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well we`ve always the more mixed shit from the unlikely souls you`d think of, mixed crap always will keep me fist in air screaming for peace, freedom and understanding...been on a vinyl buying spree ooh happiness is a wonderful thing :stereo: is lifeline from the crap...the inner childlike freak music freak likes coming out once the music playing...:3stooges: I`m a clown on the inside.post-25738-0-59653100-1440915838_thumb.jpost-25738-0-25723000-1440680043_thumb.jpost-25738-0-49611200-1440679937_thumb.ppost-25738-0-95679600-1440680611_thumb.j

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well we`ve always the more mixed shit from the unlikely souls you`d think of, mixed crap always will keep me fist in air screaming for peace, freedom and understanding...been on a vinyl buying spree ooh happiness is a wonderful thing :stereo: is lifeline from the crap...the inner childlike freak music freak likes coming out once the music playing...:3stooges: I`m a clown on the inside.post-25738-0-59653100-1440915838_thumb.jpost-25738-0-25723000-1440680043_thumb.jpost-25738-0-49611200-1440679937_thumb.ppost-25738-0-95679600-1440680611_thumb.j

3 stooges will bring out a smile trust me - most people will look at you and wonder what the fuck you are watching, but they make me smile

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I have always wondered what all the hullabaloo is about e-books, Kindle and paid subscription services such as Scribd!

Personally, I can't stand e-books. I am near-sighted and the computer / device light gives me a headache while trying to read and I am one of those people who loves and craves enjoying time alone, curled up with a good book and I can't bare to look someone in the eye and tell them that that my so-called 'book collection' is just a bunch of PDF files stashed in some remote folder on my computer! <_<

My mom on the other hand, is a paid Scribd subscriber! Hopefully, the entire process of printing books will not become a lost art!

I do however feel hopeful with regard to the future of printed books :)

The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far From Dead

By ALEXANDRA ALTERSEPT. 22, 2015

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Penguin Random House last year doubled the size of its distribution center in Crawfordsville, Ind., to speed up book distribution. Credit

Five years ago, the book world was seized by collective panic over the uncertain future of print.

As readers migrated to new digital devices, e-book sales soared, up 1,260 percent between 2008 and 2010, alarming booksellers that watched consumers use their stores to find titles they would later buy online. Print sales dwindled, bookstores struggled to stay open, and publishers and authors feared that cheaper e-books would cannibalize their business.

Then in 2011, the industry’s fears were realized when Borders declared bankruptcy.

“E-books were this rocket ship going straight up,” said Len Vlahos, a former executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit research group that tracks the publishing industry. “Just about everybody you talked to thought we were going the way of digital music.”

But the digital apocalypse never arrived, or at least not on schedule. While analysts once predicted that e-books would overtake print by 2015, digital sales have instead slowed sharply.

Photo

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Steve Bercu, co-owner of a bookstore in Austin, Tex., where 2015 sales are up 11 percent, and profits are the highest ever. CreditIlana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

Now, there are signs that some e-book adopters are returning to print, or becoming hybrid readers, who juggle devices and paper. E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers. Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago.

E-books’ declining popularity may signal that publishing, while not immune to technological upheaval, will weather the tidal wave of digital technology better than other forms of media, like music and television.

E-book subscription services, modeled on companies like Netflix and Pandora, have struggled to convert book lovers into digital binge readers, and some have shut down. Sales of dedicated e-reading devices have plunged as consumers migrated to tablets and smartphones. And according to some surveys, young readers who are digital natives still prefer reading on paper.

The surprising resilience of print has provided a lift to many booksellers. Independent bookstores, which were battered by the recession and competition from Amazon, are showing strong signs of resurgence. The American Booksellers Association counted 1,712 member stores in 2,227 locations in 2015, up from 1,410 in 1,660 locations five years ago.

“The fact that the digital side of the business has leveled off has worked to our advantage,” said Oren Teicher, chief executive of the American Booksellers Association. “It’s resulted in a far healthier independent bookstore market today than we have had in a long time.”

Publishers, seeking to capitalize on the shift, are pouring money into their print infrastructures and distribution. Hachette added 218,000 square feet to its Indiana warehouse late last year, and Simon & Schuster is expanding its New Jersey distribution facility by 200,000 square feet.

Penguin Random House has invested nearly $100 million in expanding and updating its warehouses and speeding up distribution of its books. It added 365,000 square feet last year to its warehouse in Crawfordsville, Ind., more than doubling the size of the warehouse. 

