For those not into digital, I know you've given your reasons as to why you're not, but what would it take to move you over (not whole-hog, but maybe a couple of titles)? Are you interested at all?
Not at all. Not on any regular basis. I just don't see the advantage to me personally, as I want the physical copy. A digital copy isn't really mine, since it resides in the cloud, resting in some other hard drive in some facility miles away. The lesser price isn't even worth it to me.
The only advantage I see at all to digital comics, as with e-books, is that they are convenient if you're traveling and you want to read them, but you don't want to carry a suitcase full of books with you. I can see the advantage to that, but otherwise? No.
The results here seem to be splitting into two camps: collectors and casual readers. Those who are interested in collecting the books prefer the hardcopy while those who are only interested in reading the story and don't care about keeping the book so much after one reading are the ones who prefer the digital copy. Does that about sum it up?
Then how are you reading this? JK, but also seriously asking for further clarification.
With my eyeballs, actually. I'm not sure what kind of clarification I can offer beyond the obvious. I have no choice in how I read forums. It's either read them on a screen or don't read them at all. The choices I have for personal reading are much more varied.
I'm slowly coming around to digital, even though I can only view them on my phone, but that same-as-cover price thing is a real deterrent, especially for $3.99 books. For instance, I was really curious to check out Jason Aaron's Hulk run this morning, and even at $1.99 they might have sold me a couple of issues, but at the full price, my interest waned considerably. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for it if they have a 99 cent sale, provided I still remember by then.
I mainly download the free issues and this has put me onto some great comics (atomic robo, chew, reed Gunther).
So while i have to admit it does have its benefits, I could never commit to digital. I need that comic in my hands. Something to hold and experience. Instead of something to download and immediately delete. After all, weren't comics made to hold and flick through and love? I just can't do that digital version.
Then how are you reading this? JK, but also seriously asking for further clarification.
With my eyeballs, actually. I'm not sure what kind of clarification I can offer beyond the obvious. I have no choice in how I read forums. It's either read them on a screen or don't read them at all. The choices I have for personal reading are much more varied.
Ah, I see. So if comics only were available digitally, would you then read them on a screen?
I just realized, one could print out forum threads and comics (more expensive for color comics) and read them, in full, without reading them on a screen.
I waiting on a $200 check from healthy wage.com and to see what Apple does next month with possible repricing and the iPad mini. I have NOT bought a new comic off the rack in like 3 years so I have conditioned myself to not pay full price for a comic. So to pay $4 for digital is hard for me. I'll pay $1-2 for Indy titles and maybe $3 for stuff I really like. I am going to get the the Waid Daredevil trade for $11 because it comes out to $2 per comic.
I like the idea of eventually carrying around 200+ comics on an iPad and can read that at a whim. Tired of collecting. And I can't pull the trigger to pay $44 to read AvX i'll get the trade and get vs too.
I do look forward to reading Back Issue magazine digitally.
I refuse to pay $3.99 for a digital comic. Period. No single issue is worth it. If I am paying more than $2.99 I want a physical paper book. On books I need now I wait a month until the price drops $1. I have no problem paying $1.99 for any digital comic. As I have been getting chunks of series I wanted to read but never had or never wanted to pay much for, I wait and mine the $.99 sales. I am definitely a sucker for those. Recently I picked up several issues of Haunt, a book I would never have read. I don't understand Marvel's pricing policy. Keeping books $3.99 for 6-8 months is ridiculous. This keeps me from buying Marvel.
What do you guys think of digital trades? I like them for the most part. Getting a series I know I want for $2-$5 less than the issues is great. Sometimes you get a real bargain off of the physical trade cost as well. But on series I'm not sure about I don't always want to risk it and get caught buying a few issues then wanting the trade.
