[ale] Print vs electronic: Was: Remove systemd network handling

[Steve Litt]

Good information Liam, thank you!

Yeah, I carried 1st edition "The C Programming Language" by K&R, in my
backpack, for about 10 years, kept taping it up as it fell apart, and
finally it just shredded and I bought the 2nd edition.

I'll carry a $20.00 book to the beach, and if somebody rips it off or
it gets sand or water on it, oh well. I couldn't say the same thing for
a $400.00, 8x10" reading device, which is how big you'd need to make it
to even hope that the graphic and the text referencing it are on the
same page.

I'm writing a diagram-heavy book right now, to be sold as a 3"x5"
PDF, and entire pages are consumed by a single diagram. I wonder if,
for every order, I should produce an additional 8.5"x11" copy.

The obvious solution, ePub, is impractical right now because LyX
outputs atrocious HTML and therefore  atrocious ePub, and I haven't yet
found a tool chain good enough to write the kinds of books I write,
output to ePub. But this could change.

Thanks for your input.

SteveT


Leam Hall via Ale said on Sat, 25 Sep 2021 20:07:24 -0500

>For me it's more choice than issue. I mostly read technical books, and
>have to flip back and forth between the graphic description and the
>text. Harder to do with an ereader. With fiction I get through a page
>fairly quickly, though I'm by no means super fast. Reading on my
>computer is less desirable; my office is always the warmest room in
>the house, and I haven't talked myself into a comfortable chair yet.
>Since I spend most of the day here, being elsewhere is a nice break. I
>can sit in the living room with a book, and not have to stare at a
>screen.
>
>Which is kind of funny, since the few books I've published are ebooks
>only.  :)
>
>Leam
>
>On 9/25/21 5:18 PM, Bob Toxen via Ale wrote:
>> Uh, I swap foreground/background colors to show white text on a
>> black background, for decades.  MUCH EASIER on the eyes!
>> 
>> As I've aged I increase font size.
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
>> On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 04:09:48PM -0400, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:  
>>> Leam Hall via Ale said on Fri, 24 Sep 2021 18:36:18 -0500
>>>  
>>>> On 9/24/21 6:10 PM, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:
>>>>  
>>>>> And who in 2021 would write a document on printed
>>>>> paper?
>>>>>
>>>>> SteveT  
>>>>
>>>> *raises hand slowly*
>>>>
>>>> Easier on my old eyes, and I read fast enough that a kindle slows
>>>> me down.  
>>>
>>> Yeahhh, for the most part the dead trees argument was sparring
>>> between two guys with a very different view of the world, and can
>>> safely be ignored. But because one of the things I do for a living
>>> is write, produce and publish books, I'm very interested in your
>>> preceding sentence.
>>>
>>> It sounds to me like printed documents are actually easier on your
>>> eyes, I presume giving you less eye strain, headaches, etc. Is this
>>> because of the glaring white background, or some other reason? If
>>> the glaring white background, do your devices give you the option
>>> of using a light tan background? Does that help?
>>>
>>> Some people (like me) have no choice but to read electronic docs,
>>> because we can't comfortably focus on anything less than 15 point. A
>>> normal paperback printed in a font I can read would be five or six
>>> inches thick, whereas on a device I can crank it up to clock face
>>> type size and read comfortably. Does your eyesight restrict the
>>> font size you can read?
>>>
>>> Are you one of those people able to read line by line instead of
>>> word by word? If so, I can well imagine that five or six words per
>>> line would slow you down. On mobile devices, have you tried turning
>>> the device landscape so you get longer lines? Of course, doing so
>>> means you have to page down much too often, and that would slow you
>>> down.
>>>
>>> Do you ever consider reading on your computer monitor? Doing so
>>> would solve the words per line and lines per page problems, but
>>> would eliminate the portability most people require.
>>>
>>> I can't go back to printing my books; it's economically infeasible
>>> now that I have to compete with PDF and ePub books. But I *can*
>>> work to bring the benefits of printed books to my PDFs and ePubs.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> SteveT
>>>
>>> Steve Litt
>>> Spring 2021 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the
>>> Successful Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
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>
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>Scribe: The Domici War     (domiciwar.net)
>General Ne'er-do-well      (github.com/LeamHall)
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