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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 10, 2020 15:39:14 GMT
So is the print edition of Phantasmagoria! Oh, I see, this is all very amusing to you---ha ha. But next time it could be you that tragedy befalls!
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Post by helrunar on Dec 10, 2020 15:44:40 GMT
It's really annoying when these electronic editions without tables of contents are distributed through online retail sites. The most extreme example was a collected edition of the works of Madame Blavatsky I think I still have on my "device." Madame Blavatsky had many virtues, but brevity was not one of them. I still chuckle when I think of that.
H.
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 10, 2020 15:51:50 GMT
It's really annoying when these electronic editions without tables of contents are distributed through online retail sites. The most extreme example was a collected edition of the works of Madame Blavatsky I think I still have on my "device." Madame Blavatsky had many virtues, but brevity was not one of them. I still chuckle when I think of that. H. Having formatted umpteen ebooks I must admit it is far more tricky than formatting something to be printed. You sometimes think you have got it right, then test it and find all sorts of weird errors have crept in, especially if you include graphics. Plus, you have to be extra careful in setting up the table of contents. It took me a while but I think I have more or less mastered all its idiosyncracies - which is something I might eventually regret saying! Mind you, though I still publish ebook versions alongside print ones, I never use my kindle anymore. It was a novelty that soon outlived its attraction for me. It's now laid somewhere on a shelf, almost certainly out of power.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 10, 2020 18:24:59 GMT
Mind you, though I still publish ebook versions alongside print ones, I never use my kindle anymore. It was a novelty that soon outlived its attraction for me. It's now laid somewhere on a shelf, almost certainly out of power. I read both comics and books on a Kindle Fire HD10. What do you use instead? The issue of Phantasmagoria I bought as a Kindle also was not the most competent in formatting. Frankly I expect a content-page.
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 10, 2020 18:42:29 GMT
Mind you, though I still publish ebook versions alongside print ones, I never use my kindle anymore. It was a novelty that soon outlived its attraction for me. It's now laid somewhere on a shelf, almost certainly out of power. I read both comics and books on a Kindle Fire HD10. What do you use instead? I don't use any electronic device. Like I said, its novelty soon outlasted its welcome. I prefer paper. If it wasn't for the extra revenue I wouldn't even publish electronic versions of any of the books I bring out at all.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 10, 2020 19:33:59 GMT
I don't use any electronic device. Like I said, its novelty soon outlasted its welcome. I don't think you are alone there. I had noticed (and this is well pre-Covid) that after there being a time when I would quite regularly see people using them in cafes, at bus stops, etc., I definitely was seeing them much less often.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 10, 2020 20:20:07 GMT
I read both comics and books on a Kindle Fire HD10. What do you use instead? I don't use any electronic device. Like I said, its novelty soon outlasted its welcome. I prefer paper. If it wasn't for the extra revenue I wouldn't even publish electronic versions of any of the books I bring out at all. While I am still of the firm opinion that Ebooks are just glorified text-files and therefore not worth the occasionally high pricing, I have to confess that they are so damn convenient. Nowadays I often find fine print tiresome or even difficult to read. It is easier to take the device with you, especially in the age of the doorstopper novel, and when I was in hospital I had a whole library at my command. (Not to mention the search function which can be handy for work).
For comics the same is even more true. While the pricing as Comix*l*y for the issues is insane - are there really people who pay 4,99 USD for the new Batman in digital? -, tradepaperbacks at half price are okay. And especially old comics where a panel is stretched to the size of the whole screen win a lot in this mode of presentation. Some art in this form is a revelation. Also the text is much easier to read. As much as I like my Hellboy oversized hardcover edition for instance, reading it is tiresome. On a tablet it is easy and nice.