I posted a thread here a few years ago about the end of the collector mentality, and we had a great discussion. I had pretty much always hoarded books, music, movies and comics, mostly with a fantasy in my head about some glorious future day when I would have lots of time to enjoy them. I realized that day was probably never coming. At that time I had ripped all my CDs to mp3 files and sold the physical discs on Half.com. It was a giant revelation to me, to be free from the burden of storing and sorting and giving time and energy to those physical objects, but to still have all music and the enjoyment of them. I had also stopped myself in the midst of a pretty serious collecting spree of DVDs (back when they still cost $20-$30), because I watched a movie one day and realized that it had been about 10 years since I last watched it, and it would probably be another 10 years until I watched it again. At that point I looked at my huge DVD collection and it just reminded me that I'll probably be dead in 40 years, and it all just looked like a giant waste of time, energy and money.
So, I no longer buy physical copies of books, comics, albums or films unless they are my absolute all time favorites. I have small collections of my most prized physical stuff. Otherwise I use Amazon for music and movies, Comixology (and reluctantly Dark Horse) for comics, and Amazon or B&N for ebooks. I rent instant movies instead of buying them. Frankly, I enjoy it all a lot more.
I still feed my collector mentality for music and comics by maintaining an impeccable collection of music files (all the cover images and metadata correct, even memories added to the notes for tons of songs), and by using Comic Collector, so that I can browse my collection's covers and add those notes about memories. My comic collection is no longer just books I have sitting in boxes, but any comic I read as a kid or borrowed from the library.
Best of all, I can hand these collections off to anyone by giving them the login to an account or a hard drive the size of a paperback. My grandfather collected music for decades and passed away recently. He had an entire shed full of albums, cassettes and 8-tracks. It's all we can do to find someone to take it.
Day and date for me on two titles - Demon Knights and Legion. Yes, I'm spending more money than I really need to but at least in the case of Demon Knights, I know a title like that probably hangs by a thread every quarter, so I think it's best to vote with my wallet the day it comes out to say "Hey, DC! More like this!"
I've also picked up the Ame-Comi Girls books as soon as they're released, but they're only $1 to begin with.
I don't think much more of them than I do of digital issues, for pretty much the same reasons I stated previously. If I'm not getting a file copy on my hard drive, then I'm paying for empty air. It's not enough for me to simply read it once, it's not enough for me to only rent a copy that sits somewhere else on somebody else's computer, and it's not satisfying to me to read it on a computer screen. I'm too much of a bibliophile and collector to ever enjoy it that way.
When the price is right, I'll grab it. I ended up getting the first 10 volumes of Hama's G.I. Joe run after listening to the CGS spotlight episode. They were 50% off so it seemed like it was a good buy to me. I was really into G.I. Joe toys when I was younger and so it's helping me relive some of that.
I totally get the collector mentality that some have. I've got several of long boxes in my basement right now that I'm waiting to cash in on when the market turns around. I was just curious as to how people are consuming digital books. I would imagine at some point the Big Two will see that digital book sales aren't what they expected and will drop the prices on the whole--well, here's to hoping anyway.
Digital has actually helped limit down my collector mentality. No longer do I purchase comics to have a complete run. I buy what I want to read in a spotty series, knowing that if I ever want to read the other issues, they will be there. Anyone else doing something similar?
Digital has actually helped limit down my collector mentality. No longer do I purchase comics to have a complete run. I buy what I want to read in a spotty series, knowing that if I ever want to read the other issues, they will be there. Anyone else doing something similar?
Right there with you. I buy from DCBS regularly, but found a honey of a deal on subscribing to a couple titles that I simply couldn't refuse. I know there might be a lag in between the ending of my DCBS subscription and the beginning of the DC subscription, so it's great that digital is there if I want it. And if I truly need a physical copy of the book to make my life complete, I'm sure there'll be a 50 cent bin waiting for me. :)
Digital does have its advantages. You save a lot of room about the house, they can be cheaper and it can give you a chance to try something you wouldn't normally touch. But I feel digital lacks the heart that all comics should have. Using your phone or tablet or pc just doesn't give me the same feel as holding the physical copy. The shame is I see everything going digital nowadays, books, music, films. I even saw a news feature today about doctors becoming digital (i.e. going online to get a diagnosis instead of speaking to a real doctor). Could you imagine being told by a computer you have a life threatening illness. I think its awful. I feel we're losing the real heart and soul of things nowadays. Music was originally made to be experienced live, in person, and thats why i love giging. Books to be read by turning pages. Movies to be watched on the big screen. Comics to be read and re-read until they're falling apart. These things used to be loved and experienced. By pushing a button and receiving a file of 1's and 0's I think loses all that love and heart that has been put into making these things. I'm not saying digital is some evil demon and to be avoided at all costs, because it does have its advantsges and I too have downloaded my share of comics. But I do feel it loses that special something. And I for one will always continue to buy the real thing.
