Books Kindle for Android/Kindle in General

[Ceixah]

So then! I recently downloaded Kindle for Android (quite a big step for me as I absolutely hate the idea of eradicating books etc)

Quite literally the moment I got home from work after downloading Kindle I had managed to find a few torrents etc which were packed with thousands of eBooks etc, my issue is immediately that with novels now being accessible in such an easy to access format - and it has to be said quite a good method of reading (Using a HTC Desire HD with its 4.2" screen) what is going to happen to the author/publishing industry?

Obviously it's a little extreme to say that it'll collapse as it were - however my point is that tv shows/films/music are all in an ongoing battle against piracy which i'm fairly confident we all partake in at some point, will publishers also enter this world?

One thing I will say is I don't really care much for actors/musicians as more often than not alot of these spunk their money on drugs / insane lifestyles etc, however when it comes down to authors (with the exception of JK Rowling) they tend to keep a simple lifestyle and not make a big deal from their success - thus deserving our money from book sales etc.

Obviously Kindle sell the books in the kindle store - however if it is that easy for me to get hold of all the books I actually want free of charge whats to stop others from doing so? (I did download the A Song of Ice And Fire novels to test this app) however it has to be said I did recently go out and purchase each book in the series, and every book I download I will make a point of going out and purchasing from a store.


Bit of an incoherent ramble this but I wanted others views on the Kindle world / piracy in terms of novels!


(also I'm aware ebooks have been around longer than the kindle - however the kindle now makes them accessible on the move in a very neat way!)

 

[Sparx]

Who are you to decide on how musicians etc should spend their money?

Thats like you coming up to me on payday and saying i shouldnt have my wage cause you dont approve of my spending habits

 

[Sparx]

Also bear in mind that with kindle people are now buying books who wouldnt normally buy them. I know a lot of my friends now buy them and hadnt bought a book in years. So instantly the increase in sales will outstrip the torrents. Just exactly the same as music and film sharing has

 

[GimmlyThe3rd]

I'd much rather sit by the pool and read a book with my feet up than some pissy 4.2" screen that hurts my eyes.

 

[Ceixah]

Who are you to decide on how musicians etc should spend their money?

Thats like you coming up to me on payday and saying i shouldnt have my wage cause you dont approve of my spending habits

I meant in the grand scheme of things I'm not likely to give money to a homeless guy on the street that has a sign saying "will spend all donations on drugs and booze"

Obviously it was a massive generalisation I just feel a hell of a lot less guilt whilst downloading films/music illegally!


With regards to more people reading - perhaps that is just to it being a bit of a craze at the moment however i'm sure it'll die down and thus leave the industry worse off than it was before

 

[Ceixah]

I'd much rather sit by the pool and read a book with my feet up than some pissy 4.2" screen that hurts my eyes.

the settings on the app itself are actually really good for adjusting to not hurt your eyes - this was my original view to be honest but I have gotta admit I'm some what swayed by the comfort of reading from it instead of holding both pages open then turning the page every minute or so.

 

[Sparx]

Tbh im more likely to give money to a tramp with a sign saying will spend on booze and drugs rather than the ones saying its for a hostel. Cause both will spend it on booze and drugs, at least one is being honest with you

 

[DaGaffer]

I won't pirate books. End of. I won't pirate music and I won't pirate games or movies. I will pirate TV however (and I have a whole series of justifications why that I won't bother to go into here).

I actually think a lot of people feel the way I do about books, even if they don't about the other media, probably for a lot of reasons mentioned in the OP (freetard cnuts who measure their worth by the size of their hard drives excepted). However, the book publishing industry is busily shooting itself in the foot with its pricing policies in geographical rights blocking. Its like they've not looked and learned from music in the slightest, and their actions will drive more piracy.

 

[cHodAX]

I'd much rather sit by the pool and read a book with my feet up than some pissy 4.2" screen that hurts my eyes.

Kindle is 7 inches or so, uses e-ink technology and is easy on the eye as reading from paper.

 

[Sparx]

Surely though your being hypocritcal there? your only justifying it to yourself.

If you arent going to download from others then you should download any, end of.

