I've been using my iPad as an ebook reader for about 1.5 months now. In general, I really like reading on it - I find the display very easy on my eyes (I actually don't like e-ink screens, they give me headaches), and the ability to purchase and manage my book library just like my song library is very convenient. I'm a fairly fast reader, so whenever I go on a trip, I generally lug around 2 or 3 extra books just to make sure I don't run out of reading material. Having it all on the iPad is great. And the split screen view is awesome - just like reading a book, without having to always hold pages open.
That being said, I find myself having a few doubts when it comes to trying to switch over to all digital (and to be clear, these aren't necessarily problems with iBooks specifically, but problems with eBooks in general and the state of the eBook ecosystem):
Does anyone else have any of the same issues, or have any solutions that mitigate these issues? Or is it purely a matter of waiting until the ecosystem catches up?
That being said, I find myself having a few doubts when it comes to trying to switch over to all digital (and to be clear, these aren't necessarily problems with iBooks specifically, but problems with eBooks in general and the state of the eBook ecosystem):
- I currently have a fairly large library of paper books. I don't want to purchase them all again for full price. I wouldn't mind paying a few dollars as a "conversion fee" to the publisher, but expecting me to pay anywhere from $7.99 to $14.99 for books that I already own seems ridiculous. I've manually converted several books that I own to epub format, but it takes forever since most of the time the source is a crappy scanned-in PDf.
I'm not really sure if there is a solution to this, since I can't see any publishers/book stores giving a discount on eBooks if you can prove you own the paper book (and I'm not sure how I would manage to prove that I actually own the book without a receipt, with I don't have).
- There are several ongoing series that I own in hardcover. One series in particular (The Wheel Of Time) I've been anxiously waiting for the final books to be completed. I'm willing to bet that when the final two books are released, it will be initially hardcover only, with the eBook edition coming later. Two problems - the OCD side of me wants to own the complete series in hardcover (even though if I have it on my iPad I won't ever read the hardcover), and the anxious fanboy side of me can't stand the thought of waiting for the eBook release (and buying them both then runs me afoul of problem #1
).
Does anyone know of book stores that offer "combo packs" - where you can buy the paper edition when it comes out, and get the eBook later?
- I generally loan my books out to my dad and a couple friends. Currently, any book I purchase I can't loan out. And in the future if (when) the DRM is cracked, I feel like I actually am stealing if I "loan" the book to a friend, since I would still be able to access it, and they are never forced to give it back. As far as I know, there's not any sort of system in place for loaning purchased books to friends (other than what the libraries use, but as far as I know this isn't compatible with the iPad). It would be awesome if I could use the DRM that's already in place to loan out my books to other people through their iTunes account - maybe set an expiration date, and then I wouldn't be able to read the book until the loan expires.
Does anyone else have any of the same issues, or have any solutions that mitigate these issues? Or is it purely a matter of waiting until the ecosystem catches up?