Digital does have its advantages. You save a lot of room about the house, they can be cheaper and it can give you a chance to try something you wouldn't normally touch. But I feel digital lacks the heart that all comics should have. Using your phone or tablet or pc just doesn't give me the same feel as holding the physical copy. The shame is I see everything going digital nowadays, books, music, films. I even saw a news feature today about doctors becoming digital (i.e. going online to get a diagnosis instead of speaking to a real doctor). Could you imagine being told by a computer you have a life threatening illness. I think its awful. I feel we're losing the real heart and soul of things nowadays. Music was originally made to be experienced live, in person, and thats why i love giging. Books to be read by turning pages. Movies to be watched on the big screen. Comics to be read and re-read until they're falling apart. These things used to be loved and experienced. By pushing a button and receiving a file of 1's and 0's I think loses all that love and heart that has been put into making these things. I'm not saying digital is some evil demon and to be avoided at all costs, because it does have its advantsges and I too have downloaded my share of comics. But I do feel it loses that special something. And I for one will always continue to buy the real thing.
Consider the flip-side to some of your points, though.
What if you were sick, but with a fairly common cold, and could digitally transmit your current vitals to your doctor via your iPad, explain your symptoms, and have them prescribe something without having to get in your car (assuming you could get a face-to-face appointment that day), and save yourself a trip (barring the trip to the pharmacy, of course). I could see both patients AND doctors taking advantage of such a system.
Music definitely should be experienced live...provided the band you like is able to come to your town when they tour. If you listen to fairly obscure/unpopular groups who often have to limit their touring to a few towns, or if you live in a fairly remote section of the country, you might miss out...unless they record it and put a link up to it via their website streaming. Or maybe sell virtual "tickets" for say $5 a pop.
While I, too, enjoy the textile feel of a book and relish the smell of paper, I can't deny the ease a digital reader has over a printed book sometimes. The last Song of Ice and Fire book was hernia-inducing, for example, and I would have preferred to read it on a digital device. And I have to say the comics I've read digitally have benefited immensely from the use of a screen - where colors compromise nothing unlike a printed book once the ink hits the page.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I think there's a time and place for digital. Five years ago I probably wouldn't have made that argument, but I can't deny it's really worked well.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I think there's a time and place for digital. Five years ago I probably wouldn't have made that argument, but I can't deny it's really worked well.
I totally agree with you, digital does have its advantages. I can see what your saying with all your points. I too had the same issue with Song of Fire and Ice books as well as The Stand. While luckily for me I live in a fairly large city so all the bands I want to see generally come to me. Although there are still those favourites I make a point of travelling to see.
I just feel like something is missing when reading things digitally. Maybe it's the collector inside of me longing to see a stack of books or comics I've read. Msybe I'm a bit old fashioned but in tend to want to experience things the way they were originally intended.
Msybe I'm a bit old fashioned but in tend to want to experience things the way they were originally intended.
I think it's fine wanting that. However, realizing there are both necessary and, not unnecessary, but convenient, reasons for experiencing old entertainment in a technologically new form, I think, is important. Realizing that is what separates progressives from non-progressives.
Your guys' above example of reading a humongous book in lightweight digital form is about convenience.
Here's a necessary example (in silly joke form):
You read a book?! The Iliad? You should hear it in it's original form... oral poetry as spoken by Homer. Oh wait, he's dead.
This, then, reminds me of cover songs, because I thought that, well, someone else could recite the epic poetry. So, some people seem to really hate the idea of covers and think almost all of them are bad. Well, I love cover versions, I guess, because it spurns new ideas, I think. Maybe digital comic books will spurn new ideas as well.
