg.
But for more recent books and re-prints the price difference is not much and one feels that you are locked into Amazon for the rest of your life should you want to re-rad the book ten years hence.

These days I tend to look for second hand print books before I stump up full price for a book, and often I find I save lots of money.
I use Abebooks mostly.

Kindles are great for collections. I'm into Sci-fi and Amazon does MEGA packs, collections of short stories for example.
But the complete works of Haggard, Doyle, Dickens, etc.. for under a quid.
Yes, I have noticed some of the Philosophical books in Kindle format are similar price to the printed copies. Not sure why.
But the one I was after in Kindle format was about 60-70% cheaper than the printed copy, so went for it.

It is good in my iPad kindle app, and dictionary and word search facility is also handy.
But I usually used to buy paper copies in the past, because I like making notes and underlining on the books.
With the kindle, it is a bit weird - and I hate typing.

I saw some article about converting Kindle books into PDF format, so you can print them into paper, enabling you making them into printed books.
But I don't know how to do it in iPad and iMac. It was shown only in PC using 3rd party app called Calibro or something.
In iMac and iPad, I don't know where the data file for Kindle Books are located in the device.
Any one any ideas on that?
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Sculptor
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Sculptor »

Zarathustra wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 1:31 pm
Sculptor wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 6:58 pm When I got my Kindle I used to buy only Kindle.
A kindle is great for the classics which can be bought for nothing. You can also get stuff from Project Gutenburg.
But for more recent books and re-prints the price difference is not much and one feels that you are locked into Amazon for the rest of your life should you want to re-rad the book ten years hence.

These days I tend to look for second hand print books before I stump up full price for a book, and often I find I save lots of money.
I use Abebooks mostly.

Kindles are great for collections. I'm into Sci-fi and Amazon does MEGA packs, collections of short stories for example.
But the complete works of Haggard, Doyle, Dickens, etc.. for under a quid.
Yes, I have noticed some of the Philosophical books in Kindle format are similar price to the printed copies. Not sure why.
But the one I was after in Kindle format was about 60-70% cheaper than the printed copy, so went for it.

It is good in my iPad kindle app, and dictionary and word search facility is also handy.
But I usually used to buy paper copies in the past, because I like making notes and underlining on the books.
With the kindle, it is a bit weird - and I hate typing.

I saw some article about converting Kindle books into PDF format, so you can print them into paper, enabling you making them into printed books.
But I don't know how to do it in iPad and iMac. It was shown only in PC using 3rd party app called Calibro or something.
In iMac and iPad, I don't know where the data file for Kindle Books are located in the device.
Any one any ideas on that?
I think Kindle are pretty strict about making copies. There are probably ways to do it, but not stardard ways.
The cost of priniting a book is probably more than the cost of the book. I suppose It would work if you want to print sections, but you might as well just photocopy from a begged, borrowed, or loaned book. Is there such a thing as libraries where you live?
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Zarathustra
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Zarathustra »

Sculptor wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:17 pm
I think Kindle are pretty strict about making copies. There are probably ways to do it, but not stardard ways.
The cost of priniting a book is probably more than the cost of the book. I suppose It would work if you want to print sections, but you might as well just photocopy from a begged, borrowed, or loaned book. Is there such a thing as libraries where you live?
Yes, we have a local library in the town. I used to borrow books a few year ago, with music CDs too. I have stopped using the library service for a few years now. I actually forgot that we had a local city council run library. I think this pandemic and also the CD format going dead got something to do with the forgotten library.

But another problem was the library's book list for Philosophy was always barren. It had only handful of layman's philosophy books, but load and loads of self help type books in the philosophy books section.

So there would be no chance that they would stock the books by Heidegger or Kant, Nietzsche, Deleuze or Derrida. They say, if we need any particular book that is not in the library, then request to BUY-IN, and they will buy or try to get it from other libraries. But it would take maybe months, so I have not tried requesting the books I would like to read but not in the library.

With no patience, I just kept buying the books from eBay or Amazon, and ended up spending a lot of money for the books. But my own collection of books on philosophy is quite large, and can take time reading them for years. Not sure which would have been better idea. Borrowing from the library would save me a lot of money and space, but then the books need to be returned in 3 weeks. If someone else requested the book, then it had to be returned within 2-3 days. If not, you get fined for not returning them.

Normally I would never print anything, but if I like the book, and re-read making notes etc, then would like to have both eBook format, and a printed copy too. Being able to print the whole book would be really useful in that case. But obviously commercially minded Kindle people don't see that, and making it awkward if not impossible for doing so.
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Zarathustra
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Re: Buying Kindle books edition instead paper books

Post by Zarathustra »

Disadvantage of printed books could be that they take up much space, heavy and sometimes they disappear from the rooms. This year, I lost 2x paperback books, and cannot locate them in the house. My books are stored in 3x separate rooms, and it can be daunting in searching for the missing books.
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