I do download and i know its wrong but i dont go round all the yeah but its the big companies blah blah. I do it because in the middle of the night when i see an ad and i think oh i wouldnt mind watching that, cheers very much

 

[Ceixah]

Surely though your being hypocritcal there? your only justifying it to yourself.

If you arent going to download from others then you should download any, end of.

I do download and i know its wrong but i dont go round all the yeah but its the big companies blah blah. I do it because in the middle of the night when i see an ad and i think oh i wouldnt mind watching that, cheers very much

never said I wasn't being hypocritical - its a complete contradiction I know downloading things illegally for one media form and not another - however I will always purchase the book which i've downloaded - if i do download any more ebooks that is.

Just wanted to see if any others were conflicted on this topic also

 

[cHodAX]

I won't pirate books. End of. I won't pirate music and I won't pirate games or movies. I will pirate TV however (and I have a whole series of justifications why that I won't bother to go into here).

I actually think a lot of people feel the way I do about books, even if they don't about the other media, probably for a lot of reasons mentioned in the OP (freetard cnuts who measure their worth by the size of their hard drives excepted). However, the book publishing industry is busily shooting itself in the foot with its pricing policies in geographical rights blocking. Its like they've not looked and learned from music in the slightest, and their actions will drive more piracy.

I do pirate books, I also buy a huge amount of books. I do pirate games however I have also paid for over 200 games in the last decade. I do pirate music but only as a sampler until the price becomes more realistic, same with the above two.

Basically I don't mind paying for anything if I know it is going to be quality, piracy enables me to filter out the wheat from the chaff but I don't use it to create huge libraries of material that I don't intend to pay for. Simply, I buy the good stuff and delete the shite that wasn't ever going to be worth my money. That kind of quality control rewards good product and denies botched crap more funds to produce more botched crap.

 

[soze]

At the moment the book companies are shooting themselves in the foot. On Kindle the Ice and Fire series start at £5.50 each but the paperbacks are £3. Amazon claim that eBook prices are set by the publisher. I know a few people who pirate kindle books because they cost more than the paperback while costing a fraction to make. They should just embrace change and set e versions cheaper than paperbacks and rake in profit rather than driving people to pirate by setting a stupid price.

 

[DaGaffer]

Surely though your being hypocritcal there? your only justifying it to yourself.

If you arent going to download from others then you should download any, end of.

I do download and i know its wrong but i dont go round all the yeah but its the big companies blah blah. I do it because in the middle of the night when i see an ad and i think oh i wouldnt mind watching that, cheers very much

I download TV shows because otherwise I can't use the internet - everything I watch from the US will be spoilered. I also justify it on the grounds that I will almost certainly watch everything again on TV anyway, probably several times, so I'm not hurting them. Finally, if something is available online anyway, on 4OD or whatever, I'll probably watch there rather than DL. Its actually pretty easy to justify TV piracy because there's little or no harm to the producer of the show; I can't say that for other media.

 

[Sparx]

I download TV shows because otherwise I can't use the internet - everything I watch from the US will be spoilered. I also justify it on the grounds that I will almost certainly watch everything again on TV anyway, probably several times, so I'm not hurting them. Finally, if something is available online anyway, on 4OD or whatever, I'll probably watch there rather than DL. Its actually pretty easy to justify TV piracy because there's little or no harm to the producer of the show; I can't say that for other media.

Not true, watching on 4od is funded by the ads in the breaks, by downloading there is no funding and could take away from 4od or DVD sales

UK is alot better now at being at the same times as US, still a way to go i agree but much better, South Park for example is only a day or so apart.

 

[Calaen]

I've downloaded for my kindle for free everybook I actually owned and paid for.

I'm sure I said this in another thread, I purchased two ebooks from waterstones but couldn't use them on my kindle so I had to convert them and remove the drm from them, abit of a fuck on

 

[cHodAX]

Not true, watching on 4od is funded by the ads in the breaks, by downloading there is no funding and could take away from 4od or DVD sales

UK is alot better now at being at the same times as US, still a way to go i agree but much better, South Park for example is only a day or so apart.

It is getting better definately, however you have stuff like Sons of Anarchy where we end up a year or more behind. That was acceptable 25 years ago when we had to send tapes across the Atlantic and every station/network/syndicate across the planet, in 2011 with high speed internet there are zero excuses for anything more than a 1 day delay.