“People talked about the demise of physical books as if it was only a matter of time, but even 50 to 100 years from now, print will be a big chunk of our business,” said Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Penguin Random House, which has nearly 250 imprints globally. Print books account for more than 70 percent of the company’s sales in the United States.

The company began offering independent booksellers in 2011 two-day guaranteed delivery from November to January, the peak book buying months.

Other big publishers, including HarperCollins, have followed suit. The faster deliveries have allowed bookstores to place smaller initial orders and restock as needed, which has reduced returns of unsold books by about 10 percent.

Penguin Random House has also developed a data-driven approach to managing print inventory for some of its largest customers, a strategy modeled on the way manufacturers like Procter & Gamble automatically restock soap and other household goods. The company now tracks more than 10 million sales records a day, and sifts through them in order to make recommendations for how many copies of a given title a vendor should order based on previous sales.

“It’s a very simple thing; only books that are on the shelves can be sold,” Mr. Dohle said.

At BookPeople, a bookstore founded in 1970 in Austin, Tex., sales are up nearly 11 percent this year over last, making 2015 the store’s most profitable year ever, said Steve Bercu, the co-owner. He credits the growth of his business, in part, to the stabilization of print and new practices in the publishing industry, such as Penguin Random House’s so-called rapid replenishment program to restock books quickly.

“The e-book terror has kind of subsided,” he said.

Other independent booksellers agree that they are witnessing a reverse migration to print.

“We’ve seen people coming back,” said Arsen Kashkashian, a book buyer at Boulder Book Store in Boulder, Colo. “They were reading more on their Kindle and now they’re not, or they’re reading both ways.”

Digital books have been around for decades, ever since publishers began experimenting with CD-ROMs, but they did not catch on with consumers until 2008, shortly after Amazon released the Kindle.

The Kindle, which was joined by other devices like Kobo’s e-reader, the Nook from Barnes & Noble and the iPad, drew millions of book buyers to e-readers, which offered seamless, instant purchases. Publishers saw huge spikes in digital sales during and after the holidays, after people received e-readers as gifts.

But those double- and triple-digit growth rates plummeted as e-reading devices fell out of fashion with consumers, replaced by smartphones and tablets. Some 12 million e-readers were sold last year, a steep drop from the nearly 20 million sold in 2011, according to Forrester Research. The portion of people who read books primarily on e-readers fell to 32 percent in the first quarter of 2015, from 50 percent in 2012, a Nielsen survey showed.

Higher e-book prices may also be driving readers back to paper.

As publishers renegotiated new terms with Amazon in the past year and demanded the ability to set their own e-book prices, many have started charging more. With little difference in price between a $13 e-book and a paperback, some consumers may be opting for the print version.

On Amazon, the paperback editions of some popular titles, like “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt, are several dollars cheaper than their digital counterparts. Paperback sales rose by 8.4 percent in the first five months of this year, the Association of American Publishers reported.

The tug of war between pixels and print almost certainly isn’t over. Industry analysts and publishing executives say it is too soon to declare the death of the digital publishing revolution. An appealing new device might come along. Already, a growing number of people are reading e-books on their cellphones. Amazon recently unveiled a new tablet for $50, which could draw a new wave of customers to e-books (the first-generation Kindle cost $400).

It is also possible that a growing number of people are still buying and reading e-books, just not from traditional publishers. The declining e-book sales reported by publishers do not account for the millions of readers who have migrated to cheap and plentiful self-published e-books, which often cost less than a dollar.

At Amazon, digital book sales have maintained their upward trajectory, according to Russell Grandinetti, senior vice president of Kindle. Last year, Amazon, which controls some 65 percent of the e-book market, introduced an e-book subscription service that allows readers to pay a flat monthly fee of $10 for unlimited digital reading. It offers more than a million titles, many of them from self-published authors.

Some publishing executives say the world is changing too quickly to declare that the digital tide is waning.

“Maybe it’s just a pause here,” said Carolyn Reidy, the president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster. “Will the next generation want to read books on their smartphones, and will we see another burst come?”

 

Edited by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87
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^ Well that's great and welcome news, indeed! Hybrid is all right, I mean I can see why people would want the e-option (though I can't stand it for long), but who in the world reads novels on a smartphone?! Even tablets with a handy dictionary strain the eyes. I'll always prefer the look and touch of the paper option. It's a relief that print's imminent demise has been greatly exaggerated.

