Paper or Electric?

Discuss manga, especially but not limited to pre-2000 titles, and related sub-topics
runesaint
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Paper or Electric?

Post by runesaint »

I am currently undecided on how to proceed, and thought I would ask you all for opinions. I currently have the paper copies of books 1-4 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Arslaan Manga #1-5, and the new Harlock manga #1.
On the other hand, I grabbed 'How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom' #1-5 and the Queen Emereldas manga #1-2 on amazon/kindle.
So... do I switch to electronic formats so that it is easier to carry? Keep on paper formats? Keep series together but get new things on electric? I like having the paper copies, but paying monthly storage fees reminds me how much volume paper can take up. Plus, my daughter does not seem to be at all interested in any of them, so they won't be passed on to anyone...
so... thoughts?
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DKop
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by DKop »

I'd have to go more for paper, here's why.

If and when the your manga on the digital market ever gets corrupt or delisted/removed from you log, you have a physical copy as a back up. This is how I feel for both games and anime. My extent on digital goes as far as keeping a backup of the manga one file on either an external hard drive or data dvd so you always have a way to get a hold of it. I'm not a strong supporter for streaming services unless that seems to be the only way to watch something, but 9.9 times outta 10 ill get a physical copy of it. Sure, in the end its more material to clutter your house, but YOU own it and its in YOUR hands, not some company that one day will decide to get rid of it at no notice.

I've got a few books on my amazon library that I have in physical form, only for the convience (that and they were cheap to get at the time). It's nice to have, but if someone ask me if I own it, I can hold up my physical copy to show them, not pull out my tablet. This counts as double dipping, but its really for the easy access to the material if I want to read it.
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TheMidnightSnack
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by TheMidnightSnack »

DKop wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:50 pm I've got a few books on my amazon library that I have in physical form, only for the convience (that and they were cheap to get at the time). It's nice to have, but if someone ask me if I own it, I can hold up my physical copy to show them, not pull out my tablet. This counts as double dipping, but its really for the easy access to the material if I want to read it.
I do agree that I would rather hold the real book in my hands, but having all of my manga on one device sound alluring. I'm split on the issue, and I'm sure many other people are too. If only there was a way to get the digital and physical copies without paying for the same thing twice.
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DKop
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by DKop »

The only way you could make your physical stuff "digital" is by taking the time to manually scan every single page of your manga, convert to pdf from the jpg images, and put those on a cloud server or file on your mobile devices so you'd have access to them. Or, pay 6 bucks to save 60 hours worth of work. Most people take the later approach.
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usamimi
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by usamimi »

I do a bit of both. I don't have as much space as I used to, so longer series I try to do on digital so I don't have 30+ books to try to find a place for in my apartment. Every once in a while I also do that with one-shot volumes when they go on sale (ie sometimes Comixology or Amazon will have something for like a dollar.) Even if somehow my entire library goes away, I figure the small price I paid for em as a "rental" fee, lol. (And I've yet to have any of my manga disappear on me, so no loss yet!)

Meanwhile there's titles that get outstanding physical releases (ie Seven Seas' new hardcover classic releases, Kodansha's special edition Sailor Moon, etc) that are worth buying to put on a shelf. Also, there's plenty of titles that still don't have official digital releases, so physical stuff's never going to go out of style, I think.
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NorthernKaleCity
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by NorthernKaleCity »

runesaint wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:57 pm I am currently undecided on how to proceed, and thought I would ask you all for opinions. I currently have the paper copies of books 1-4 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Arslaan Manga #1-5, and the new Harlock manga #1.
On the other hand, I grabbed 'How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom' #1-5 and the Queen Emereldas manga #1-2 on amazon/kindle.
So... do I switch to electronic formats so that it is easier to carry? Keep on paper formats? Keep series together but get new things on electric? I like having the paper copies, but paying monthly storage fees reminds me how much volume paper can take up. Plus, my daughter does not seem to be at all interested in any of them, so they won't be passed on to anyone...
so... thoughts?
The thing about physical copies is that, with older manga titles, they're hard to come by nowadays. It was easy being 1992 and walk in to a comic book shop, pull some new title off the shelf and take it home with you to enjoy.

We can't do that in 2019. Hell, it's even more difficult to find a title you're looking for without paying someone on Ebay with a kidney.

Get something tangible ONLY if you've wanted it for a LONG time. If in doubt, don't buy it. Chance are, you'll develop buyer's remorse.

With digital, it's easy to search for something online nowadays, but you run into specific titles not being shared online at all, or the dreaded malware infested website you WISH you hadn't clicked the link on.

And say you do find something online you've been looking for.

BACK THAT SHIT UP. On a separate storage device. ASAP.

Should you accidentally lose the file on on your kindle to some freak accident or an act of Glob, you reach for your backup and boom, you're back in business.

Don't pay for anything online unless you absolutely have to. There's a neat website I go to, to find reference material when I need it for drawing (i.e.mangas), and if you'd like the name of it, drop me a PM and I'll share the website with you.

I'd share it openly but I'm afraid of being shot. :o

And there's also torrents, too.

