[60169]

I'm not a conspiracy theorist. The points Andrew makes are interesting, though...

http://www.crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-does-print-media-have-against-e.html

 

[heavycat]

The WSJ article was FUD.  If you want to see the ultimate result of FUD, take a look at what Microsoft tried to do to Linux from about 1994 on.  Industrial-sized crates full of FUD year after year.  What happened?  There are more CPUs running Linux in the world now than Windows and Mac OS X combined.

 

[60169]

The WSJ article was FUD. If you want to see the ultimate result of FUD, take a look at what Microsoft tried to do to Linux from about 1994 on. Industrial-sized crates full of FUD year after year. What happened? There are more CPUs running Linux in the world now than Windows and Mac OS X combined.

I had to google FUD. Thanks for increasing my acronym vocabulary.

 

[Quiss]

Don't know what FUD is or what WSJ is but I can add something about non-fiction titles used in schools.

I work at a college. We have a considerable number of students taking online courses as well as in-class.
Increasingly, text books are available online or instructors are making use of online resources, including utube.  Given the ridiculous price of post-secondary text books, that makes a lot of sense.

Up until now, our across-the-board policy was "no electronic devices allowed during exams" other than calculators.  We are having to rethink that and figure out a way to allow ebooks without making it easy for students to cheat by using online resources other than books.

OUR industry is changing because of the continued growth of ebooks. They're here to stay.

 

[Chris A. Jackson]

Wow! There are glass-half-full people and glass half-empty people, and you might forgive certain points of view derived from your personal perspective (16% to 23% change - would that be considered a lot or a little?). But it seems like the WSJ article author only reported the data that strengthened his/her own bias, ignoring the data that didn't fit in. That's simply bad reporting.

 

[vrabinec]

As the younger generation takes over the marketplace, that demographic that is increasing its consumption of e-books, it would seem to me that the market will grow. Their little brothers and sisters will want to be like THEN, not their parents. And, when they have children, their children will get books in whatever form they give them, and grandma and grampa will be relics. There are still people who insist on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing longhand, but the rest of us use an adding machine.

 

[Shadow XX]

The older generation are always resistant to change. Luckily all the younger generation has to do is wait. Nature will take its course

Seriously though, some of the kids I know think the Ipad is where you find books, not the shelf.

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

We are having to rethink that and figure out a way to allow ebooks without making it easy for students to cheat by using online resources other than books.

Switch the iPad's to airplane mode or block WiFi. That way the user can only use what's on the iPad, not consult internet.

 

[Dustin Metzger]

Switch the iPad's to airplane mode or block WiFi. That way the user can only use what's on the iPad, not consult internet.

I'd go with wifi blocking paint or wallpaper combined with a teacher-controlled wired to wifi signal repeater in each room. I'm not sure how practical such a setup would be, but it would allow individual rooms to be "blacked out" when needed for testing purposes.

As for book finding habits I'm sure I'm not alone, since I starting buying ebooks, in holding the opinion that unless it's an absolute must-have reference book if it's not electronic I'm not buying it. Just about the only physical books I'm willing to spend money on are homebrewing books from Brewer's Publications, but for my leasure reading there's so much on the ebook market that I don't ever need to be bothered with the holdouts who insist on physical copy.

Ultimately my back, and my shelf space, is enjoying the change.

 

[DCBourone]

Good find, Shawn.

Near total incongruence between article stats and reality.
False distinction between multi-purpose tablets and e-readers
particularly flagrant.
The convenience, portability, and storage of tablets a clear winner
over time.
Have observed several older readers who have purchased tablets
so they can increase font/letter size.
We're just getting started.

 

[Quiss]

I was talking to a friend who hasn't picked up a reader yet and was debating about tablets vs readers etc.
She also wants one that her 12-year old son can use. She's one of those people who loves paper books and has a hard time giving them up

When I told her about the built-in dictionary found in most readers she IMMEDIATELY purchased a reader for her kid.

The dictionary was definitely the deciding factor and not something you get with paper.

Also, for some reason she felt like going to an eReader was like "giving up" paper. She displays certain classics like objects d'art.
I mentioned that it was okay to still have paper on your shelf and use a reader, too. For some reason that hadn't occurred to her!

 

[AmsterdamAssassin]

When I told her about the built-in dictionary found in most readers she IMMEDIATELY purchased a reader for her kid.

The dictionary was definitely the deciding factor and not something you get with paper.

What really did it for me was two things. Greater contrast than paperback pages, and the light built into the cover of my Kindle that allows me to read in bed (f I'd be buying an e-reader now, I'd probably go for either a Kindle Paperwhite with built in light, or a Kobo Glow). Plus the ability to upload a rough draft into my Kindle and highlight/footnote the MS, then use the 'View Notes and Marks' to revise/rewrite the draft.

Also, for some reason she felt like going to an eReader was like "giving up" paper. She displays certain classics like objects d'art.
I mentioned that it was okay to still have paper on your shelf and use a reader, too. For some reason that hadn't occurred to her!

I have iPods and my iTunes carries 15,077 songs/tracks. Virtually all of them are ripped CDs. Yes, my own collection. And if I like an artist, I still buy the CD and rip it into iTunes. Most people might not hear it, but I can hear the difference between listening to an MP3 or a CD on my Grado headphones. I also have a wooden Go board and expensive stones in hand-carved bowls, but I play a 9X9 go game with my son on the iPad.

 

[Amanda Brice]

Up until now, our across-the-board policy was "no electronic devices allowed during exams" other than calculators. We are having to rethink that and figure out a way to allow ebooks without making it easy for students to cheat by using online resources other than books.

When I was in law school (and this was a decade ago, so I imagine there's better stuff out there now), we had software that blocked access to the internet and your hard drive if you wanted to take your exams on computer. (Which I always did because I can type much faster than I can print.) We had to pay a $100 license each year for the software if you wanted to use it, but it was SO worth it.

 

[heavycat]

FUD = Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

Watch this video: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,138752.0.html

 

[Daniel P Robertson]

Good, I thought  you were talking about a Female Urinary Device for a second.

 

[mathewferguson]

I think the answer is unfortunately much more boring ... the writer at the Wall Street Journal knows that a contrarian article will generate more clicks and likes and links and discussion than an article telling the truth: print publishing is collapsing and eBooks are the direct cause.

It's quite funny actually ... the article is a rational response to the marketplace. Make it linkable, make it against the grain, make it worthy of discussion when it really isn't ... all a direct result of what the internet has done to media journalism.

I shortly expect "17 reasons to keep your paper books" to pop up at the WSJ ... before they bankrupt.

 

[JFHilborne]

When I told her about the built-in dictionary found in most readers she IMMEDIATELY purchased a reader for her kid.

The dictionary was definitely the deciding factor and not something you get with paper.

Whenever I read paperbacks I miss the built-in dictionary you get with Kindle. I love that feature.

 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Up until now, our across-the-board policy was "no electronic devices allowed during exams" other than calculators. We are having to rethink that and figure out a way to allow ebooks without making it easy for students to cheat by using online resources other than books.

And to think that when I was at school it was 'no dictionaries allowed during exams'