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Steve Jobs Bio Gets Longer, Street Date Remains November 21st

Don't get me wrong, hardbacks are awesome, but the times they are a-changin'. Book chains are closing, as are CD shops and DVD rental stores. I saw a guy come out of a bookshop recently with a mountain of 7 or more big hardbacks piled on top of each other. My immediate reaction was to sigh, I thought how silly, how wasteful.

Maybe color e-ink will trigger the real revolution of e-books.
 
kerr said:
Don't get me wrong, hardbacks are awesome, but the times they are a-changin'. Book chains are closing, as are CD shops and DVD rental stores. I saw a guy come out of a bookshop recently with a mountain of 7 or more big hardbacks piled on top of each other. My immediate reaction was to sigh, I thought how silly, how wasteful.
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Well, I'm getting you wrong. The reason book chains and CD shops and DVD rental stores are closing is not because people don't want physical copies (which is quite moot in the case of rentals) but because brick and mortar shops just can't compete with online venues on price.

I buy my DVDs/Blu-rays/CDs/Books from Amazon and I usually get them in less than a day for less than buying them in a brick & mortar store.

As for rentals, there's no value in renting scratch prone media. Just get it off my cable provider's VOD channel or if I'm buying, again, online is where it's at.

Books are about the last thing I'd call waste as far as use of paper goes. It's a very appropriate use of a renewable ressource (you do know paper is renewable right ?). It's silly to not have proper paper copies that can last ages, it's wasteful to throw money out the window on DRM infested media that probably won't survive your electronic's lifespan.
 
KnightWRX said:
Books are about the last thing I'd call waste as far as use of paper goes. It's a very appropriate use of a renewable ressource (you do know paper is renewable right ?). It's silly to not have proper paper copies that can last ages, it's wasteful to throw money out the window on DRM infested media that probably won't survive your electronic's lifespan.
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Yep. Don't get me wrong, I own a Kindle and I use iBooks, but there's something about paper copies that I feel will remain timeless. One day the Kindle and the iPad will be obsolete, whether that's 10 years, or 20, or 50 or 100 years from now. Whereas a paper copy of a book could easily last that time and be handed down from generation to generation.
 
erh said:
I'm waiting for the movie.

:D
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David Fincher should direct.

----------
kerr said:
Don't get me wrong, hardbacks are awesome, but the times they are a-changin'. Book chains are closing, as are CD shops and DVD rental stores. I saw a guy come out of a bookshop recently with a mountain of 7 or more big hardbacks piled on top of each other. My immediate reaction was to sigh, I thought how silly, how wasteful.

Maybe color e-ink will trigger the real revolution of e-books.
Click to expand...

I don't see how it's "silly" to still be buying actual books. There are numerous reasons still to buy actual books that you shouldn't look down upon someone for buying real books if that is there choice.
 
kerr said:
Don't get me wrong, hardbacks are awesome, but the times they are a-changin'. Book chains are closing, as are CD shops and DVD rental stores. I saw a guy come out of a bookshop recently with a mountain of 7 or more big hardbacks piled on top of each other. My immediate reaction was to sigh, I thought how silly, how wasteful.

Maybe color e-ink will trigger the real revolution of e-books.
Click to expand...

It truly is a shame you feel that way.
 
Obi-Wan Kubrick said:
I don't see how it's "silly" to still be buying actual books. There are numerous reasons still to buy actual books that you shouldn't look down upon someone for buying real books if that is there choice.
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Not the least of which being that the guy buying the stack of 7 hardback books might have been giving them all away as gifts to different people. I'd much rather receive an actual book than a gift card or e-certificate.
 
notjustjay said:
Yep. Don't get me wrong, I own a Kindle and I use iBooks, but there's something about paper copies that I feel will remain timeless. One day the Kindle and the iPad will be obsolete, whether that's 10 years, or 20, or 50 or 100 years from now. Whereas a paper copy of a book could easily last that time and be handed down from generation to generation.
Click to expand...