But on the day the power fails I still need my books, so I am with you, David.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 10, 2020 20:21:05 GMT
I don't use any electronic device. Like I said, its novelty soon outlasted its welcome. I don't think you are alone there. I had noticed (and this is well pre-Covid) that after there being a time when I would quite regularly see people using them in cafes, at bus stops, etc., I definitely was seeing them much less often. I rarely see people using an ereader either, although I can say the same about seeing anybody reading a book. Personally, I love mine for it's small size & obviously large capacity for reading material. I got one originally because there were some books only available in kindle format. Also, I was sick of carrying around mostly 500pg hardcover library books. I could use a phone app like some people (and sometimes do) but the Kindle screen is of course larger so can fit more text on each page.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 10, 2020 20:34:05 GMT
I don't think you are alone there. I had noticed (and this is well pre-Covid) that after there being a time when I would quite regularly see people using them in cafes, at bus stops, etc., I definitely was seeing them much less often. I rarely see people using an ereader either, although I can say the same about seeing anybody reading a book. Personally, I love mine for it's small size & obviously large capacity for reading material. I got one originally because there were some books only available in kindle format. Also, I was sick of carrying around mostly 500pg hardcover library books. I could use a phone app like some people (and sometimes do) but the Kindle screen is of course larger so can fit more text on each page. Were it not for ebooks, it would not have been feasible for me to acquire and read the entire oeuvre of James Hadley Chase. (As I have indeed done, with the exception of a couple of novels. There are around 100 of them.)
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Post by helrunar on Dec 10, 2020 21:19:12 GMT
I'm also very grateful for e-books. I read a lot when I'm commuting and I don't think I could have hauled around some of the massive tomes I've been able to get through in the past few years without the Kindle. There have also been books, such as M. P. Dare's Unholy Relics and Melusine Draco's Coarse Witchcraft, which are prohibitively priced and de facto unavailable but were offered in cheap electronic editions I could readily afford. So for me, being gifted with a Kindle five and a half years ago was as radical an event as the issuing of the first Penguin paperbacks must have been for many British readers in the mid 1930s.
All that said, this week's commute book is a charming Scholastic Books paperback printing of L. M. Boston's The Sea Egg, date circa 1967, and having the little book to nestle between my fingers is a comfort and a lovely delight when I'm on the train.
cheers, H.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 11, 2020 8:36:58 GMT
Were it not for ebooks, it would not have been feasible for me to acquire and read the entire oeuvre of James Hadley Chase. (As I have indeed done, with the exception of a couple of novels. There are around 100 of them.) This is impressive, JoJo. Back in the 80s in my "let's read the classics" phase I dutifully read No Orchids for Miss Blandish and couldn't understand what the fuss was all about. Which in part was due to the missing context. As I was not particulary fond of gangster novels (still am not) I never sampled another.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 11, 2020 9:08:04 GMT
Were it not for ebooks, it would not have been feasible for me to acquire and read the entire oeuvre of James Hadley Chase. (As I have indeed done, with the exception of a couple of novels. There are around 100 of them.) This is impressive, JoJo. Back in the 80s in my "let's read the classics" phase I dutifully read No Orchids for Miss Blandish and couldn't understand what the fuss was all about. Which in part was due to the missing context. As I was not particulary fond of gangster novels (still am not) I never sampled another. The vast majority of his novels are not gangster novels.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Dec 11, 2020 14:04:42 GMT
Ghost & Scholars is navigable. You just turn the pages. So is the print edition of Phantasmagoria! Damn ye!
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Post by andydecker on Dec 11, 2020 17:39:58 GMT
This is impressive, JoJo. Back in the 80s in my "let's read the classics" phase I dutifully read No Orchids for Miss Blandish and couldn't understand what the fuss was all about. Which in part was due to the missing context. As I was not particulary fond of gangster novels (still am not) I never sampled another. The vast majority of his novels are not gangster novels. Interesting.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 11, 2020 18:03:41 GMT
The vast majority of his novels are not gangster novels. Interesting. He is also one of the most filmed authors of all time: www.imdb.com/name/nm0153777/The latest one is from two years ago and stars Isabelle Huppert.
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