Libb

Same song as usual for me: we get new members joining !journaling@sh.itjust.works. Knowing how niche that topic could be considered, I'm very happy about that. That said, there is still not much participation, even to ask questions or I don't know to share pictures.

Tomorrow, I'll post the 3rd issue of the [Weekly Thread] discussion. I have prepared the new thumbnail I share with you (in an exclusive world premiere, you're welcome). I have no idea if that kind of silly thing encourage people to participate, or if it's dissuasive. Feel free to let me know what you think. Maybe tomorrow someone will raise their voice in the community to complain about my stupid sense of humor.That would be something :p

Par contre et c’est malheureusement toujours le cas, en tant qu’auteur indépendant Amazon KDP représente 80 % du chiffre d’affaire. Notamment avec le Kindle unlimited où tu est payé au page read

Là où ça devient désespérant à mon avis c’est que une bonne partie de ses auteurs indépendants sont déjà poussés vers la porte de sortie par Amazon, qu’ils le réalisent déjà ou non.

Du moins, c’est la conclusion à laquelle j’aurais peut-être et très hypothétiquement bien pu arriver moi-même, il y a quelques années de ça, s’il s’était trouvé que j’avais été un de ces auteurs KDP/KU dont tu parles. Et si ça avait été le cas, j’aurais sans doute râlé devant l’insistance d’Amazon à pubier toujours plus (et sans aucun souci de qualité). Car je suis râleur, mais je suis aussi méfiant et et il aurait alors été possible que je me sois rendu compte que c’était un job sans avenir (à la même époque, l’IA aurait pu commencer à pointer le bout de son très hypothétique museau, mais ça aurait été bien théorique et ça se serait fait bien avant ChatGPT). Et je me serais alors dit qu’il y avait urgence à chercher une autre source de revenus que dans cette course de plus en plus frénétique. Course d’où seule la machine (intelligente, à ce qu’on dit) sortira gagnante. Et Amazon, bien sûr.

Mais ça, c’est une autre discussion que celle du transfert par USB de nos ebooks.

Tant que la majorité des lecteurs seront sur Amazon rien ne changera.

Ite, missa est, alors.

Car je ne crois pas que ça changera, bien au contraire.

Pourquoi ils iraient lire ailleurs ces lecteurs ? Ça marche bien Amazon, c’est facile et c’est pas cher. En plus de ça, ces lecteurs y trouvent exactement le type de littérature qu'ils sont persuadés de vouloir lire.

Les rares alternatives qui fonctionnent plus ou moins sont Google, Apple et Rakuten/truc de la Fnac, voir le direct selling avec les éventuels problèmes de ça apporte, mais tout ça réuni va peut-être faire 30 % du CA dans le meilleur des cas. Si, il y a peut-être bookbub qui fonctionne bien mais c’est assez ponctuel.

Ça fait 20 ans que Amazon (pas que elle, mais elle incarne parfaitement ce travail de sape) s’est attaquée à la littérature en tant que création artistique pour en faire une marchandise exactement comme les autres, et pour faire du livre un objet comme les autres (payer l’auteur à la page lue comme tu le signalais, et pas cher). Et elle y parvient plutôt bien… malgré la tentative de résistance de l’exception culturelle ici en France, mais pour encore combien de temps face au rouleau compresseur marchand ? Je me fais pas d’illusions.

C'est certain qu'il y a une similarité dans la démarche. Et un même désire de procéder ce qu'on est censé avoir acheté.

D'où l'importance de se méfier des termes employés dans les CLUF avant d'acheter quoi que ce soit de dématérialisé.../ et de faire l'effort de se priver du plaisir de jouer à un jeu (ou de lire un bouquin) quand on prend conscience qu'ils nous vendent uniquement un droit d'usage (au même prix qu'ils vendaient un droit de propriété, il n'y a pas si longtemps) dont ils se réservent le droit de nous le retirer quand ça leur chante, et sans compensations.

Je ne connais pas ce système de prêt, mais is tu peux sauvegarder tes ebooks sur un ordin, tu devrais pouvoir les recopier sur ta liseuse, en cas de besoin après avoir activé ce service.

All good suggestions, but this part is iffy. I’ve had course instructors provide boilerplate for students so that they don’t need to worry about formatting. There are also WYSIWYG LaTeX editors like LyX. Finally, language support for LaTeX has expanded considerably over the years.

Don't get me wrong, I framed my remark in regards to the context given by the OP: their students already have complained about too much configuration (clicking buttons/menus). So, in that context, I think telling them to use LaTeX even if using the Lyx or any other GUI (Lyx, which I would favor, is not bug free and has its own quirks, we should not forget that) or any simplified subset of LaTeX, well, that won't be fun for those student and I'm willing to bet most of them will even hate the experience. Something I would not wish to happen.

And then, always in that context, I suggested that maybe learning to properly use Styles and templates in LO Writer could be simpler since they already are using it... just not in the most optimal way, as it is so often the case since almost everybody think they already know how to use a word processor and there is nothing they need to learn. Not and instant and no-sweat solution but still should a less demanding one than starting to use LaTeX from scratch. At least, I think so.

I carry a jailbroken Kobo with wifi disabled

I used to that with a Kindle. See my answer to the other comment why I decided I did not want to do it anymore.

That’s exactly what external light means. If you need to sit near a lamp to read your book, then you are relying on external light.

