The "Andy Baio" link didn't seem to work? |
I may be in the minority, but I often borrow books, read books online, read excerpts from books, and even read a portion of books at the bookstore – then turn around and buy them later. I love owning the books I enjoy... and I'm a hardcover snob... always selecting the nicest book for my shelf.
I believe it can absolutely help sales. After all, you can't judge a book by it's cover!
Regards, Doug |
I agree with the post above. I just love having books. One of the great pleasures of life is sitting in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace. Looking inside a book online is not that different from browsing through it at the bookshop. If I like what I see I buy it, offline as well as offline. |
Lots of services allow for books to be read full text online. Most are free or very inexpensive.
For example
http://NetLibrary, available from most libraries.
ebrary, available from most libraries and a free version from http://Shop.ebrary.com
The National Academies of Sciences (National Academy Press) offers all of their books free and searchable on the web (for years) http://www.nap.edu Then, buy the full text if yoi want, need it.
This moth, the The World eBook Fair is offering more than 500,000 full text books (searchable) all in PDF free. Rest of the year, 8.95/month. http://www.worldebookfair.com |
I love books too, but I would never read a full book online. My eyes get really tired when I read anything online (on the computer screen) for more than half an hour.
I like to carry around a book and read it whenever I get some free time. I usually borrow books from libraries as well. I don't buy books unless I absolutely have to – e.g. school textbooks or books that help me in my day-to-day life.
The Reuters article says that Google Book Search has helped increase Amazon's book sales, but I'm the type of person that doesn't like to order things online. I ordered a book online and almost went crazy waiting for it to arrive. I could've just walked 10 minutes to the nearest bookstore to buy it, but it was $20 cheaper online! =Op |