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Old 09-08-2017, 03:51 PM   #1
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Books in Print... going, going... gone

In my spare time I accumulated 40,000 or so geological sciences, maps and other technical, dated and some just collectable books.

I saw the EBooks and Print on Demand Books beginnings with computers and internet access and knew this was going to affect books of 'public domain'. By that time one Book Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio had a couple thousand EBooks for $9.99 each and now over 1,000,000 titles. These are available today on the internet.

This new form of handling text has and will speed up the ruin of the Book Shop as we know it. I quit selling books over a decade ago and have been going through my inventory and junking thousands. They are either $9.99 or FREE digital copies, today. Since many of my books are State and Federal public printings... they can be found for free, just having internet access.

Books selling for $200, $1000 at one time now can be found for FREE as a digital copy. Even books from the 17th Century to 2017... it is an absolute revolution in access to knowledge. Although, I question the knowledge spectrum is very lacking in the Hard Sciences and Mathematics of current University graduates... but that would be another Off Topic Forum thread.

If you have a collection of books... you may want to check availability of physical copies and Print on Demand and EBook copies. You may be shocked. Information is at your finger tips.

There still is a fragment of demand for older books, but it is for the MAPS and ILLUSTRATIONS within. The text is already on the internet.

So when I am checking the internet on the subject dear to my heart and discover 5 or more copies for sale in the $8 to $75 price range, for one title... it is time to take them to the City Landfill. I find copies of 10 pound US Geological Survey books for $10 and FREE shipping. It would cost $20 to ship.

Many libraries are cleaning shelves of these books and they work a percentage with resellers with big warehouses. $1 each. Higher for better rarities, but the common books are sold and profit make on volume, shipping and 50 cents a copy. A million half dollars becomes a lot of money.

So if you love books and have your own personal library... do not be surprised that the local library does not want any. They cannot afford to shelve them due to space and they subscribe to services to have many on loan by disc.

Our Airstreams may not be obsolete today, like books... but be aware this cultural revolution of we becoming older, and the youth having NO interest in camping or trailers. The generations inheriting your pride and joy... will sell it to get it out of the garage. Like books... people change with the times and technology.

Now back to sorting US Geological Survey bulletins and professional papers. Some are important papers but the majority... not worth the paper they are printed upon. Another load is destined to become paper towels and toilet tissue.
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Old 09-08-2017, 04:03 PM   #2
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Great topic that's on my mind lately. My wife recently asked me to clear out bins of college books--some textbooks, others that just seemed worth having at some point. I'm still a young buck by most accounts, just turned 41 yesterday, but I thought about how outdated many of my textbooks were. Hydrology of the Ogalalla aquifer, entry-level surveying, along with other fields of study that have advanced so much over the last 15 years since they were printed. Tough to let go of them on the one hand, but having to accept reality on the other. Maybe in another 10 years, when the kids are about on their own and we're 3/4-timing it across the continent, I'll have to accept the fact that the library can't find in the Airstream and let it all go. Until then, I'll keep on dusting those shelves holding my small (but important to me) library...and listening to audiobooks on my commute!
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Old 09-08-2017, 04:21 PM   #3
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Hi

I certainly agree about government publications. Access is getting quite easy. In some non-goverment areas, publications are retreating behind rather expensive "pay walls". The net result of this is that finding a paper version "inside" your local library system may be even more difficult. Some things get easier and others get harder.

My observation of the "kids" is that are doing just fine camping wise. Having jobs that chain them to a screen all day seems to make "getting away" even more attractive. For some bizarre reason plans seem to be shifting from "tents again at the Grand Canyon" to "let's all borrow Dad's Airstream ..." .... hmmm ..... Not quite sure this is a good development

Bob
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Old 09-08-2017, 04:27 PM   #4
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My home library wasn't nearly so extensive, but it still filled every shelf of three bookcases, plus a dozen milk crates in a closet.

Now they're all gone, except for a single shelf in one bookcase. Most of them reside on a portable hard drive that I plug into my laptop, the rest on my phone.

On one hand, that's a good thing. I miss the feel of a real book in my hand, that doesn't need to be recharged before reading. But having my library on a device that fits in a pocket sure does help if I ever need to evacuate for a hurricane. That's why most of my books are gone, hurricane Katrina, and the need to store all my remaining worldly possessions in my boss's garage for several weeks when I was rendered homeless after the storm. There just wasn't room in his garage to store the books, so I had to get rid of them.
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Old 09-08-2017, 05:24 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Ray Eklund View Post
Our Airstreams may not be obsolete today, like books... but be aware this cultural revolution of we becoming older, and the youth having NO interest in camping or trailers. The generations inheriting your pride and joy... will sell it to get it out of the garage. Like books... people change with the times and technology.
You may actually be off on this one, as there are strong trends showing that the new younger generation are more interested in this lifestyle than that associated with home ownership.