And welcome back, Kiwi! :wave:

Edited by Patrycja
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I have always wondered what all the hullabaloo is about e-books, Kindle and paid subscription services such as Scribd!

Personally, I can't stand e-books. I am near-sighted and the computer / device light gives me a headache while trying to read and I am one of those people who loves and craves enjoying time alone, curled up with a good book and I can't bare to look someone in the eye and tell them that that my so-called 'book collection' is just a bunch of PDF files stashed in some remote folder on my computer! <_<

Kiwi !! So glad to see you again! :D 

I've recently gotten into these Amazon Audiobooks. I think they're fantastic depending on the narrator you get. But at least they do offer you a sample. http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Furiously-Happy-Audiobook/B00VAW2XZC/ref=pe_1227840_127151670_a_ca_email_3?source_code=AUDW7194EM062110&bp_ua=y For example, click on the audio sample. It does help so far as not having to strain your eyes, and you can use it on the go as well. Just food for thought.

Dag on, it's great to hear from you again!

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^ Well that's great and welcome news, indeed! Hybrid is all right, I mean I can see why people would want the e-option (though I can't stand it for long), but who in the world reads novels on a smartphone?! Even tablets with a handy dictionary strain the eyes. I'll always prefer the look and touch of the paper option. It's a relief that print's imminent demise has been greatly exaggerated.

And welcome back, Kiwi! :wave:

Hi Patrycja! It's great to be back! :wave: 

I love the smell and feel of printed books! It gives you the same satisfaction as having a physical copy of music albums (as opposed to mp3's). And nothing can beat the absolute bliss that one experiences while curling up in a quiet corner of your home, with your favourite book! B) No need to worry about battery power. No need to worry about experiencing symptoms of 'Computer Vision Syndrome'. No pesky notifications regarding subscription fee payment. No need to constantly adjust the zoom in / zoom out settings. And then there is the issue of scrolling (can be an absolute pain with a tablet)! 

Back in 2012 and 2013, much to my chagrin, I came across quite a few articles (either on blogs or different news papers) making ridiculous declarations about the 'death' of the printed book (it is IMO, as ridiculous as saying that the concept of the album is dead), but I now find reports stating that vinyl sales and printed book sales are being driven by folks belonging to the 18-35 age group! :D Looks like there is hope, after all! :)

Edited by Kiwi_Zep_Fan87
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Kiwi !! So glad to see you again! :D 

I've recently gotten into these Amazon Audiobooks. I think they're fantastic depending on the narrator you get. But at least they do offer you a sample. http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Furiously-Happy-Audiobook/B00VAW2XZC/ref=pe_1227840_127151670_a_ca_email_3?source_code=AUDW7194EM062110&bp_ua=y For example, click on the audio sample. It does help so far as not having to strain your eyes, and you can use it on the go as well. Just food for thought.

Dag on, it's great to hear from you again!

Hiya Andy! :wave: Glad to see you too! :friends: 

I really don't mind audio-books. Of all the developments that have occurred in this excessively digitized age, audio books are something that I do like. In fact, with the right narrator, it can become quite an entertaining experience! B) 

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post-25738-0-30617000-1440680875.pngwell I`m stating my passion for JAMBANDS. as imho there true musical genius musicians whom push the endless depths of musical magic to higher and wonderous flowing supersonic soundwaves ooh in the zone yes...post-25738-0-30617000-1440680875.pngpost-25738-0-25723000-1440680043_thumb.jpost-25738-0-49611200-1440679937_thumb.ppost-25738-0-19110200-1440679772_thumb.jpost-25738-0-30038300-1440679842.png

Edited by geekfreak
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well my good friend CJW was right I shouldn't have gone back to a past employer due to the same old shit as being going on since day ONE the same three PRICKS. doing the same old shit fucking got to get OUT...its sad because I really enjoy the work there too!...gotten to find me some peace in there. :mad::angry::wacko: but :peace:to all even the three pricks...:chickeddance::chickeddance:lets all do the funky chicken :chickeddance::chickeddance::chickeddance::chickeddance:...now I`m smiling.

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Hi Patrycja! It's great to be back! :wave: 

I love the smell and feel of printed books! It gives you the same satisfaction as having a physical copy of music albums (as opposed to mp3's). And nothing can beat the absolute bliss that one experiences while curling up in a quiet corner of your home, with your favourite book! B) No need to worry about battery power. No need to worry about experiencing symptoms of 'Computer Vision Syndrome'. No pesky notifications regarding subscription fee payment. No need to constantly adjust the zoom in / zoom out settings. And then there is the issue of scrolling (can be an absolute pain with a tablet)! 