So, think of it this way, now that it's 2019. Do you go out and buy the CD of your favorite band, only to take it home and listen to on your Discman, then put it on the shelf? Or, do you Apple Music the album instead, and pay 10 bucks a month just to listen to it, plus have access to a LOT of music you may never get around to listen to?

Or you do download it from a torrent, put it on your device, and enjoy?

Different strokes for different folks. Each method is right. Just besure to find what's right for you. :geek:
davemerrill
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by davemerrill »

I like paper, I like books, but I hate running out of space to put all these books, especially manga, because that stuff swells to fill available space. The experience of reading on a device isn't optimal, but when traveling you can throw a lot of books onto a device and it's super convenient.

To be fair, most of my e-reading has been on a tablet, I think a Kindle or other dedicated electronic book device might give a better experience.

I don't know what the libraries are like where you are, but our local branch has a decent selection of manga, and I find it's a great way to get my fix without taking up shelf space.
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TheMidnightSnack
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by TheMidnightSnack »

NorthernKaleCity wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:15 am So, think of it this way, now that it's 2019. Do you go out and buy the CD of your favorite band, only to take it home and listen to on your Discman, then put it on the shelf?
Image

Actually...
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NorthernKaleCity
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by NorthernKaleCity »

TheMidnightSnack wrote: Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:35 pm
NorthernKaleCity wrote: Thu Jan 03, 2019 1:15 am So, think of it this way, now that it's 2019. Do you go out and buy the CD of your favorite band, only to take it home and listen to on your Discman, then put it on the shelf?
Image

Actually...
Ha, ha! Nice! :lol: Well, I'll be damned, the new gen is still getting down with old gen devices; good for you!
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Drew_Sutton
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Re: Paper or Electric?

Post by Drew_Sutton »

usamimi wrote: Thu Dec 27, 2018 7:12 pm I do a bit of both. I don't have as much space as I used to, so longer series I try to do on digital so I don't have 30+ books to try to find a place for in my apartment. Every once in a while I also do that with one-shot volumes when they go on sale (ie sometimes Comixology or Amazon will have something for like a dollar.) Even if somehow my entire library goes away, I figure the small price I paid for em as a "rental" fee, lol. (And I've yet to have any of my manga disappear on me, so no loss yet!)
davemerrill wrote:I like paper, I like books, but I hate running out of space to put all these books, especially manga, because that stuff swells to fill available space.
Very much both of these: space is limited, so if I am going to fill it with books, I am looking to optimize it with books it's too hard to get a digital copy of, or if it's something that means a whole lot to me (channeling my inner Marie Kondo, if you will). Manga gets the same treatment as anything else on the shelf. My wife just got me a Kindle for the holidays, so I am getting used to reading comics on it (a bit trickier than standard prose to me) but overall, it's a good replacement. Definitely will probably replace the physical copies of LoGH I have with digital in the future, and if any more of the Dirty Pair or any Crusher Joe novels come out, will get those digitally, too.

I know you mentioned libraries; I haven't checked our branch or system for manga yet but Atlanta Fulton Public Library system is pretty rich, so I imagine there is a lot of manga there. They also do digital loans, so I can checkout books for a couple weeks straight to my device. I haven't checked Dekalb County's library system (since we can access both) but I imagine that it is pretty similar.

So far, the one thing that I would aptly buy for the Kindle that I'm not sure I can yet are JP language manga. I've also not started looking yet.
davemerrill wrote:The experience of reading on a device isn't optimal, but when traveling you can throw a lot of books onto a device and it's super convenient.

To be fair, most of my e-reading has been on a tablet, I think a Kindle or other dedicated electronic book device might give a better experience.
So, far, I like reading on my Kindle; I've started the Battle Angel Alita manga on it (because it was free*) and it reads well but I also read the first trade of Ms Marvel (also free*) and there were a few pages I needed to use the zoom feature to get the text legible. I don't know if it's just how that book was illustrated or what but it's the only title I've had trouble with.

The travelling piece was what really sold me on an e-reader (tablet or otherwise): I am a very fickle reader and can't concentrate on what I'm reading if I'm not in the mood for the genre - if I am in the mood to read comics/manga, a history book or some sci-fi pulp that I would still enjoy won't scratch that itch. So, having a device where I can have multiple things stored and not haul 20 pounds of books with me on a trip to the beach or for work, makes everyone in the house happy.
NorthernKaleCity wrote:So, think of it this way, now that it's 2019. Do you go out and buy the CD of your favorite band, only to take it home and listen to on your Discman, then put it on the shelf?
I have done that, yes; not this year anyway. I have done this recently though - and those CDs have been listened to on CD players (car stereo mostly) - but the usual order of operations is to also rip the CDs to MP3s so they can be stored on my phone. But typically, I buy digitally on Amazon Music and they give me handy MP3s already that I can back up (smug face).

I get the idea of backing up digital stuff, especially if it's expensive, and I am totally on board with that but space - physical and storage - is finite so if a digital service shuts down and I lose some cheap stuff, I'm willing to take that loss, especially since I am becoming less of a read/watch whatever multiple times.
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