"'The RV space is on fire': Millennials expected to push sales to record highs"
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/28/the-...ord-highs.html

"RV sales soar across Europe and US as people fall back in love with the road trip" https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/11/rv-s...road-trip.html

"Millennials Hit the Road in a Sleek New Generation of RVs"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...eration-of-rvs

"The Buzz: Millennials Adopt Full-Timer Lifestyle"
http://www.rvbusiness.com/2017/06/th...s-full-timers/

It is our home/real estate investment that doesn't align with the next generation of buyer's wishes, and for the generation after it is likely too early to tell. However reality is that the younger generations have less attachment to "place" due to finding their community largely online. Ever watch kids today? The will sit in the same room communicating over their phones to each other.

As for books, they are often more of a hazard to you for accidental injury than the geological formations they discuss :P
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Old 09-08-2017, 05:54 PM   #6
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Books in Print... going, going... gone

Certainly the interests of young people are different from older generations. I remember when a particular country club opened 20 or so years ago. It was the premier club around here at the time it opened, and memberships were selling for $60k+. Another older but nice club that I would have joined if I had the money was selling memberships for about $45k. Recently an acquaintance from earlier days invited me to lunch at the premier club. I thought, "Wow, he must be doing better than I thought he was!" In the course of the lunch, he confided in me that he had bought his membership for less than $5k. I had a client who was a member of the older club at the time she died, and her estate sold the membership for about $3,500. If I still played golf, I would certainly join either one. But evidently young people aren't interested. My take on that is that golf is a time consuming activity, and they just don't want to spend that much time on it.

Same with bridge. Every day there are a few less people who play bridge because a few die off and not many young people are interested in replacing them. Same reason, I would guess. Of course, on line games offer more excitement, but they don't offer you the opportunity to structure your strategy around what you have figured out about a real human being who is facing you across the table. Chess can be successfully played against a computer; in fact, you have to dumb the computer down in order to have an enjoyable game for most people (me included). But bridge is a game about figuring out other peoples' personalities.

It is what it is. A recent poll found that most young people would rather play computer games or chat with their Facebook friends than have sex (other than on line stimulation, which is readily available, and much more efficient).
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Old 09-08-2017, 06:29 PM   #7
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My take on that is that golf is a time consuming activity, and they just don't want to spend that much time on it.
I've never seen the appeal of golf. I agree with H. S. Scrivener that "Golf is a way to spoil a good walk." And at 59 I'm not part of the younger generation— yet. But I will be next year! My goddaughter gave me a coffee cup that says "Turning 60 is like turning 16 in Celsius." Very appropriate since I'll turn 60 (16C) the year she turns 16. She and I will be the same age!
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But bridge is a game about figuring out other peoples' personalities.
So is Texas Hold'em, which I'd much rather play than bridge, cribbage, dominoes, or mah jongg.
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A recent poll found that most young people would rather play computer games or chat with their Facebook friends than have sex.
Egads! Let's hope that statistic applies to minors only, who should keep it in their pants anyway. Because if it applies to young adults too, then the next generation could be the last generation!
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Old 09-08-2017, 06:53 PM   #8
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Sadly, and pathetically, I've gotten out of the habit of even looking at real paper. A couple of years ago, we were writing a fairly large EIS. We were required to have a physical copy of anything that was referenced. I spent a couple of weeks trying to chase down copies of documents that were referenced in other pieces that I had referenced. I moved offices six months ago and found these documents on my bookshelf, three feet from where I was sitting all along
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Old 09-08-2017, 07:03 PM   #9
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.....

Same with bridge. Every day there are a few less people who play bridge because a few die off and not many young people are interested in replacing them. Same reason, I would guess. Of course, on line games offer more excitement, but they don't offer you the opportunity to structure your strategy around what you have figured out about a real human being who is facing you across the table. Chess can be successfully played against a computer; in fact, you have to dumb the computer down in order to have an enjoyable game for most people (me included). But bridge is a game about figuring out other peoples' personalities.

It is what it is. A recent poll found that most young people would rather play computer games or chat with their Facebook friends than have sex (other than on line stimulation, which is readily available, and much more efficient).
Hi

At least the crowd that descends on this location from time to time is *very* in to board and card games. (... roast a pig and pass out free beer ....). They aren't into the same games as I am, but games still have an appeal. They get *deeply* into it. Anything that takes 12 hours to complete takes dedication ....

Bob
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Old 09-08-2017, 07:42 PM   #10
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I still love the feel, smell, and font of the printed page. Can't help it. Doug and I have a bookshelf and couple of boxes of old textbooks and it is hilarious to read through Nursing texts from the old days. I'll let my kids throw those away.