 

[Zenith.UK]

At the moment the book companies are shooting themselves in the foot. On Kindle the Ice and Fire series start at £5.50 each but the paperbacks are £3. Amazon claim that eBook prices are set by the publisher. I know a few people who pirate kindle books because they cost more than the paperback while costing a fraction to make. They should just embrace change and set e versions cheaper than paperbacks and rake in profit rather than driving people to pirate by setting a stupid price.

The problem is a single word.
VAT.

Paperback/Hardback books are VAT free.
Ebooks have VAT at 20%.
That's why ebooks cost as much or more than the equivalent paperback.

 

[ST^]

At the moment the book companies are shooting themselves in the foot. On Kindle the Ice and Fire series start at £5.50 each but the paperbacks are £3.

A Game of Thrones is £4.50 not £3.

 

[soze]

The problem is a single word.
VAT.

Paperback/Hardback books are VAT free.
Ebooks have VAT at 20%.
That's why ebooks cost as much or more than the equivalent paperback.

I understand they have VAT. But the way i look at it is the paperback has the cost added to its price. And I cant believe that a eBook costs anywhere near the same even with any licensing fees ect.

A Game of Thrones is £4.50 not £3.

Sorry I was not clear. All 4 books are on offer in Tesco and you can get it for £3.

 

[ST^]

Sorry I was not clear. All 4 books are on offer in Tesco and you can get it for £3.

Not really a good comparison then is it?

 

[soze]

Not really a good comparison then is it?

The paperback is out there for £3 so the publishers have not set a minimum price on the paperback. My problem was never with Amazon so I think my point still stands.

 

[Ctuchik]

Obviously it was a massive generalisation I just feel a hell of a lot less guilt whilst downloading films/music illegally!

So it's just an empty excuse to make you feel better?

Brilliant.....

 

[Ceixah]

So it's just an empty excuse to make you feel better?

Brilliant.....

nice place to quote - when i'm fairly confident just after this I said main purpose was to see others opinions on the matter....

 

[ST^]

The paperback is out there for £3 so the publishers have not set a minimum price on the paperback. My problem was never with Amazon so I think my point still stands.

The only point you're making is that Tesco is selling stuff cheaper than Amazon.

 

[DaGaffer]

The problem is a single word.
VAT.

Paperback/Hardback books are VAT free.
Ebooks have VAT at 20%.
That's why ebooks cost as much or more than the equivalent paperback.

Its not just the VAT though. The publishers are setting wholesale price at the hardback price (or even above it). They've decided ebook users are early adopters (true), so like early adopters in the physical book market they'll pay a premium (not true - except in certain circumstances). If you think like an accountant, the publishers' approach makes sense, but it fails to look outside at what's actually going on.

 

[soze]

The only point you're making is that Tesco is selling stuff cheaper than Amazon.

No the point I am making is that by forcing Amazon to sell the ebook at an inflated price they are hurting sales of the ebook.

A Dance With Dragons
Hardcover £12.50
Kindle Edition £14.99

That's all Amazon pricing. So the ebook with no shipping or printing costs is still more.

 

[ST^]

No the point I am making is that by forcing Amazon to sell the ebook at an inflated price they are hurting sales of the ebook.

A Dance With Dragons
Hardcover £12.50
Kindle Edition £14.99

That's all Amazon pricing. So the ebook with no shipping or printing costs is still more.

£12.50 + 20% VAT = £15

wat.

 

[Rulke]

This again? I'll pirate stuff when legit vendors offer an inferior service. Ie, pirating benefits:

TV: No adverts. On demand. Better availability (I cant get Game of thrones cos I don't have/can't get Sky)
Movies: No unskippable stuff before the film
Music: Much easier to get Lossless digital copies
eBooks: Some books not released in the UK or for books I already own
Games: Try before you buy

With eBooks, usually the publisher sets the price. They're shooting themselves in the foot and encouraging pirating with pricing like Dance with Dragons imo. Haven't decided what version I'll buy, probably hardback and pirate the ebook

 

[soze]

£12.50 + 20% VAT = £15

wat.

OK I give up if you think we should be paying the exact same price for a hardback book and a ebook good for you.