Bead Chat

Re: Ebooks versus print books

Bead Flowers — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:17:09 GMT

I've just come back to this post - I'd almost forgotten I started it! It's really great to see it's generated so much discussion.

I still haven't invested in a kindle, ipad or any other such technology, so I'm still looking at this from the writing perspective. However, I did take on board all the likes and dislikes. The publisher I'm working with is here in the UK and my two books (wedding bouquets is due out first, then the miniature cakes later on) will both be available for download from the website and also on CD. They will be printable - I think that's so important...I really hate working from a computer screen whatever I'm doing, so I have to confess to printing out everything I want to use or check properly (just been doing a lot of proofing!). I think the downlaod option though is also good as it saves the postage problem. Having just upgraded my website, I was so pleased to be able to offer patterns as PDFs for download. I just don't understand why someone would refuse to do that...if they're worried about copyright, well it's just as easy to photocopy or scan a piece of paper as it is to print a dozen copies of a PDF. We all have to rely on trust and honesty and in my experience, most beaders are lovely people!

I don't have publication dates for either of my ebooks yet, but I will let you know when they come out and there will be more info on my website for anyone who want's to take a look. beadflowers.co.uk

Re: Ebooks versus print books

SandyDownUnder01 — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:03:25 GMT

Hi,

I know this thread is several months old but I just noticed it. Been knitting, not beading and haven't been keeping up with the forum. Naughty.

Although I love books, I really love ebooks too. I live in Australia and buying books from overseas plus postage then waiting weeks is not something I do very often. I recently bought a pattern from someone in England who refused to create a pdf. The postage cost more than the pattern.

Like several other people, I want to print the patterns. I've used the printscreen method to print something from an ebook - not the best but, at least I don't have to sit in front of a computer to bead. I didn't print the whole book - just one pattern I wanted. Authors are only fooling themselves by not offering a print option.

Recently bought a knitting 'magazine'. The file was enormous unlike the usual magazines via Zinio etc. But. There is an option to print a pdf of the patterns. I like that.

By the way, I'm 64 - you don't have to be young to enjoy technology - grin. Have a PC, netbook, e-reader and an iPhone. My sister is trying to convince me to buy an iPad too. Love the convenience of her iPad - do I really need another gadget? My handbag weighs a ton now and I just know I'd take the iPad on the train to work.

Hope your book is selling well. Can we see a link to it please? I know some people who would love peyote cakes.

Sandy

Down Under

Re: Ebooks versus print books

KipperCat — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 19:50:03 GMT

I switched my Beadwork subscription to Zinio last year. One reason was that my beading stuff was totally disorganized, and I would always be able to find my online copy. Another big advantage is the ability to take a screen shot of a project photo because I like to have .jpgs of the tutorials/patterns that I have.

Now I have my bead room much more organized. I even have most of my bead stuff in there! I know where my bead magazines are. I miss having a paper magazine to browse. When something comes in the mail, I want to look at it that day. It's just not the same getting an email that a new issue is available!

I also bought beading book on Zinio that was on sale.

At this point I'd much rather have all of these on paper, and will switch my subscription back to paper. This is best for me. Otoh, if I lived in a NYC apartment, space would be too precious for anything that could be stored online.

Ottercat - you can back up e-books. The process would be a bit different if they are in a software-specific format, but still doable.

I love my Kindle reader for novels though. There is free software available to read Kindle books on your computer. That's the one I use. I can even read in bed with notebook computer on a bed tray.

Re: Ebooks versus print books

ottercat — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 03:56:26 GMT

I hate to be the 'fly in the ointment', but what happens to those e-books if your technology fails? I know how to back-up my files on a computer (disk, zip, etc.), but how do you back-up your e-books? Or can you?

What's involved with 'self-publishing'? I'm working on a tutorial for 90DO-L (Intro, legend, tips left to complete; final layout). I'm planning on printing a hard-copy for myself, but not sure where to go from there.

I prefer a book -- something's missing just holding a flat screen. I print out my patterns so I can mark my place, or make alterations on the fly.

Thank you for starting this thread -- helps .

Ottercat

10-12-12 (2041 PDT)

Re: Ebooks versus print books

MaryW@112 — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:15:15 GMT

Have you tried to capture a screen shot? If not, try this: Hold your home button down while at the same time push the off button. The iPad will take a screen shot and send it to photos. From there you can email it to yourself and then print it. I've done this many times to print patterns for my personal use, even from magazines in zinio. I know this works on the iPad, but don't know how the Kindle works. Hope this helps.

Re: Ebooks versus print books

Valbeads — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 05:51:15 GMT

Lol, I picked up an Atari Retro for the 25th Anniversary. Get this- my nieces LOVE it! Whenever they come over, they nag to play it. With all the technology they've got, they'd rather play something with crappy graphics and goofy digital sound effects. Go figure. I should come up with a Pac Man Bracelet or something. No bead sewing tho. Not with a broken thumb that only has 10% ROM left.

