No more books

[abunaitoo]

Went to the market today.
No more paper back books for sale.
Still have magazines, but not many.
Will books become obsolete?????
I enjoy reading real books.
It's just something about holding a book in my hands.
Just cannot imagine trying to read a book online.
Feel for the people who don't have a computer, if books are gone.

[gbrown]

Man, the way the young uns are hung up on cell phones and social media these days, wouldn't be surprised. Newspapers are struggling, magazines soon to follow, IMHO.X

[gbrown]

BTW, I have an old Kindle, download books from Amazon, got a lot of them archived. Like your own personal library w/o taking up space. Of course, you have to have internet access and WIFI is helpful.

[xs11jack]

We have a Goodwill Outlet near my house. They run 1000's of books through their building every day. You pay $.25 measured across the binding. Wonderful books.
Ole Jack

[Geraldo]

It's just something about holding a book in my hands.
Just cannot imagine trying to read a book online.
Feel for the people who don't have a computer, if books are gone.

I used to say the same thing. Like gbrown I have a Kindle, and I've grown to like it. I can carry books, newspapers, and magazines in one small package. Once you download them, you don't need WiFi to read. There are also a lot of cheap or free books about history.

[jdfoxinc]

I use 3 different book aps on my phone. Much lighter.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

I have two kindle fire tablets. Most of my internet and reading, games also on there. Still read paper books and magazines. Lots of WW II stuff right now.
Hope real books stay around.

[SeabeeMan]

I hate reading on devices. I've tried a Kindle Paperwhite, my cell phone, iPad, laptop...just prefer paper. And I'm one those young'uns...sort of.

[Winger Ed.]

Will books become obsolete?????


Probably.
I've know young people that didn't have any.
Their world comes to them on a cell phone screen.

I grab them at the thrift stores for 25 cents for paperbacks and $1. for first edition hard cover.
I'll read them, save a few to read again in a year or two, and pretty much throw the rest away since nobody wants them.

[JoeJames]

I used to say the same thing. Like gbrown I have a Kindle, and I've grown to like it. I can carry books, newspapers, and magazines in one small package. Once you download them, you don't need WiFi to read. There are also a lot of cheap or free books about history.I buy used history books from Amazon; Sir John Keegan, Max Hastings, and keepers like Shots fired in anger, A rifleman went to war, but I take my Kindle to gun shows with Flayderman's guide on there. For good pulp I check out ebooks from the library, or because I have a good relationship with my local library, they call me when a new Sandford, C J Box, or Lee Child hardback comes in.

[Winger Ed.]

Lee Child hardback comes in.

His guy Reacher is tough.
I often wonder if he is related to Chuck Norris.

[trebor44]

Books, just like the one found by the soldier in "Dances with Wolves", he showed the real value of books!

[monadnock#5]

The last couple times I've gotten hung up in a waiting room, I've been painfully aware that although there are still magazine racks, there are no (0) magazines to be seen. Covid is making the world stupid in more ways than one.

[frkelly74]

I like books. I like the term dead tree tech . It goes right along with wooden boats, wood framed houses, wood rifle stocks. Even fossil fuels/ coal. I know ,It's despicable to be so not green.

[pcolapaddler]

Abebooks.com

This is a used book site. Many authors and titles. I've had good luck with all my transactions.

Some sellers are overseas - Europe, England... This can lengthen delivery time, but that also increases anticipation.

I haven't noticed a shortage of physical books, but then again haven't actively looked at/for boss lately.

Most of my reading is on my phone or Kindle Fire. A concern of e books for me is that they don't seem to be any cheaper despite their not requiring printing, warehouse space or multiple delivery phases. I also don't like that there isn't a convenient way to give away or loan e books.

My wife notes that some studies say that we don't retain what is read from e books as well as physical books. Since I don't remember either very well, I can't speak to this.

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[robg]

real books are so much easier on the eyes to read .im analogue in a digital world.one emp from the sun and you will appreciate old school tech.