Maybe digital comic books will spurn new ideas as well.
I think you're right and we can see that with Marvel's AR. Maybe we're witnessing the birth of a new art form.
I'm not saying we should scrap digital, nor any other form of non-originals. I think we need all forms to create the diverse world of entertainment have. Look at Lord of the Rings, great books, and later greats movies too. And if it wasn't for covers then maybe The Beatles would have never got off the ground and eventually given us most of the music we hear today.
At the end of the day nothing is original anymore. Everything has evolved from something else. That's natural. And it's birthed some amazing things.
But for now I for one will stick to my paper comics as much as I can.
I am not a fan of mrvel's AR but I love those infinite comics they are doing mthat is a great direction to take the digital platform. I think things will change over time. It has to.
One thing I have read is how publishers and creators are discussing dropping the 4-6 issue story to go back to the unending one and done. This fits digital purchases better. New readers can Start with any issue and you keep coming back month after month. There is no easy bail if spidey's story never ends.
I am not a fan of mrvel's AR but I love those infinite comics they are doing mthat is a great direction to take the digital platform. I think things will change over time. It has to.
One thing I have read is how publishers and creators are discussing dropping the 4-6 issue story to go back to the unending one and done. This fits digital purchases better. New readers can Start with any issue and you keep coming back month after month. There is no easy bail if spidey's story never ends.
I like that Marvel are trying these sort of things. I don't like the idea of simple digital comics but advancing the art and playing around with these ideas will bring some great things to the art form. I would hate to think that eventually these digital forms of comics would/could lead to the end of paper comics though. I'd like to think both forms of the art could thrive together.
I would love to see the return the one shot comics. It would be a great way to try new characters without having to comit to a long arc. On the other hand though I love the longer arcs and grander stories. I love being able to sink my teeth into a good trade.
I love comics. I have been getting them for 25 years and have amassed quite a large collection that is located in my parents basement. However I myself have not lived there for over a decade. I lived in a 2 bedroom townhouse for a while with a roommate who also collected and now live with my girlfriend in a 1 bedroom apartment. Each time I moved, my space for storing comics has decreased. I still enjoy reading comics as much as I can but my space to store them and fund to buy them has decreased. I still am getting several titles (in physical form) a month but that's never enough. Digital comics give me a chance to buy they cheaper and not worry about storing them. It might not be the right option for everyone, but thankfully we still have a choice.
One aspect of digital that is a struggle for me is not buying more than I can realistically read right now. I'll buy a physical trade paperback and set it on the shelf, and read it a few years (or more) later. But I don't want a bunch of unread material on a Comixology account when they bite the dust. If I've read it, chances are slim I'll want to read it again, so it won't be that big a deal. But I already have a little backlog of digital reading, and I don't want that to happen.
What is the concenus: do you keep all the downloads you have or do you 'delete' all or some when your done?
I delete books I didn't like or if I'm not likely to read them again in the next six months.
Since they're stored on the cloud, I just delete them. No need to hang on to them if I can download them later. I would hope that I will still be able to get them later if ever Comixology folds. I just don't have all that much space on my device to want to hold onto them.
What is the concenus: do you keep all the downloads you have or do you 'delete' all or some when your done?
I delete books I didn't like or if I'm not likely to read them again in the next six months.
What fred said about the cloud, but, for me, once a month I do a clean-up on my Kindle Fire and delete runs of books if I've finished a story arc, or don't plan on getting back to reading new issues of a certain title again soon.
Comixology on Kindle Fire has four space allotment settings of 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB, and unlimited. I have it set for 1GB. I think default was 500 MB and when I reached it, books started removing themself when I added a new book, so I upped it. Right now I have 757 MB used.
For those not into digital, I know you've given your reasons as to why you're not, but what would it take to move you over (not whole-hog, but maybe a couple of titles)? Are you interested at all? Why not take advantage of the DC combo-pack or digital copy that comes with some Marvel books? With DCBS the DC c-p costs the same as just the single comic. Is it also a matter of having a device to read on? I noticed I was more apt to get into digital once I had an iPhone and iPad.
