Information
Avoiding religion and politics to prevent enraging blood, the fact is, knowledge is spreading the word. That word can be anything from what the camera witnessed, the recorder heard or facts one can prove. Daddy always said believe none of what you hear and half of what you see, but take it all with a grain of salt and even then research and have facts to back it up. I decided to create this page as a way of spreading information on several things I keep discovering some know little or nothing about.
What’s a e-book?
An e-book is pretty much anything you open on your computer/computer-like device, which you read in some fashion ranging from a set of directions for doing, an instruction manual for operating, to an item written for enjoyment like a novel.
What’s the difference between e & print books?
Whether red, pink or yellow, a rose is a rose is a rose. By the same token, whether on paper, audio or file, a book is a book is a book.
Both books require precious resources. E-books require file space (reusable) while print books require trees (recyclable). It's the processes that determine detrimental aspects. E-books require a computer/computer-like device needing electricity or something similar, which is carried by the power lines some claim damage the health and welfare of people and the environment. Print books require the use of trees or recycled paper some claim the processing (with or without chemicals) is releasing pollutants into the air we breathe and water we drink along with the streams and rivers where wildlife and forests live.
All published books have errors. E-book errors can be corrected rather quickly (and your error copy replaced), most times with a polite note to the publisher. Print books will not be reprinted if an error is discovered.
Scent. E-books smell like, well, the machine in your hand and the world around you. Print books have a wonderful ink-&-paper aroma.
Fading vision. E-books and their devices can adjust the text so the reading experience is comfortable on one's eyes. Print books cannot adjust the size of their print once off the press. This may not be a concern to some right now, but will be in about two or three decades. E-books can be read aloud in the privacy of your choice by their device. Print books require another person. Some people might not mind others knowing what they read, but some do.
Space. E-books utilize storage space on a device. Print books require shelves of some sort.
Lost. E-books can be saved on-line to prevent their destruction in or theft from your home. Print books require a security device, safety box, or something of the like. I don't know about you, but I have other vital documents I think out rank any paperback books in my home (birth certificates, marriage licenses, my daughter's newborn pictures, etc). E-books can be retrieved from your safe-keeping place or, with proof of purchase, from even the publisher. Print books are apt to remain lost. I have yet to encounter a bookstore or publisher that replaces a lost print book even with proof of purchase.
Bath time. E-book devices die in water. Print books drown. E-books can be retrieved from either your on-line storage area or the publisher. Print books must be left to dry several days then pressed.
Weight and portability benefits, especially for students. E-books weigh no more than their device. Print books vary. E-books won't overload a backpack. Print books can weigh quite a bit. A news channel survey once revealed a first grader's backpack averaged fifty-two pounds. I know several who do not meet the weight of their backpack and that's just the school books the kids carry. E-books can be replaced with a CD for about ten dollars. Print books can cost a rather pretty penny. To the comment of not everyone can afford an e-book device (cell phones are now considered devices), I reply not everyone can afford school books. Did you check to see what that third grader's math book cost? Or that tenth grader's English book? Let's not think about the science or history monsters. Well, I'm looking at hubby's college receipt and out of four books, the prices are $38.75, $75.00, $75.75 and $208.00.
What's the difference between trading an e-book via download verses trading a print book via a used bookstore or book swap?
Depends on how you do it. A print book bought then traded can only be in the hands of one person at a time and the author has received payment for the purchased book. An e-book bought then traded on-line and in the hands of only one person at a time is no different. However, when an e-book is made available via multiple copies and distributed without payment to the author for each and every copy, that is illegal. Would you copy that print book and hand it to anyone who asked for it? Well, if you're making copies of an e-book and distributing it, there's no difference.
Remember the following and you'll never break the law.
You may make copies of an e-book you purchased to use on your own personal devices for you and you alone;
You may only pass along the original e-book you bought after you erase all copies you make from all your personal devices.
No copies may be kept or passed along.
Sure, as long as it's for YOUR personal use ONLY. If you purchase an e-book, you may legally make copies for YOURSELF. You may pass along your original download provided you NEVER keep a copy, which is similar to a used bookstore redistributing used books. I reiterate, just as a bookstore may only distribute that single book without making copies, so may you do so with the original e-book you purchased. That e-book on your computer is no different than that print book on your shelf. Can you keep that original print book on your shelf while passing along a copy of it to someone else without having paid for the copy you're passing along? No. The possession and passing of an e-book is NO different. If you pass along a copy you made and keep the original or you make numerous copies and distribute them in any form (without the author receiving proper payment), you are pirating.
The copying and distribution of e-books without the author being paid for each and every copy is wrong. When you open that book, be it an e-book or print book, there's a paragraph that warns of copyright infringement. Please understand that warning is on both print and e-books so there is no difference between print and e-books.
Yes, making copies of an e-book for distribution is as legal as making copies of a print book for distribution. In other words, it's breaking the law, it's illegal and it's pirating.
Authors have spent weeks, months, even years to finish an e-book in hopes of offering it to readers for them to enjoy for a price print books dream of. For them to discover anyone anywhere can get their hard earned work for free because someone somewhere made a copy available and spread it across the internet is nothing less than taking food from the mouths of their children. You wouldn't expect to work for a company for free so is it fair to ask that author to tell a story only to have it distributed for free?
Authors write because they enjoy it, just as painters paint, but in no way does that give anyone the right to take an e-book (anymore than they would a print book), make a copy and give it to the world.
Please, don't pirate copies of e-books. You wouldn't want it done to you, don't do it to an author.