[abunaitoo]

The goodwill and salvation army here has very few books.
We have only one book store left on island.
Kids here graduate high school have no idea how to read books.
They read audio books:shock:
Sad

[bakerjw]

I've had Kindle readers since they were released. In fact, I bought my first one and sold it several months later for what I'd paid for it.
It is so easy to use that it is not funny and I rarely buy books from Amazon.

[Geraldo]

I've know young people that didn't have any.


I know old people who don't have any. My dad is pushing 80, and he hasn't read a book since high school.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against paper pages, and I'll buy a real book if there's no other way to get it and I want it bad enough.

[Wayne Smith]

We both came from families of bibliophiles and created a family of bibliophiles. One son has his MS Aerospace Engineering and the other is ABD (all but dissertation) from his Doctorate in Comparative Ethics. After saying that I must say that I'm on my sixth Kindle. LOML and I share an account and we have over 400 books on it - and not one bookshelf. It is truly miraculous. We also check out library books on the Kindle. I will still buy paper books if there are maps in it - maps do not translate to that little screen well at all.

[farmerjim]

I have a Kindle. There are many free books on the web, and you can download books from many libraries. You can also get a unlimited books subscription for not too much.

[tinsnips]

Old school I like to read from a book , get most of my books cheap from Thriftbooks .com or the library.

[frkelly74]

The only time having books has been a problem was when we pulled up stakes and moved across the country. They are kind of heavy.

[Petrol & Powder]

I love real books. There's just something about paper.
I get the attraction to electronic media and it makes sense, I just prefer a real book at times.

When dealing with a book of paper & ink, one doesn't need to worry about battery life or some computer chip having a bad day. But, the immense advantages of electronic media are undeniable. My love of tangible ink on paper is irrational but there you have it.

I don't think real books will ever disappear from our world. I do think our world will change but change is inevitable.

[Petrol & Powder]

The last couple times I've gotten hung up in a waiting room, I've been painfully aware that although there are still magazine racks, there are no (0) magazines to be seen. Covid is making the world stupid in more ways than one.

The world was already stupid. COVID and liberals just accelerated the process of dumbing down the world.

[frkelly74]

Another thought, Electronic media is pretty easy to corrupt by editing or mistake so It could be readily re-written as political winds shift. Paper however is more like evidence I think. You have to burn the whole book to get rid of it,Or run a new revised edition. I see electronic media as being something like the lettering on the barn depicted in the story '"Animal Farm". A great book.

[JoeJames]

Abebooks.com

This is a used book site. Many authors and titles. I've had good luck with all my transactions.

Some sellers are overseas - Europe, England... This can lengthen delivery time, but that also increases anticipation.

I haven't noticed a shortage of physical books, but then again haven't actively looked at/for boss lately.

Most of my reading is on my phone or Kindle Fire. A concern of e books for me is that they don't seem to be any cheaper despite their not requiring printing, warehouse space or multiple delivery phases. I also don't like that there isn't a convenient way to give away or loan e books.

My wife notes that some studies say that we don't retain what is read from e books as well as physical books. Since I don't remember either very well, I can't speak to this.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using TapatalkThis is a bank shot, but one of the few pluses of getting older is with books. I have recently re-read several that I had read 40 or 50 years, and low and behold, they were all new and fresh again. Example: Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy; it was like a brand new book again, and I enjoyed the fire out of it.

[trebor44]

How many issues of the second Kilmarnock edition of Robbie Burns Poetry exist for digital devices? How about the "Kilmarnock Edition"?

[LavaTech]

Ebooks became inevitable for me. When I had space for my few thousand bound books there wasn’t any issue, and after innumerable trips to Goodwill to donate my hoard prior to moving I resolved never to accumulate so many again. Now there’s only one bookcase, but a current Calibre library of 5872 titles by 870 authors never seems to get full.


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[jbutts6785]

I enjoy my old Kindle, but it can't beat a real book, either hard cover or paperback. Luckily, I have a great used book store nearby.