Price? Way, way cheaper than print and only on books that I'm not interested in re-reading or sharing. Otherwise, as a way of determining if something is actually interesting enough for me to buy a physical copy. I'll give a book a spin for free. Under the current systems, I'm not sure that $.99 is low enough.
Tactile experience? I enjoy reading books. I like the sense of movement through them as the completed pages become a thicker section and the unread pages become fewer and fewer - there's a sense of anticipation, accomplishment and dread that are part of the experience. A percentage complete bar does not provide the same experience.
Lack of glare? Admittedly, this has become far more equivelant with the paper that is being used for printing stock (something that I utterly hate about new books)
My entire collection is currently available to my kids to read (and they do take advantage of that option as items interest them. We have one tablet and no intentions, at the moment, of getting any additional tablets. That in mind, I'm generally uninterested in supporting a format that doesn't allow me to read the current issue simultaneous to my son reading last months and my daughter play catch up from a year ago.
I've been getting some digital comics here and there. But lately I've been getting Batman Beyond a book and character I'm really into, Superman Beyond and Justice League Beyond. Amazing art and colors at just 99 cents.
Comments
The only advantage I see at all to digital comics, as with e-books, is that they are convenient if you're traveling and you want to read them, but you don't want to carry a suitcase full of books with you. I can see the advantage to that, but otherwise? No.
I'm not sure what kind of clarification I can offer beyond the obvious. I have no choice in how I read forums. It's either read them on a screen or don't read them at all. The choices I have for personal reading are much more varied.
I mainly download the free issues and this has put me onto some great comics (atomic robo, chew, reed Gunther).
So while i have to admit it does have its benefits, I could never commit to digital. I need that comic in my hands. Something to hold and experience. Instead of something to download and immediately delete. After all, weren't comics made to hold and flick through and love? I just can't do that digital version.
I just realized, one could print out forum threads and comics (more expensive for color comics) and read them, in full, without reading them on a screen.
I like the idea of eventually carrying around 200+ comics on an iPad and can read that at a whim. Tired of collecting. And I can't pull the trigger to pay $44 to read AvX i'll get the trade and get vs too.
I do look forward to reading Back Issue magazine digitally.
On books I need now I wait a month until the price drops $1. I have no problem paying $1.99 for any digital comic.
As I have been getting chunks of series I wanted to read but never had or never wanted to pay much for, I wait and mine the $.99 sales. I am definitely a sucker for those. Recently I picked up several issues of Haunt, a book I would never have read.
I don't understand Marvel's pricing policy. Keeping books $3.99 for 6-8 months is ridiculous. This keeps me from buying Marvel.
What do you guys think of digital trades?
I like them for the most part. Getting a series I know I want for $2-$5 less than the issues is great. Sometimes you get a real bargain off of the physical trade cost as well. But on series I'm not sure about I don't always want to risk it and get caught buying a few issues then wanting the trade.
So, I no longer buy physical copies of books, comics, albums or films unless they are my absolute all time favorites. I have small collections of my most prized physical stuff. Otherwise I use Amazon for music and movies, Comixology (and reluctantly Dark Horse) for comics, and Amazon or B&N for ebooks. I rent instant movies instead of buying them. Frankly, I enjoy it all a lot more.
I still feed my collector mentality for music and comics by maintaining an impeccable collection of music files (all the cover images and metadata correct, even memories added to the notes for tons of songs), and by using Comic Collector, so that I can browse my collection's covers and add those notes about memories. My comic collection is no longer just books I have sitting in boxes, but any comic I read as a kid or borrowed from the library.
Best of all, I can hand these collections off to anyone by giving them the login to an account or a hard drive the size of a paperback. My grandfather collected music for decades and passed away recently. He had an entire shed full of albums, cassettes and 8-tracks. It's all we can do to find someone to take it.
I just enjoy my life and my media a lot more now.
I've also picked up the Ame-Comi Girls books as soon as they're released, but they're only $1 to begin with.