Back in 2012 and 2013, much to my chagrin, I came across quite a few articles (either on blogs or different news papers) making ridiculous declarations about the 'death' of the printed book (it is IMO, as ridiculous as saying that the concept of the album is dead), but I now find reports stating that vinyl sales and printed book sales are being driven by folks belonging to the 18-35 age group! :D Looks like there is hope, after all! :)

Well said, Kiwi. There's a sensory romance that books cast that no e-product can ever genuinely conjure. The mp3 comparison is interesting and one which book lovers and audiophiles would on the whole agree with. The curious issue with ebooks is their exorbitant cost to libraries, something I posted about in the 'what are you reading' thread. I don't recall whether the article there gets into these high charges being a means of recouping profits for decreased sales, but I wouldn't put it past industry powers that be to try to gouge wherever they can, even libraries, which I consider borderline sacrosanct, so a plague on ebook price thievery! 

I was pleasantly surprised on Record Day to see about a 50-50 mix of older folks and young people. In transit, many people spend the commute reading, and it's about 50-50 paper and some e-format. What people are listening to and reading is a whole other issue (I mean, who cares what format it is when readers fill their minds with that loser wolf-vampire drivel), but yes, long live the readily available vinyl and paper options!

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well its the likelihood of nothingness which is filling my brain as it hasn't been using many cells within the latest few weeks. due to the underbelly of a utter total penis supervisor he`s gotten the basic brain cell of a dead dogs pile of shit. when it comes to the basic rights of the human beings he`s so says the master on which all of the employment matters comes through him. as a skilled man he`s top drawer.  his just a pure bully of the schoolyard where`s the big stick to hit him with. no absolutely NO...peace, love and bollocks to the total penis...but the music is always there to aid me through the more inhuman vile entrails of the misfits of the human race  to only bring sorrow into others lives. definition of mindless morons, whom neverland isn't a exit out of realities of the worlds leaders deal out the daily bullshit in JCB Buckets yes oh yes. there`s the always present art/movies/books/music/television/family and friends to form a mass exodus the madness of reality or life which or both...the keys to the highways and byways of life`s rapped rip tidal waves...from a younger age I`d learned to use the  :stereo: to fill or be hidden away from the bleakest blackest inner vile demons from within yourself to turning the brightest enlightened caring human being  into the monster from within yourself....aren't there the ways in which to melt away all that`s not right for yourself within yourself...post-25738-0-32778000-1440915871.pngpost-25738-0-59653100-1440915838_thumb.jpost-25738-0-68696400-1440680120.jpgpost-25738-0-25723000-1440680043_thumb.jpost-25738-0-41747400-1440679357.jpgpost-25738-0-20231900-1440679315_thumb.jpost-25738-0-42404800-1439467788.jpgpost-25738-0-25674800-1438037387.jpgpost-25738-0-43570700-1438037571.jpg   

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I went to run errands today and I had to stop by Home Depot to get a halogen bulb. As I was leaving the store a couple was walking by and they had a beautiful Rottweiler with them. I asked if I could pet him and they kindly said yes. We started talking as I was playing with the dog or (human with fur). He was 9 months old and named Buck and he was very large and beautiful and lovable. This couple trains service dogs. I of course had tears thinking about my little Taylor that I lost this past January. 

They were both so kind to me and could see I was very emotional and that I am a true doggie/animal lover. We talked for about 10 minutes. He gave his card and said that Buck has a sister named Heidi and that they would love to give her to me as they know she would have a great home. He stated she did not pass all test to be a service dog, but that she was well behaved and trained. 

I told them that if they could wait a few weeks as I will be starting to look for a job soon and that I needed to wait and see if my job involved a lot of travel. I would not want to take a dog then get a job where I am traveling half of the year. It is killing me and taking every ounce of restrain not to call them and just go pick her up! I so miss the companionship of a dog as IMHO there is nothing like it.

 

What to do??????  

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Tricky Deb. I think dogs need for more interaction than say cats. Nothing worse then a wailing dog that is lonely and craving attention. Best bet would be to wait until your job situation becomes clearer.

It is a very similar situation for me and Mrs CP. We love cats but live on a pretty busy road. Our last cat, an adorable ginger Tom, couldn't resist the lure of the canal across the road. Mrs CP found him dead on the pavement and I buried him in the back garden. We were devastated. We would love another but can't take the risk

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