He's* posting what he hopes is a valid, interesting point of view with what I can only imagine is technically accurate (or at least materially so) background.

Clearly, the use of the wrong word "your" for "you're" is something that can be easily corrected, and learned from. But just as clearly, communication of ideas is unimpeded in this case, and if a minor grammar oopsie is enough to lead you to discard his whole viewpoint, then you must discard a LOT (not alot) of viewpoints, especially those voiced by non-native English speakers or those that focus more on formulating ideas and connections and not the rules of grammar.

*Dunno which pronoun to use for you, Nyder ^^

Am I alone in not using ATMs? I prolly wouldn't know if a skimmer had been installed because I almost never visit ATMs. I mean, in any given year I can count on one hand the number of ATM withfrawals and checks written on one, maybe two hands. I stopped carrying cash years ago and if I truly need some, most of the time a POS cashout is closer than the bank, and doesn't charge a fee.

To be fair, I *do* use the ATM whenever I need to deposit checks, which is rarely enough. All that said, if I saw mysterious ATM usage on the bank website, I could almost certainly refute it with my non-history.

I would too, although ours does quite a bit more than just provide materials. But honestly? Do you think these people can cut deals that make sense rather than cling to the Old Ways? I'd love to see libraries have the choice of economical ebook usage combined with print media where desired, though how that split would happen is beyond me.

I wish I had thought of this earlier... I worked for our library system for 2 years, and many times, when a new bestseller was coming, they'd order a metric ton of them, spread them around the 20 branches and people would still wait in many cases. And then, two months later when the fuss had died down, they'd have to surplus 70% of them... A good marriage of print and e-media would be to buy each branch 2 copies and provide the balance of demand in e-form, and come up with some incentive to use the ebook over print. Some people would demand print and deal with it but many I think would take either equally. Or for those who have a great relationship with an e-reader, maybe they'd eschew print entirely.

I still don't understand bitcoins yet... But yes, a used market must continue to exist!

Hmmm. I hadn't come here looking for an argument (or abuse, those are other rooms altogether), but I found this to be an interesting take on my comment.

I value the environment as well, but given that a lot of what I read would constitute pulp fiction (literally - ha!) there is something to be said for recycling efforts, use of sustainable source forests and the like. I'm no paper industry shill and I'm sure as a whole they're responsible for a lot of pollution and resource consumption, but hopefully not as much as in the past.

Moving on to D and E there, I agree that in many cases, ebooks are fantastic. But my problem, as stated above, relatees to ownership and physical media. Not having ownership in many cases is a big problem for me. And I personally like perusing the stacks at a good library or book store. I read to experience things I can't otherwise do, and in many cases, because of how some of my reading selections tie into friends' recommendations or common activities, the reading or discussion afterwards makes memories too.

I value the emotional responses I feel from a good story, and I enjoy a good "popcorn Saturday" kind of book too. I know I can have that with ebooks, but the experiences surrounding them aren't the same. If I truly felt that ebooks would go ina direction allowing true ownership and fairly open/compatible standards for the readers/clients, I'd be much happier. but I don't believe we'll get that utopia. Not with the legacy business model mindsets at work...

And speaking of legacies, I've been working on a small collection of "personal touchstone" works in sci-fi, fantasy, and a little romance. I hope one day I can pass them on to my children. The older ones actually read a fair bit, and the baby will hopefully grow up with equal access to either media.

I agree that as e-media flourishes,costs and selection will go up. But that's my problem - I don't like the current state of compatibility-and-licensing restricted choices... I can buy a book and read it, annotate it, re-gift it, use it to level a table or sell it. Or shred it and line the hamster cage.

I don't see myself getting anywhere near that level of freedom with ebooks, mainly because many aren't sold, they're licensed, right? Which ties to my other point about limits - why is a technically unlimited resource being subject to artificial scarcity like that? Many of the items on offer from Overdrive (/shudder) are in one or two copy numbers. Adjust licensing to be more sane and we'll talk again...

I have a hard time believing POD will continue to be viable if the content purveyors have their way with pricing. Plus, what's the output like? Some books just need to be /books/ either because they're special reads or children's picture books, or for some other reason.

I like the idea of just-in-time production for physical things, but I think this isn't the best place for it. At least, not for someone like me who sees a book as more than a collection of data...

They *are* facing cuts, as is pretty much every other city entity here. Our library system is 20 branches strong, with phenomenal service and a good selection in physical media (books, mags, DVDs, etc.). To make up some of their shortfalls, the library has book sales, fundraisers, awareness campaigns and so on.

What scares me is what happens when the majority of new works have both formats, and the publishers or distributors are pushing e-media rather than physical. Will the costs to acquire a good collection skyrocket? Will some things *stop* being available in paper? Will the licensing terms become so onerous that the libraries bow out of the brick and mortar business?

That is my chief concern here - I love my library about as much as I love my used bookmine. If they can't maintain a good collection, will they turn into museums of ancient media?

I think I'm really afraid for what the ebook revolution is going to mean for readers like me. Nevermind the ownership of digital media (and what that really means these days).

My problem is what less printed material means for libraries, which is where I get almost all my print and audiobooks these days. Sure, they have Overdrive for electronic checkout of e-media. But the selection my library currently offers stinks, and the number of copies is limited!

I hope in 10 years I can still get a nice fantasy romance to enjoy, or take my daughter for a readalong...

Why? What's pathetic about making rational choices? nschubach wants to play a game with his/her own time and chooses to optimise food runs in both a time and health-positive way and you complain? If I could do voices, I'd be saying, "Win freakin' win, baby!" in a solid Peter Griffin.

I personally like sandwiches so a lot of my snacking (whether gaming or not) is from that food group. But it's nice to have something pretty tasty and filling that won't get everywhere when playing.

Do you like sandwiches?