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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.

2 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. What do you mean... 'IF'? by Bonker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For me, Harry Potter 1 was an e-book.

    Sure, it was a pirate copy and full of OCR introduced typos, but I sure as hell wasn't going to go spend my money on a kid's book, despite the hype.

    I figured, what the hell. Let's see what's so interesting.

    Much to my surprise, I was blown away. Harry Potter was a morality play couched in terms of a fantasy novel. There were some rough moments... like at the end where the bad guy gives away the plot.

    (Rowling's writing has improved since)

    Still, I was fascinated. I downloaded the second and the third, quickly reading through them and finding scathing comments about the classism, the futility of punitive imprisonment, and the state of charity in the world.

    When I went to look for the fourth book, it was not available. Instead, I went to Barnes and Noble that evening and paid 21.95 for the big hardbound copy of 'HP and the Goblet of Fire'. Since, I've put down money for all 3 of the others as well.

    If Harry Potter 5 is an e-book, neither Rowling nor her publisher should fear piracy. The people who would have bought the book will buy it anyway, and the electronic copies floating around will inspire a few more to buy it as well.

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  2. Re:The Death of the Book? Not quite by CaseyB · · Score: 5, Insightful
    At this stage of the game, E-books have no advantage over paper books.

    Searchable. Indexable. Orders of magnitude smaller and lighter. Configurable display settings. Easier to transmit over distance. ALL of which stand to get better and better over time.

    There are undeniable advantages to paper books, but to say there are NO advantages to ebooks requires monumental ignorance and probably a large amount of pompous holier-than-thou conceit.