[Omega]

I like the kindle app and device, once you buy a book, it's there forever. I do like physical books too, but some can be cumbersome to tote around, and once read you have to store it. I had vast collections of books that I had acquired while in the military, which I read on long flights. When I retired I took them all to a Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) office on post so they could put them on their free book racks for troops. I don't think books in print will disappear anytime soon, but other things like newspapers and such probably don't have much time left as everything is put out by electronic means as it happens.

[largom]

I like REAL books. Six large bookshelves full. Have read most 3 or more times.

[Petrol & Powder]

"I cannot live without books" - Thomas Jefferson

[Mal Paso]

Audio books! I have "read" more in the last few years than the rest of my life. It lowers my blood pressure while driving and keeps me from going nuts during boring jobs. I usually have about 150 full length books in my pocket.

Oh and they are fireproof. My paper ones were not.

[alamogunr]

Like several others we have Kindles. I'm somewhat addicted to mysteries, police dramas, etc. These books have no value to me after I've read them. I get most thru Kindle Unlimited which is a program of Amazon. For a monthly fee you can borrow books. Only allowed 10 books borrowed at a time so I must return one each time I want to borrow one. Between the two of us, we really take advantage of this program. One disadvantage is that Amazon gets you started on a series by an author and after 2 or 3 borrowed by that author, they start charging to buy. Sometimes a fairly large amount. I just finished the latest book by John Grisham. I started on his books back before Ebooks.

Most of the books that I get for the Kindles are useless to me after reading them. I do buy and keep technical or hobby books. Ebooks will never replace my loading manuals. I usually end up getting a new one every couple of years, especially if someone has made mention of something unique or more up-to-date.

I'm getting to an age where some of my books are going to have to go. Many of them are gun related so, if I can figure out how to post pictures, I'll be listing them in S&S.

[gwpercle]

I have loved books and reading my whole (71 years) life .
I enjoy cooking and history so over the years have amassed a nice Louisiana Cookbook Collection .
I just realized I haven't bought a cookbook of any kind in the last 15 years ... Why !!!
Yesterday I wanted a recipe ... I didn't go to one of my favorite old New Orleans cookbooks ...
I sat down at the computer ... typed out " Camellia Red Beans and Rice " up popped some 40 odd recipes , I printed out one from Camellia Bean Co. and was done !!!! What have I become ...a slave to the convenience of the computer ... Shame on Me ... I need to get back to the cookbooks my mother and grandmother used ... the computer will wipe them all away and once gone they will never come back .
Gary

[MT Gianni]

I have a couple of kindles and like them. Paperbacks new are often cheaper than the kindle book. Used they are even cheaper yet. Montana's state library interacts with the locals and I can have up to 5 audio books. I listen to them while working out and traveling. I also download readables. As long as the paperbacks are cheaper than electronics I think the books are here to stay.
My grandkids all have laptops and school but paper reference books. With the cost of textbooks I would think most would be electronic. I think the grocery stores are dropping books due to space issues. When their suppliers are paying a premium for targeted shelf space, what used to work can easily change.
Most of the book stores are out of business but almost everywhere I go I find used book stores. The need for books is still large, IMO.

[gbrown]

What I notice, is that the magazines and newspapers just get smaller and smaller. I have taken 4 magazines over the last 20 years--Smithsonian, Discovery, National Geographic, and American Rifleman. 20 years at least, probably more. Took 2 newspapers, til 1 refused to continue my subscription if I didn't use their automatic payment--my card was hacked 2X on their system. The other just stopped delivering??? Oh well.

[abunaitoo]

Audio books! I have "read" more in the last few years than the rest of my life. It lowers my blood pressure while driving and keeps me from going nuts during boring jobs. I usually have about 150 full length books in my pocket.

Oh and they are fireproof. My paper ones were not.

I've never tried audio books.
May have to try it one day.

[Wayne Smith]

The only time having books has been a problem was when we pulled up stakes and moved across the country. They are kind of heavy.

Book rate at the PO - I have shipped as many as 40 liquor boxes of books across country when we moved.

[Winger Ed.]

I've never tried audio books.
May have to try it one day.

They don't hold my attention.
I start day dreaming and the reader begins to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher.

