I have never wondered back then what will happen to my mini library when I die. Maybe because I was still in my 30s when I amassed volumes after volumes of commentaries and theological tomes. I am not exactly old old yet, but I am beginning to wonder what will happen to my books in the future. My son might get them but will they be as valued as I value them? And on top of that, I have practically stopped buying printed books but have been buying one ebook after another. What will happen to these electronic copies when I die? Can they be legally transferred from my account to my son's account?
I read a very relevant article about it this morning (Will Your Children Inherit Your Ebooks?) and I think I will have to come to admit to the fact that by the time my son gets them, the volumes would either have been superseded by newer editions or they would have been rendered irrelevant. Truth be told, I have never needed my dad's books. To me, they are pretty old editions and not really of my interest, except maybe for the Perry Mason series.
About my printed books, I am now thinking I might as well donate them to any libraries that really need them. They are not being efficiently utilised at the moment, but I would need some time to "part" with them before I can make that decision. So they stay ... for now.
My ebooks are a different story though. Unlike the printed books where I have practically bought them on sight - i.e. I see, I like/want/need, I buy, I shelve - I only buy the ebooks when I really wanted to read them. And with that criteria, I have not purchased any "reference" material. Moreover, I made sure that I do not buy any ebook until I have finished the one I am reading -- though I must say I have veered from that rule this month when I bought 6 books at one go from www.kobo.com! The good news is I have finished 3 of them already and I have started on the 4th, which is one of the NT Wright volumes that I have mentioned here yesterday. So about my ebooks, I suppose I am fully aware now that when I purchase them, they are an investment for only my consumption. Period.
pearlie
awesome quantity of books displaced! Only lay people has that kind of money to buy so many books. You are the only lady christian in town who is so literate.....
ReplyDelete"awesome quantity of books displaced!"
ReplyDelete:) I was crazy back then. Anyway, the titles are in my Goodreads accounts. Out of the 600 over titles there, probably close to 500 are in printed form. I have the WBC and Tyndale Commentaries in electronic form.
"Only lay people has that kind of money to buy so many books."
Yea, I was thankful that when I was pursuing my masters, buying books wasn't too difficult. They are expensive no doubt, but I treated them as investments, which is why it will be hard if I were to part with them.
"You are the only lady christian in town who is so literate"
Haha, I don't think I am the only one!
Are you still on STM's TEE MCS program? not finished?
ReplyDeleteOh, I graduated in 2011 :)
ReplyDeletePhoto
There I was in the 3rd row, 5th from the right.
Hi, talking about ebooks, I have to questions to seek your opinions:
ReplyDelete1) are you reading it with your ipad ? I was considering of getting an Ipad. Not sure whether I should get the mini ones or the normal one. also, should i get the 16GB or the 32GB? The purpose I'm getting it is for mobile reading. Also, I buy a lot of ebooks nowadays. I felt the mini one is light and easy to bring around the house or outside. Whereas the normal one can only be used in the house but comfortable to read for our eyes.
2) I wonder whether you purchase secular ebooks. I find it hard to purchase any of them as the amazon, b&n do not allow Malaysians to purchase them as they require an International address and non-Malaysian credit card. Is there other sites you know which do accept Malaysian credit card and allow ebook purchased by Malaysian. It was used to be bookdepository but they have closed down for some reason.
Hi Chee Keat! Long time no see - hope you have been well.
ReplyDelete1) I read these ebooks with my iPhone and iPad. To decide between the Mini and the iPad, you have to decide what will your main purpose for it. If you need it for movies or games, then you have to go for the iPad. If just reading, then the Mini is a good choice. But I would suggest you wait for the next version of Mini with Retina screen and all the better specs. As for the size, take it this way...you will never get enough of space...but if cost is a factor and if the main purpose is reading, then 16G should be enough though you should stretch it to 32G if you can afford the difference. About being comfortable to the eyes, I don't think there should be any difference between the iPad and the Mini because you can change the font size in the ebooks. But if you have a lot of PDF documents to read though, then yes, the iPad would be better. For ease on the eyes, the E-Ink readers are better. The glare from the Apple devices is quite bad if you use it for too long. But there aren't any such readers available to us yet, at least not the good ones.
2) Yes, I do buy books other than biblical and theological ones. The only one that has international rights now is www.kobobooks.com. Check out the Kobo app for Apple. Their titles available are not as many as in Amazon but they are getting better. Since 2011, I have already purchased 38 books from them :)
well done! so what program are you doing now? you must not stop there,,,,
ReplyDeleteI treasure my books too and I hope someday they are of value to one of my children or grandchildren. I have a couple of sets of very old, early 1900's, books that belonged to my father that are treasures to me. I wonder the same thing about a lot of my "stuff"!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Hermes,
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I am not doing any programmes right now. At this point of time I will not be continuing on and when/if I do, it will be some years from now.
I suppose it is because the reason why I took up MCS is because I wanted a more structured way of equipping myself in theological and biblical knowledge and it has met my purpose. The learning never stops but now I am doing through informally means.
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteThose books are the reasons why I love printed books :) The history, sentimentality, the sound, smell, touch...
It is alright with your study plan. Likely that I am crazy cos I completed MDiv, now on MTh....I think I over do it
ReplyDeleteHermes,
ReplyDeleteBut I loose out too, not being able to surround myself with the scholarly communities.
Are you doing it full time?
yes, full time since Jan 2010
ReplyDelete