The idea was that I do not need an extra light because, well, there are plenty all around but, you're right, that's what an extra light means. They're just already there ;)

About half of those issues are solved by drm-free ebooks

My iPhone or Kindle will still track my reading habits when I read a drm-free or pirated book (which I tend to avoid as I want to support authors and publishers and I can afford to). For years, I have been using a Kindle that I disconnected from the Web after activation, it was working fine but then I realized we should not have to fight that situation to begin with: our privacy should be respected out of the box. Since I decided to not compromise anymore on that, well, I quit using those device. Like I said, it's just a personal choice in favor of my privacy (not an allergy to tech itself, just to the way it has been hijacked to become a spying tool)

I do need to look up words a lot (usually in other languages)

So do I (be it in my native French and in the few others I pretend to speak). But like I said, I also never need to get instant access to a dictionary either. So it can wait I get back home.

and a bus stop after dark will never have enough light for reading. If you read at home I guess these aren’t issues, but pocket books are meant to be read on the road.

I would say (pocket) books are meant to be read and would not have any expectation on where and when people are supposed to be reading them. Then, I don't read when I'm moving (I get sick). I will read at a bus stop or waiting in a line anywhere if there is enough light. If there is not enough, I will either write stuff in my notebook (even dim light is enough to jot down quick notes), or I will think about stuff.

About the formatting there are some books which should absolutely not be read as ebooks cause you’ll miss out on things. But most books are a block of text split in chapters and paragraphs. A phone can absolutely support that.

Typography and page layout was once a thing. It was considered kind of an art form even. I feel a bit sad to see it boiled down to some 'block of text split in chapters' but it could also just be a sign that I'm getting old and out of touch. Which is to be expected too ;)

Thx for the discussion, it was interesting.

Je n'y avais pas pensé! Pourtant, maintenant que tu l'as dit, ça me semble tellement évident (face palm, comme disent les jeunes il me semble).
Merci beaucoup pour ta suggestion :)

Si je peux, je tenterais ça demain sur une copie de mon site.

I'd argue phones are actually better pocket books.

It's obviously a matter of personal preferences, which is absolutely fine.

As far as I'm concerned, I prefer print for these reasons, and for context I have been reading ebooks since I have owned a Palm Pilot PDA in the early 00s, so not reading them is a decision and a choice, it is not an allergy to them or to the tech:

• Print fully respect my privacy.
  There is no tracking and no spying on my reading habits. That's also why I read print newspapers and magazines as much as I can.
• No remote deleting of ebooks after purchase.
  Like Amazon and Microsoft already did. They refunded customers but that's not how private property is supposed to work: I pay for a good, I own it its previous owner taht sold it to me can't decide to enter my home to take it back, even if they were to leave some cash on the table.
• No remote editing possible.
  No matter if one book or one word in it suddenly becomes unpopular or offensive to anyone.
• No notifications, social media, games, email, whatever, to distract me.
• Does not need external light either.
  Try to beat day light and at night, or when the sun plays hide 'n seek, well, I have access to this revolutionary piece of high-tech called 'lamps' that are lying around absolutely everywhere in our home and, as far as I can tell, are also everywhere I may find myself wanting to read a book.
• Does not need batteries, and no recharging.
  The same with my watch, btw: no battery, just a spring I rewind every morning after I shower and when I put it to my wrist. It has been working wonder for years and its manufacturer has yet to send my a message telling my watch is tool old and I need to purchase a new model to get updates... because there are none ;)
• Does not need app and system updates.
• Does not need Internet.
• Unlike a smartphone, a book itself does not need to be replaced every few years by a new one (aka creating always more e-waste). Talking about phones, here, not e-readers that may last many, many years.

BTW, I seldom need to quickly look up a word either. When I don't know a word and if I can't figure out its meaning by using the context it is used in, aka surrounding sentences, I write it down in my pocket notebook (which also requires no battery, no upgrade, doesn't track me either, etc.) and look it back at home in one of my... paper dictionaries (which don't push ads into my face, don't track me, and so on)

you can adjust font, text size and brightness (some font choices in printed books are just terrible)

This is the one advantage I find to ebooks in general (the reader is in charge of the display... depending the app used) but getting that freedom you also instantly lose access to the excellent page layout many publishers work hard on. Sure there are a few dickheads in the field but a majority are not at least those whose catalog I enjoy reading.

And, most ebook page layout is, well, what word did you use? Terrible? You would be right.

I’ve never actually seen a pocket book that can fit in a pocket.

There are (I would say I can fit most poetry books and many plays in my jeans back pocket but I don't really), the idea is that those small books are easy to carry and are cheap (at least back in then they were supposed to be). It also depends a lot what one reads.

Edit:

it’s much more compact, can be held in one hand and you can carry multiple 800 page books.

I don't need to carry that. On my desk I have dozens of books and references volumes opened at once (that would be expensive to do the same with multiple phones, right? ;) but I only carry with me a single pocket book so I can read on the go. I do not need my entire library, not even a couple 800, or even 1600 pages books ;)

Edit: if you're willing to read more of my reasoning to stop using ebooks (I should say ebooks sold by Gafam, as I will still by self-published ebooks when there are DRM-free and there is no print available) and refocus my reading on print instead, I've published a couple blog post. Link in my profile.

Just wanted to thank you for everything you did and wishing the best with your own comic :)

• A pocket notebook and a ballpoint pen, for quick note taking. Edit: add to that a pocket watercolor set and a brush, for quick sketching
• A pocket book, for on the go reading
• My (mechanical) wrist watch

I don't care if the smartphone can be used to take notes, to read and has an extra precise clock. I much prefer my analog tools. They don't require upgrade, they don't need recharging, no one will ever try to stole them (my watch is not fancy at all, it's just mechanical ;) and, well, I prefer using those.

Hope you will enjoy it ;)