[Bazoo]

I'll read electronic books if that's my only option. I much prefer paper books though.

I have a copy of A.W.Greeleys travelers and explorers, and a copy of Tom Sawyer, second edition. Both came from a barn and are in bad condition, covers and bindings letting go, musty smell. But they are special to me. I'm halfway through the adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the front is the words, to Billy from Elwood, Christmas 1932. Throughout are greasy kid fingerprints and scribble. To me, it's spiritual.

Books are like a good mould or rifle, a trusted friend.

[VariableRecall]

If you're on the move and don't like what's on the radio I can't stop reccomending Audible. Listening to books is a lovely way to get your fill of literature AND do things around the house. It's great!

[Burnt Fingers]

I currently have a Kindle Oasis and Kindle Unlimited. I read 10-15 books a month at a minimum.

Much of the stuff I read will never be printed. Military Sci-Fi and the like.

When my wife and I made the move a few years ago we donated over 2,000 books to the VA voluntary services. Having the Kindle is so much easier and takes up a lot less space.

[Scrounge]

I'll read electronic books if that's my only option. I much prefer paper books though.

I have a copy of A.W.Greeleys travelers and explorers, and a copy of Tom Sawyer, second edition. Both came from a barn and are in bad condition, covers and bindings letting go, musty smell. But they are special to me. I'm halfway through the adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the front is the words, to Billy from Elwood, Christmas 1932. Throughout are greasy kid fingerprints and scribble. To me, it's spiritual.

Books are like a good mould or rifle, a trusted friend.
I love paper books, love to collect them, love to read them. I also love electronic books. I carry with me in my phone, 400+ gigabytes of books, music, photos, and movies everywhere I go. Yesterday, I bought a set of the Harvard Classics from Amazon for the Kindle. That is what they call the 5 foot shelf of books. Classic literature, used to be hundreds of dollars. Was $1.99, and SWMBO misheard it as $199. I have Britannica's version in paper. It is rather hard to carry around with you.

[alamogunr]

I love paper books, love to collect them, love to read them. I also love electronic books. I carry with me in my phone, 400+ gigabytes of books, music, photos, and movies everywhere I go. Yesterday, I bought a set of the Harvard Classics from Amazon for the Kindle. That is what they call the 5 foot shelf of books. Classic literature, used to be hundreds of dollars. Was $1.99, and SWMBO misheard it as $199. I have Britannica's version in paper. It is rather hard to carry around with you.

Thanks for the tip. For some reason I never thought of classics on the Kindle. I'm kind of addicted to mysteries but sometimes need a change. Don't know if I will ever make it thru all 50(49?) but it will give me a wider choice of reading material.

BTW, I paid $2.99. Not sure I can afford it:lol:

[abunaitoo]

Not really a fan of audio books while driving.
Dangerous enough with all the texting going on by millennials.

[am44mag]

Not really a fan of audio books while driving.
Dangerous enough with all the texting going on by millennials.

You keep taking jabs at millennials. Do you think that older folks don't do that sort of stuff too? I can ensure you that they most certainly do. Stupidity is not a generational issue, it's a universal one. The only difference between your generation and mine is that technology has made it easier for that stupidity to be showcased to the world.

As for the books, I own many. Mainly ones that cover history and technology. I'm not much of a novel reader, although an audio book with a GOOD reader can be great, and it certainly makes it easier to "read" when you have other things that need to be done.

[kevin c]

I converted a spare bedroom into a library. It's a comfortable place to retreat to.

[frkelly74]

270596

[alamogunr]

I converted a spare bedroom into a library. It's a comfortable place to retreat to.

We did the same except converted the unused living room into a dining room big enough for the whole family and I converted the empty small dining room into a reading room. Most of my reading is on the Kindle now. If I am reading physical books or magazines I keep them somewhere else when I am finished reading them.

[abunaitoo]

You keep taking jabs at millennials. Do you think that older folks don't do that sort of stuff too? I can ensure you that they most certainly do. Stupidity is not a generational issue, it's a universal one. The only difference between your generation and mine is that technology has made it easier for that stupidity to be showcased to the world.