1) Converter tools
2) Dust and storage / space and moving costs, paper lifespan
 
notjustjay said:
Yep. Don't get me wrong, I own a Kindle and I use iBooks, but there's something about paper copies that I feel will remain timeless. One day the Kindle and the iPad will be obsolete, whether that's 10 years, or 20, or 50 or 100 years from now. Whereas a paper copy of a book could easily last that time and be handed down from generation to generation.
Click to expand...

I will probably end up getting rid of my paper books long before then, but I still wouldn't consider it wasteful.

But I agree with you, it's just like all those library digital archives of old technology that are now useless.
 
BornAgainMac said:
1) Converter tools
Click to expand...

Not always possible with DRM'ed media.

BornAgainMac said:
2) Dust and storage / space and moving costs, paper lifespan
Click to expand...

Paper lifespan ? You do realise we have manuscripts that are thousands of years old right ?

I'd rather have a couple of extra boxes when moving so that I can enjoy reading a good old paper copy. There's just something about reading a book from an actual book rather than an electronic device.
 
KnightWRX said:
I'd rather have a couple of extra boxes when moving so that I can enjoy reading a good old paper copy. There's just something about reading a book from an actual book rather than an electronic device.
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Plus there's something very special about old books. You know how Apple gives you a free copy of Winnie the Pooh when you get iBooks? That's a perfect example because that is one of the first books I ever owned, read, and loved as a kid. My parents bought it used at a book sale, so it was already well worn when I received it. I still have it, and it still has sentimental value to me, despite being so worn. Just not the same as reading it on an iPad.

And, one day when I have kids, I intend to pass the book along to them, too. That's also something you couldn't do (or it wouldn't be the same) with an ebook.
 
KnightWRX said:
Not always possible with DRM'ed media.



Paper lifespan ? You do realise we have manuscripts that are thousands of years old right ?

I'd rather have a couple of extra boxes when moving so that I can enjoy reading a good old paper copy. There's just something about reading a book from an actual book rather than an electronic device.
Click to expand...

I have comics from the 1970's that are all faded. Didn't know about manuscripts that old. I guess I was influenced from the series called "Life after People" on how things wear out when exposed to things like heat, light, and water over time.
 
it would be nice if there would be digital copy of the book included with hardback - they are always saying we're paying for license, not for physical media
 
angusslo said:
it would be nice if there would be digital copy of the book included with hardback - they are always saying we're paying for license, not for physical media
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This would be the ideal scenario.

BornAgainMac said:
I have comics from the 1970's that are all faded. Didn't know about manuscripts that old. I guess I was influenced from the series called "Life after People" on how things wear out when exposed to things like heat, light, and water over time.
Click to expand...

Aren't comic books (especially from back then) essentially printed on newsprint? I don't know about manuscripts that are thousands of years old (I'm sure they exist, but I don't know if it's the norm) but I know I've seen (and own a few) books from the 50's and 60's that were well cared for and still in decent shape. Glue and bindings may be falling apart, but they're not that faded.
 
notjustjay said:
I don't know about manuscripts that are thousands of years old (I'm sure they exist, but I don't know if it's the norm)
Click to expand...

They're usually written on papyrus, which while not modern paper, is a close related ancestor (made from the papyrus plant instead of wood chips and water).

I think the point stands, paper is quite an enduring media, especially compared to the digital stuff. Look back to just data from the 80s you had on floppies. How much of it do you still have ? How much of it are you still able to read ? How much of it still has software available to read it ?
 
Comic Books from the silver age and earlier probably should not be "read" anyways as they can be very valuable based on title and condition.

I like actually having the book in my hand as well. Especially if it is a technical book and I have to follow along with examples.

The Comic Books are pretty cool to read using the marvel comics app. I like how it scrolls the panels... to bad the newer comic books are terrible compared to the older books.
 
I wonder if it will get a final revision before release. Not sure how production works, if that is possible.

:(
 
Must have been terrible for Tim, Phil and Scott to stand on stage at the keynote knowing what was going on in Palo Alto at Steve's home :(

A great loss for the world, Steve Jobs was my biggest idol.
 
I was wondering how long Steve had known, and if there would be any final words included in the biography. Truly a sad day.
 
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