I started to have a "book problem" a few years ago, so have rehabbed myself and use the library almost exclusively now. BUT, I still buy books for all our grandchildren (we have 5 and the oldest is 6) who love to read and be read to. Time well spent.

We always take Operation, Connect Four, Candy Land and cards on our camping trips. Their job is to remind me to pack them in the AS!
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Old 10-03-2017, 08:03 AM   #11
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I usually read books on my laptop and I-pod only because I don't have so many books in my house an I can't buy every ting I simoly just want to read It's usually for free and much more convinient, however I don't like in this way that my eyes become to tired after such readinf from different gadgets... And yeah, I still buy printed books and I adore them but now I get for my home library only my favourite ones
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Old 10-03-2017, 08:12 AM   #12
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I usually read books on my laptop and I-pod only because I don't have so many books in my house an I can't buy every ting I simoly just want to read It's usually for free and much more convinient, however I don't like in this way that my eyes become to tired after such readinf from different gadgets... And yeah, I still buy printed books and I adore them but now I get for my home library only my favourite ones
I find reading on my Kindle to cause less eye strain than reading on a device like a laptop or iPod/iPad, where the light is shining up into my eyes instead of down onto the page.
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Old 10-03-2017, 08:38 AM   #13
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I thought I'd never accept a Kindle over a real book, but after a few days, the Kindle seems natural and a real book is awkward.
"The shadow of the left side makes the right side hard to read."
"The spine is too stiff."
Now, my Kindle has over 750 books through it, and if it broke, I'd go out today and get another. It's the old e-paper, where it gives off no light and you need a reading lamp or sunshine to see it.
It only uses power to change pages, so the battery lasts a week. (It's a miracle)
Amazon has millions of free books or $.99 books. Most are no name authors but good. If they're not, you haven't wasted anything.
Best of all, size and portability.
If an author I really like puts out a new book, I get it in hardcover to keep. There was a time when a hardcover was only $.25 more than an e-book. (Thanks Steve Jobs, but I got $18 in the lawsuit settlement.....moneygrubber)

For a while I was into Sudoku, and I liked paper for notes. It was great for the plane rides every week. I don't think the e-reader will replace that. (and you can take off with a paperback and pencil.)
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Old 10-03-2017, 01:15 PM   #14
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Books In Print

I recently found "The Folio Society" . They print high quality classic book's. I like my "Fire" for some books and magazine subscription's but sometimes you need a real book.
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Old 10-03-2017, 01:39 PM   #15
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For a while I was into Sudoku, and I liked paper for notes. It was great for the plane rides every week. I don't think the e-reader will replace that. (and you can take off with a paperback and pencil.)
For a couple of years now you can keep your small electronic devices on for take off and landing, as long as they are in airplane mode.
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Old 10-03-2017, 04:46 PM   #16
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The next generation is not anti camping yet. Dear son, after spending a weekend with us and the trailer at Lake Tahoe, asked, "So what are you going to do with the trailer when you are done using it?" I said, "It's yours if you want it or else we'll sell it." You should have seen his eyes light up.
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Old 10-03-2017, 09:22 PM   #17
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Heh, next generation (youngest son) was the one that bought our family Airstream... and all three of our sons were avid campers growing up and are Eagle Scouts. Coincidence I think not.
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Old 10-04-2017, 07:13 AM   #18
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I have Kindle, IBooks, and Nook on all of my devices, and appreciate that whether I’m out with my iPhone or at home with my iPad, I can read whatever I want to read whenever I want to read it. So 90% of the books I buy these days are electronic, and I buy 95% of them on the Kindle app. I've asked myself about my preference for Kindle over the other two apps, and I really don't have a good answer, as the iBooks and Nook apps are not that much different from Kindle, and when I think about it, I have a slight preference for Nook, as I hope Barnes and Noble stays in business. But I guess that is just part of the Amazon mystique that keeps that company growing and growing.

The only exception is books in Spanish or Russian, which I prefer in paper, because the margins get marked up with translations and notes. They have an Apple pencil, which works on some apps, but not on iBooks yet. With only a little tongue in cheek, I’ll bet Amazon figures out how to get it to work on Kindle before Apple gets it to work on IBooks.
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Old 10-04-2017, 07:26 AM   #19
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I use the Kindle reader for books. Mysteries.

Oh, and I haven't bought a book in a long time. Our public library in Albuquerque now has a collection of over 4,100 mysteries for the Kindle alone. I can log in from anyplace, select one from my wishlist, and download. All free.


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Old 10-04-2017, 07:37 AM   #20
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Hi

I find that I prefer cook books in print rather than on the Kindle. It's easier for my tired old eyes to glance back at a printed page (hands free) than to fiddle with the small screen.

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