As for the books, I own many. Mainly ones that cover history and technology. I'm not much of a novel reader, although an audio book with a GOOD reader can be great, and it certainly makes it easier to "read" when you have other things that need to be done.

millennials, by their actions, make them such easy targets.
But you are correct.
Older people who want to be a millennial, are a much bigger problem.

[retread]

Go to Thriftbooks.com Great prices and all the books I have got are in great to new condition. Shipping is free to conus, can't say about Hawaii.

























Go to Thriftbooks.com

[perotter]

I work part time at a printing factory. I their newsletter about a year ago it said the total number of books printed in the US has stayed the same for the last 6-7 years. Since then the plant I'm at has added a brand new press, new binding equipment, etc to handle booking making overflow from one of the other plants. I was told this is the first brand new equipment in over a decade.

I think maybe there has always been and will be a core group of people who like reading a real book. I'm ok with reading a digital book if it is one that is something I'll only read once. But if I think it's important to know, I buy the real book.

[Wayne Smith]

I converted a spare bedroom into a library. It's a comfortable place to retreat to.

When our oldest son moved out I told LOML that I did not lose a son, I gained a reloading room! The reading room is where ever the TV is not on.

[Hickok]

I am an old COB, (cranky old booger) and I prefer to have a book in my hand. I read continually. Wife had great intentions and bought me a Kindle electronic "what-ja-ma-call-it." To me, it sucks!

Remember back to the days when I waited for the new Herter's catalog, just so I could read up on all the "Model Perfect" items that were listed!

I carry my old beat-up leather-bound King James Bible to church,....look over and see some folks reading along with the preacher and scripture using electronic gizmo's and smart phones. Just don't work for me. My Bible is marked up, highlighted, underlined, and has notes stuffed into various pages. I like it that way.

[fiberoptik]

I am an old COB, (cranky old booger) and I prefer to have a book in my hand. I read continually. Wife had great intentions and bought me a Kindle electronic "what-ja-ma-call-it." To me, it sucks!

Remember back to the days when I waited for the new Herter's catalog, just so I could read up on all the "Model Perfect" items that were listed!

I carry my old beat-up leather-bound King James Bible to church,....look over and see some folks reading along with the preacher and scripture using electronic gizmo's and smart phones. Just don't work for me. My Bible is marked up, highlighted, underlined, and has notes stuffed into various pages. I like it that way.

+1! (But only 56...)


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[leadeye]

Still like books, always come out of a used book shop with a few.

[alamogunr]

I carry my old beat-up leather-bound King James Bible to church,....look over and see some folks reading along with the preacher and scripture using electronic gizmo's and smart phones. Just don't work for me. My Bible is marked up, highlighted, underlined, and has notes stuffed into various pages. I like it that way.

I use a Kindle for pleasure reading. I much prefer a Bible I can hold in my hands and turn pages. I know some would say that you can do that with a Kindle(or other electronic reader) but it isn't the same.

I must have at least 5 different translations of the bible. None of my translations are the modern interpretations. To me they are not translations, just someones opinion of how they want the Bible to to read. My latest acquisition is the New King James. I resisted for a long time but now I prefer it. I used a NIV for years because it was easier to read and not stumble over strange syntax, My King James Bible has pronunciation of proper names. I miss that in all the other translations.

[james23]

E books are a great thing to be able to download and read but in 50 years the real book buy today will still be able to be read. Pretty much a guarantee that the systems used in just a few years wont be readable in the future easily. Remember the floppy disk? or even the cd rom? Most new computers don't have a cd drive. There are more and more old reloading books that have been put to PDF. If they aren't too long and printer ink is cheap enough, I print it off, nice to have a paper copy on the shelf.

[farmbif]

I've found good audiobooks really great for long road trips thing is some audio books are like winger ed says, sounds like charge browns teacher, but some are really well done.
spent some time yesterday reading Hemingway's the snows of Kilimanjaro, what a writer he was.

