Kind of Off Topic, but regarding 'The Resilient Gardener' /ebooks

13 years ago

All of the discussion on George's thread about 'The Resilient Gardener' by Carol Deppe has convinced me to buy it.

I was considering buying the ebook edition from Amazon.com -- it's $3 cheaper than the paperbook, plus no shipping charges, and it's INSTANT.

They have the first chapters on there as a free trial download. So, I checked it out.

What a miserable way to read a book, IMO. I can view about a third of page of text at a time when the viewing window is maximized. There appears to be absolutely no way to print it out, or to even copy and paste the text to a word processor and print it. The first chapters of the book equal 196 pages of "ebook" -- I can't believe they're anywhere near that long in the real paper copy -- each page of the ebook must be about 1/4 of the printed page at best.

Now, I realize that this is the "Kindle for PC" utility, so it may not have the "bells and whistles" of an actual ebook reader like a Kindle.

Questions: What content is lost from an e-book? How about photos and illustrations? Are those viewable in this format? If so, are they in color if in color in the paper version of the book? IS there a way to print a paper copy from the ebook for personal use?

It just seems dumb to me the way it's set up. I think I should just spring for the hardcopy.

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Comments (5)

shebear
13 years ago
It's very different to read e-books on e-reader devices compared to reading them on a computer screen. You notice the computer screen doesn't have the same dimensions as e-readers and there's other technical stuff. The e-books are not made to be printed and never were. They used to let you print a certain amount of the book way back when but if they let you print the whole book then what would stop you from printing it and giving it to friends. The same with cut and paste.

The e-reader are much easier on the eyes and once you get used to how your device works, it becomes more like a book. The biggest drawback is lack of color. Most are black and white and the color devices are back to glaring screens and low battery life.

I really think these devices work well for people that read lots of text only books. (Think of all the non-fiction out there.) They allow you to carry many books, and have search and bookmark and such capabilities at your finger tips. You can purchase a book on the fly with the right reader and have access instantly. Not to mention, no trees died and no water was used to print the book.

Not everyone likes them. I was hesitate but after using one, I see how I could really use it to carry all the gardening reference books I use. That would allow me to show novice gardeners what's available out there and let them see table of contents and read some of the text. (I can even lend them the book for a limited timeframe.) The biggest downside is I can't use reference texts that need color and long battery life....yet.
lat0403
13 years ago
It sounds like you need to buy the actual book. lol

Ebooks can have pictures. They can be color or black and white, depending on what type of ebook viewer you have. Just because the hardback version of a book has color pictures does not mean the paperback version of the book will look the same and the same can be said about an ebook or any other format.

I'm pretty sure there's no way to print pages from an ebook. It kind of defeats the purpose of having an ebook anyway.

Ebooks are great, but I don't think I'd ever buy an ebook version of a garden book or any other book that's going to have lots of pictures.

Leslie
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Donna
13 years ago
If it makes you feel any better, there are very few illustrations in the book. The very center has about a dozen color photos, mostly of crops in the field, seeds, and the author holding stuff. Interesting, but not vital to your reading experience.

I must say it has been a long time since I learned so much from a gardening book author. I have completed Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties and it was wonderful. I always hated science in school, and ditto for math (of course, I was young, so there you go). But this Harvard Ph.D. explains complicated things so clearly that I had no difficulty following her. I will return to this book over and over as time goes by, I am sure.

The Resilient Gardener is fascinating and, for the most part, not repetitive. If I could only have one, I would probably choose Breeding your Own, but I'm very glad I can have both. Carol Deppe is now on my list of must purchase authors.
homertherat
13 years ago
I use Kindle on my iPhone and it shows all illustrations, graphs, pictures, etc. with no problems. You pinch the picture, and it zooms in so you can see it. When you are done viewing, pinch again and it shrinks back down. I've been reading "New Organic Grower" by Coleman on it and it's very convenient. I was planting things today and wanted to check his recommendation on a certain vegetable and I used the search function to find the page I was looking for. It took less than 20 seconds.
nygardener
13 years ago
I have Coleman's "New Organic Grower" on Kindle DX (the larger-screen Kindle) as well as the paper book, and I must say I enjoy reading the paper book much more. It's easier to move around, the illustrations are clearer, and the paper version "feels" better. e-books can be convenient to carry and store, but at this stage I feel you definitely trade that off against the quality of the reading experience.

Kind of Off Topic, but regarding 'The Resilient Gardener' /ebooks

Comments (5)

shebear

lat0403

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