I totally get the collector mentality that some have. I've got several of long boxes in my basement right now that I'm waiting to cash in on when the market turns around. I was just curious as to how people are consuming digital books. I would imagine at some point the Big Two will see that digital book sales aren't what they expected and will drop the prices on the whole--well, here's to hoping anyway.
Anyone else doing something similar?
What if you were sick, but with a fairly common cold, and could digitally transmit your current vitals to your doctor via your iPad, explain your symptoms, and have them prescribe something without having to get in your car (assuming you could get a face-to-face appointment that day), and save yourself a trip (barring the trip to the pharmacy, of course). I could see both patients AND doctors taking advantage of such a system.
Music definitely should be experienced live...provided the band you like is able to come to your town when they tour. If you listen to fairly obscure/unpopular groups who often have to limit their touring to a few towns, or if you live in a fairly remote section of the country, you might miss out...unless they record it and put a link up to it via their website streaming. Or maybe sell virtual "tickets" for say $5 a pop.
While I, too, enjoy the textile feel of a book and relish the smell of paper, I can't deny the ease a digital reader has over a printed book sometimes. The last Song of Ice and Fire book was hernia-inducing, for example, and I would have preferred to read it on a digital device. And I have to say the comics I've read digitally have benefited immensely from the use of a screen - where colors compromise nothing unlike a printed book once the ink hits the page.
I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I think there's a time and place for digital. Five years ago I probably wouldn't have made that argument, but I can't deny it's really worked well.
I just feel like something is missing when reading things digitally. Maybe it's the collector inside of me longing to see a stack of books or comics I've read. Msybe I'm a bit old fashioned but in tend to want to experience things the way they were originally intended.
Your guys' above example of reading a humongous book in lightweight digital form is about convenience.
Here's a necessary example (in silly joke form):
You read a book?! The Iliad? You should hear it in it's original form... oral poetry as spoken by Homer. Oh wait, he's dead.
This, then, reminds me of cover songs, because I thought that, well, someone else could recite the epic poetry. So, some people seem to really hate the idea of covers and think almost all of them are bad. Well, I love cover versions, I guess, because it spurns new ideas, I think. Maybe digital comic books will spurn new ideas as well.
I'm not saying we should scrap digital, nor any other form of non-originals. I think we need all forms to create the diverse world of entertainment have. Look at Lord of the Rings, great books, and later greats movies too. And if it wasn't for covers then maybe The Beatles would have never got off the ground and eventually given us most of the music we hear today.
At the end of the day nothing is original anymore. Everything has evolved from something else. That's natural. And it's birthed some amazing things.
But for now I for one will stick to my paper comics as much as I can.
Although since I'm always so behind, it makes sense for me to wait for a cheaper deal.
I think things will change over time. It has to.
One thing I have read is how publishers and creators are discussing dropping the 4-6 issue story to go back to the unending one and done. This fits digital purchases better. New readers can Start with any issue and you keep coming back month after month. There is no easy bail if spidey's story never ends.
I would love to see the return the one shot comics. It would be a great way to try new characters without having to comit to a long arc. On the other hand though I love the longer arcs and grander stories. I love being able to sink my teeth into a good trade.
I delete books I didn't like or if I'm not likely to read them again in the next six months.
Comixology on Kindle Fire has four space allotment settings of 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB, and unlimited. I have it set for 1GB. I think default was 500 MB and when I reached it, books started removing themself when I added a new book, so I upped it. Right now I have 757 MB used.
Tactile experience? I enjoy reading books. I like the sense of movement through them as the completed pages become a thicker section and the unread pages become fewer and fewer - there's a sense of anticipation, accomplishment and dread that are part of the experience. A percentage complete bar does not provide the same experience.
Lack of glare? Admittedly, this has become far more equivelant with the paper that is being used for printing stock (something that I utterly hate about new books)
My entire collection is currently available to my kids to read (and they do take advantage of that option as items interest them. We have one tablet and no intentions, at the moment, of getting any additional tablets. That in mind, I'm generally uninterested in supporting a format that doesn't allow me to read the current issue simultaneous to my son reading last months and my daughter play catch up from a year ago.