Ugh! Waste of money, and time! I hear ya! I like to yammer, too. It's my nature, I guess.(g)

Val

Re: Ebooks versus print books

yumemiru — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:28:14 GMT

All we ever had was a Super Nintendo - and to this day it still works, lol. It's hooked up to a big-screen at home but now that I have my own place and nobody at home plays it, I'm thinking about bringing it down here. >.> {Not that I'll have a lot of time, between school and getting a job D:}

Oh it was a snoozefest. If I hadn't made friends with a few girls I probably would've been bored to death. As it was, I was probably one of the most talkative ones in class - but that's probably just because it's my nature, lol. {In my Economics class last semester, I was also the most talkative one...and the one most likely to be on facebook >.>}

Re: Ebooks versus print books

Valbeads — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 06:42:29 GMT

Har! I can tell you a thing or two about video games! In the late 70's we had a SuperPong game, then in 1982 we got the Atari! We still have it, with a buncha cartridges. It's actually worth some serious buckage, now. I don'remember if the Brick phone had a big bag to tote it around in, but its successors certainly did! Go watch the first Lethal Weapon movie and you'll see what I mean.

Ugh! What a snoozefest! I probably would've gotten tosse out for sleeping in class.(g)

Val

Re: Ebooks versus print books

yumemiru — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:58:22 GMT

Val -

I don't really remember ours being a PITA - then again I was too busy playing games on it to really notice anything, lol. I've seen some of those "brick" cell phones before...didn't they have bags to carry them around in? lol

Yeah, it was a waste of time. I passed easily and it probably didn't hurt my GPA, but it wasn't intellectually stimulating either, lol.

Re: Ebooks versus print books

AllieMDA — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:38:25 GMT

Peg, there is a Zinio app for the iPad. I've found the iPad an ideal way to view pdfs and other magazine-formatted pages. Just hold your iPad vertically and it'll approximate a magazine page. I wish I could write on it sometimes but it does have the advantage of not tearing apart from overuse!

Re: Ebooks versus print books

Valbeads — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:20:22 GMT

OMG! Packard Bell! I remember those! And what a pain in the butt they were, too!(lol) Yeah, you whippersnappers have no idea what life was like before computers, cable and so forth. I remember when we still had rotary phones! Actually, I kinda miss those. I also remember life before cell phones, too. I remember when the firsrt ones came out- they were HUGE! They called them The Brick (no, really!) and they had these big honkin' antennae on them. My how times have changed in the last 25-30 years.(g)

We got my dad a Kindle for his 75th BD last year. He likes it! Go figure; he's more of a Luddite than I ever thought of being.(LOL!)

That so-called English class sounds like a complete waste of money. As for the Three Musketeers? I like the movie version with Michael York. It's hilarious!

Val

Re: Ebooks versus print books

yumemiru — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:14:29 GMT

We got a Packard Bell when I was 5 {this was 1997, so it hasn't been THAT long ago lol}. I'm the generation that grew up with technology so I kind of embrace it, lol. But due to finances I don't really have the best of the best...I only got an iPod touch a year ago. The Kindle was a birthday present that will hopefully save money these next 2 years on textbooks, and I've had my laptop for 4 or 5 years now...still running Vista, lol, but I'm not complaining. {I usually don't upgrade to the newest operating system right away because that's basically a beta test.}

The absent w/o text thing - it was an English class, supposedly a 200-level class {I think?} but I literally called it "book club with grades". Learned nothing, hardly wrote a thing. Just a lot of reading crappy stuff and having to watch a lot of movies. {The prof seriously said she counted films as a kind of literature...I was done with the class right then and there mentally lol.} I'd much rather have been reading The Three Musketeers.

Re: Ebooks versus print books

Valbeads — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 03:02:29 GMT

I read a lot of classics, too. My Toshiba was a Christmas present and it only weighs a kilo, so it's pretty lightweight for a lappy, and I can stick it right in my Birkin and go! It has 6-8 hours of battery life, too which is better than the average lappy, and I can store craploads on it. Plus I can watch my DVDs in HiDef on it. I can be a bit of a Luddite when it comes to technology, though- I'd still much rather have a book in my hands to read. I like the smell of books. You can't smell books on a computer or a Kindle. It's this weird little quirk of mine. I still have a VCR. Mainly 'cos I can't afford digital cable or TiVo or any of that stuff. I never even had a DVD player till my parents got me one for Christmas one year. I still have a turntable, too. But (and this is where I'm going to date myself) I remember when the first computers came out. We actually had a Commodore 64 (we called it the Commo-Snore! total POS!) and my junior high school had a few Apple II computers! When I got into high school, we had IBM PCs, with the first Microsoft technology, and we toted around discs the size of dinner plates!(lol) I learned BASIC and FORTRAN (gag!) and the first word processing software I ever learnt to use was called PFS Write. We had dot matrix printers back then. In college I worked with the early MacIntosh computers. They were AWFUL!!!!! Tiny screens, and annoyingly un-user-friendly keyboards. Times sure have changed, haven't they?

OMG, your prof would mark you absent just for not having your text? What an a-hole! It's kinda funny to see all the kids in class taking notes with computers now. When I was in school, we brought mini-recorders to class and taped our lectures, then transcribed them later. Laptops didn't exist back then, and a computer would set you back a few grand, instead of a few hundred. Weird, huh? I have my beading stuff in print and on computer; depending on how it's available.

Val

Re: Ebooks versus print books

KipperCat — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:38:38 GMT

It's fairly easy to look at my laptop from where I usually bead, but occasionally I want a hard copy as well. If necessary, I'll do screen captures and print those. I normally print in black & white, so it helps if the photos or drawings are still clear in grayscale.