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What if Harry Potter 5 Was an E-Book?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-think-about dept.

hakkikt sent a link to a highly speculative what if story on Harry Potter 5 as an E-Book. The suggestions are pretty extreme- going so far as to saying that this one book could change the fates of the publishing industry, book stores, and could even make E-Books more then a pipe dream. Personally I'd love to see it available digitally, but I still want a real hardcover copy, and I can't imagine hundreds of thousands of kids staying up late at night with laptops under their covers instead of the far more traditional book & flashlight. Food for thought, but I can't really take it seriously.

7 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. Harder to burn e-books by The+Wookie · · Score: 4, Funny
    Maybe they'd have to hold book demagnetizations.

  2. What if Harry Potter 5 Was an E-Book? by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then I guess we could expect a lot more little kids running around in glasses, eh?

  3. The wonderful portability of an E-book by 3141 · · Score: 5, Funny

    E-books are great! You can usually search for a phrase!

    Well, you can copy and paste long sections! Well... usually not, when I come to think about it.

    Hey, I know, you can print out a couple chapters to read at leisure! Oh wait, you can't do that very often either.

    At least you can copy them onto your PDA and read at will... can't you? No? Oh.

  4. Re:I thought it was crazy, but ebooks rock. by Covant · · Score: 5, Funny

    I agree!

    The only problem is I was scared to read in the tub.
    if you drop a book, they usually dry out and you can still read them (even if they smell like bubbles)

    my palm pilot probably won't work afterwards.

    Another problem, it's really tough to get the authors signature on an E-Book. I suppose they could use a pgp signature, but somehow it's not as nice or collectible.

    --
    "Peace, Love and Apathy"
  5. Re:What do you mean... 'IF'? by Jonathunder · · Score: 5, Funny

    There were some rough moments... like at the end where the bad guy gives away the plot.

    You have to be careful with pirated books. Next time make sure you download the spoiler-free version.

  6. Re:I thought it was crazy, but ebooks rock. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's amazing how 5 cent ziplock bag technology is beyond these rocket scientist "nerds".

  7. Re:The Death of the Book? Not quite by CaseyB · · Score: 4, Funny
    The article seems to forget that books have a 500 year history.

    Yeah, so did sailing ships and horses & carts.

    BTW, can anyone actually imagine reading Proust as an e-book?

    Careful Fauntleroy, you're gonna pull a muscle playing that pretentious twit act so hard.