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DreadPirateRoberts 11-01-2007 08:39 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor (Post 169683)
While we're on the topic, here's something related - the Playaway.

It's basically a dedicated mp3 player with one book on it (no down- or uploading). Our local "competitor" has these for borrowing. The crazy huge snag is that they take AA batteries - and they chew through them. They had so many complaints about players dying mid-book that the library is actually replacing the batteries every time they're returned. Ouch, from both an economic and environmental standpoint. However, if the were rechargable like a normal player, they'd be more expensive (but not much, at this point. It was a problem 2 years ago, now it's just stupid).
I wonder if they considered rechargable AAs. We use them all the time and have had good luck with them.

Alex 11-01-2007 09:00 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by mousepod (Post 169677)
If the e-book idea would be more popular if there was an inexpensive book-sized reader (are you listening Sony? Your proprietary software and $400 list price helped kill the idea before it even caught on!).

I'd pay for downloads, for sure.
I love Sony's electric ink book reader. But it is just too expensive and too uncertain of future support for me to take the plunge.

Plus, not having bookmarking and annotating ability is weird.

Stan4dSteph 11-01-2007 09:45 AM
The bookstore at the Albany airport has an interesting promotion. If you buy a book there, read it on your trip, and return it when you come back, they'll give you back 50% of the cost. Anyone else see that at airport bookstores?

katiesue 11-01-2007 09:56 AM
Yes I've seen that in a number of airports.

Alex 11-01-2007 09:56 AM
I've not noticed in airports but have seen similar programs. The Cracker Barrel chain of restaurants do this, I believe (I know they do it for audio books). Several of the major truck stop chains also have such programs for audio books and DVDs (don't know about books though).

Kevy Baby 11-01-2007 10:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex (Post 169706)
The Cracker Barrel chain of restaurants do this, I believe...
At first, I was thinking that you had to return your dinner when you get back, and that seemed, well... odd.

Alex 11-01-2007 10:05 AM
Sorry. For those who don't know, each Cracker Barrel restaurant has an attached "country store" that sells the usual road trip knickknackery. If you've been to Pea Soup Anderson's on a drive to Disneyland it is similar (though bigger) to what they have.

Disneyphile 11-01-2007 12:21 PM
This would be a good deal for Ken. The guy reads 4-5 books at once, blasting through them in about a week.

This would also greatly cut down on the amount of books in our home, of which, we just moved about 40 18-gallon containers full of them. :rolleyes:

We don't donate them, because he likes to read them again and again.

3894 11-01-2007 12:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph (Post 169700)
The bookstore at the Albany airport has an interesting promotion. If you buy a book there, read it on your trip, and return it when you come back, they'll give you back 50% of the cost. Anyone else see that at airport bookstores?
How fair is that to the author whose royalty is based on the purchase price not the list?

Ponine 11-01-2007 12:51 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3894 (Post 169766)
How fair is that to the author whose royalty is based on the purchase price not the list?
It's not, but I am willing to bet that its using the same "theory" as gift certificates.
Poeple have to take that EXTRA step to get that money back, and I wonder i f the percentage of people that actually redeem, or return the book is less than 20%.
Meaning, they make more than the give away.

But then again, if I like an author, or KNOW an author, I'll buy the book at full price regardless because I see it as an incentive for them to keep writing.

Now... if said author never tells you who they heck they are, and you have to read every book in Barnes and Noble.... well, I might go broke that way.


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