[abunaitoo]

Imagine what would happen if the web just crashed.
No more e books.
It will happen someday.

[.429&H110]

Every test you ever took
was first a reading test
if you can't read
you can't answer.
I learned to read 1000wpm.
300 wpm is goofing along.
Reading fast is easy,
with lessons and practice.
My granddaughters aren't even taught
100 wpm, how will they ever take a test?
The world has changed
America is over
Everybody gets a trophy
All grades are passing
We are all special.
No more books
it's online.
Deep breath, Grampa, c'mon breathe....

[VariableRecall]

Every test you ever took
was first a reading test
if you can't read
you can't answer.
I learned to read 1000wpm.
300 wpm is goofing along.
Reading fast is easy,
with lessons and practice.
My granddaughters aren't even taught
100 wpm, how will they ever take a test?
The world has changed
America is over
Everybody gets a trophy
All grades are passing
We are all special.
No more books
it's online.
Deep breath, Grampa, c'mon breathe....

Not sure if it's just me, but I've been able to read by some strange means from the age of 5. I'm pretty young compared to most on here, at 25. I can read far faster than I can speak, but I'm more comfortable reading at about 400 wpm.

Being a kid raised in the midst of No Child Left Behind, looking back, I'd have to say that all of the emphasis on standardized tests stifled my love of learning for years to come. Instead of actually knowing and understanding how things worked, getting shoved into a square hole via the hydraulic press of the WASL (in my home state of Washington), and "teaching for the test" likely left me unprepared for the future.

While those tests certainly crushed my love of learning, they couldn't take my love of reading.

On that notion of "all grades are passing", I've been saddled with the guilt and anxiety of never feeling worthy enough for praise in the academic fields that I struggle in. For as much effort as I put into my schoolwork, I always come up feeling that I've failed myself.

I've never had a problem with reading. But I'm fairly certain our public schooling system is partially to blame for the warping of learning into filling checkboxes for the next month instead of a lifetime.

When it comes to online schooling, I certainly worry for kids that are probably too young to even use a full sized desktop computer, but I'd say that in my impression of my online classes so far, I'd say Online Education has a great amount of value.

While I certainly miss meeting face to face with professors, as long as I can meet with them for Office Hours and ask questions live during a lecture, I'm mostly good to go.

I do plenty of reading with my textbooks in an online format. While some are certainly better than others in terms of comfort and features, it's not nearly as bad as a used book with a poor index and pages falling out of it for more than 2 times the price of a digital edition.

[abunaitoo]

Schools these days teach to pass the standardize test.
They don't care if the student really learns anything or not.
My friends Grand Son has a fast mind.
Normal mind mover at 40%, his is around 80%.
Has a hard tome listening to digital music and watching DVD movies.
He says everything is jerky.
Records and VHS is the cure.
He reads everything and anything, and remembers it all.
Photographic memory so he just looks at a page and it in his memory.
He likes to "read" instructions. Anykind on anything.
Gave him a Guinness book of world records on Christmas.
He went through it in about five minutes.
Asked him if he enjoyed it.
Started telling me about all the funny and strange things in it.
He know we're shooters, so he told us about the shooting records.
His Great Grand Mother got him in to punahou (the school all parents like to brag about), but he was going to fast, and the school was holding him back.
One of the "caring" teachers told his parents to get him into another school. This school was holding him back way to much.
One summer he went to a higher learning school.
He just blossomed there.
School noticed and offered him a full scholarships.
He's been there for three years, and can graduate if he wants.
Everyone agreed to keep him there for another year and see how it goes.
Good kid. Doesn't act smart. Slowly finding his "circle of friends". He has a good heart. Clumsy as ............
He's 15.

[10-x]

LOL, picked up 2 good books at flea mkt. yesterday. Late 70’s one on B-52 and one by Massad F. Ayoob, could not pass them up.

[VariableRecall]

On a much happier note, I certainly would have to say that I would have honestly never would have started to read Elmer Keith's Sixguns without getting the electronic version! Glad his works can still be read without having to dig through vintage books!