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I just found out that Death from the Skies! is available again Amazon Kindle. It was there for like a day after the book was initially released, and then some formatting problem cropped up and it was taken off Kindle… but now it’s back, so those of you who prefer the feel of cold emotionless plastic over the soft fuzzy warmth and depth of a real book can now share my nightmares about the end of the world.
Yay!
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising
DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
May 15th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Does a writer get the same royalties from Kindle s/he would with a print book? There is a well known SF writer I am acquainted with who says he has not seen more than a pittance from sales of his books on Kindle format.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
What is the terminal velocity of a Kindle? Would it kill you if it fell from the sky?
May 15th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Phil, would you and your paper books like some time alone? ^^
May 15th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
One thing you can not do with kindle legally is share the book. Actually lent my copy to a co worker and she really likes it.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Ordered and received. While on Amazon’s site, ordered “Bad Astronomy” (also received).
May 15th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I’m afraid I heard the title of this post as if it had been said by Eddie Izzard: Kindle of Deaaath.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I had to “settle” for the real kind. No Kindle in Canada.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I grabbed it for my Kindle, I end up reading more on my Kindle than on normal books.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Still have my “real” copy. Thinking of donating it to a library- but I kind of like having it as a reference. I’ll wait for the paperback edition to come out. Just like Duane above I’m also wondering whether writers fare better or worse from Kindle.
My only potential issue with Kindle is that I like the heft of physical ownership. I don’t like any of the DRM business that was all the rage with music (and has rightly fallen out of favor)- I’m suspicious of paying for “rights” when all I want is to have the thing.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I can’t get myself to like the Kindle, due to what it represents: the end of unrestricted sharing and resale of books, where access to culture and science is limited to those who pay for the privilege.
I prefer real books, which I’m free to sell used, lend them to friends, or borrow them from libraries.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
What’s the difference between cold, emotionless plastic and cold, emotionless paper?
Either way, since I have a regular copy of the book, I’m not likely to get the Kindle version, though somewhat to my dismay, now that I’m so used to my Kindle, I’m finding it hard to start reading actual books. Kinda disturbing.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I found a copy at the local library. I haven’t gotten more than five minutes total to read it since.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Just 1 question: is it crippled by DRM or are people free to read their electronic copy any way they like?
I’m still going for the dead tree edition.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
You can’t improve on perfection, and a paper based book is perfection!
May 15th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
MadScientist: All e-books are crippled with enough DRM to make old iTunes look warm and fuzzy in comparison.
Also, publishers are currently royally screwing authors on e-book royalties, while simultaneously charging their consumers 3 times what they should be.
E-books will eventually be a good thing, but right now they’re just a scam. Don’t buy them.
May 15th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
You wrote a book?
May 15th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Phil,
Your odd, emotional attachment to paper books is causing fluctuations in Global Warming.
Stop it.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
So, would the title of a post about your previous book be “Bad Kindle”?
J/P=?
May 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
due to what it represents: the end of unrestricted sharing and resale of books
I think you’re overstating the situation. That’s just inertia, businesses trying to cling to the old transactional models in the face of new technology.
where access to culture and science is limited to those who pay for the privilege.
Why would that be the case, when there are so many other vectors through which information can flow? It’s a bit like saying that people will no longer be able to get watch movies for free because DVDs are copy protected.
Anyway, I don’t think that books are the primary “access” for culture or science anymore. They may be the most dense, the most focused, but there are other avenues for people who have a ore casual interest. If anything, information has become much more of a commodity. Eventually, I believe, people will stop paying to acquire information and instead pay to have services filter out the irrelevant or the nonsensical. It’s not all that different from how it works now; it’s mostly a different way of seeing the transaction.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
It’s a good thing the book is in paperback as well, or data loss could rob future generations of its wisdom. An IT outlet recently took stock of the situation and determined that there will be enormous amounts of data lost in the future either through the relatively short shelf life of the medium its stored on or the incompability of the format its written in with future software. So that’s something.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Why would that be the case, when there are so many other vectors through which information can flow?
I’m not concerned about those other vectors. I am concerned about the Kindle. I am concerned about a future in which valuable works are only available through the Kindle. The same information might be available elsewhere, but the value that is inherent to a particular expression — a particular book or copyrighted work — would only be available on a “pay for access” basis. That is the future I’d rather avoid, and the reason I absolutely refuse to support the Kindle. If I eventually get Phil’s book, it will be in paper form.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I’m so glad to see that lots of people love real books. May our kind never die out.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I’m not concerned about those other vectors. I am concerned about the Kindle. I am concerned about a future in which valuable works are only available through the Kindle.
I understand now. You have decided to invent a disturbing scenario in your mind by simply ignoring anything that doesn’t fit into it, like history, economics, and all other forms of communications technology.
May 15th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Molly, what’s more important: the content or the format? I have 114 books on my Kindle so far (most still unread), and about that many in physical form on my shelves (most read, including Death from the Skies!). At this point I find the Kindle far easier and far more convenient. I can carry a huge number of books around with me, so that if I get bored with what I’m reading, I have others to choose from. It’s pretty darn nifty, really.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I understand now. You have decided to invent a disturbing scenario in your mind by simply ignoring anything that doesn’t fit into it, like history, economics, and all other forms of communications technology.
Yeah. You “understand” it exactly the way you want to understand it.
The fact is the Kindle allows publishers to restrict access to e-books in ways that are simply not possible with printed books. Any book offered exclusively in Kindle format is a book that cannot be lent out by libraries or sold second-hand, and can only be lent to friends by lending them your Kindle. Publishers would love to have this degree of control over the books they publish — if only printed books weren’t so much more popular.
Contrary to your presumption that book contents and other sources of information are fungible, the fact is that often a particular book — say, one by Isaac Asimov or Carl Sagan — is not really equivalent to other expressions of the same basic information. The specific expression of the concepts embodied in a particular work give unique value to that particular work. If such works were offered only in Kindle format, culture and science would suffer for it. That’s my point.
At no time have I denied the existence of alternatives. I’m only concerned about the future that the Kindle represents — about what the Kindle would enable if allowed to largely replace printed books as Amazon would no doubt prefer.
There will always exist other sources of information, but that’s not enough to negate the harm that would occur from having particular valuable works available exclusively in Kindle and other DRM-crippled formats.
May 15th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Adrain, don’t you think it’s inevitable that a similar device that is less restrictive will eventually be developed? One that uses something like the standard pdf format without the digital rights management stuff? Distributers that try to restrict the copying of their data have always failed. DRM can be cracked. All it would take is the same technology used to create the screen and a usb port to plug a flash drive into. Then the kindle will become unpopular because of it’s restrictiveness. DRM didn’t work with music and games, why would it work with e-books?
May 15th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
The advantages books have over computers of any kind, books don’t crash or run out of power.
May 15th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I started reading on my Palm 8 years ago and since then I tried going back to paper a couple of times, but I can’t. I just can’t. I hate paper books now. I personally prefer the sleek touch of anodized aluminum. Also, like Kimbo Jones said, no kindle in Canada.
May 15th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I prefer audio books anyway. Hitchens and Dawkins read their respective recent audio books. Is Death from the Skies going to be out on audio book? That would be awesome.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
The important question is did you allow them to use the text-to-speech feature? I hear it is optional due to legal reasons.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Audible.com … Audible.com … Audible.com
Need I say more? =)
May 15th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
The BA :
those of you who prefer the feel of cold emotionless plastic over the soft fuzzy warmth and depth of a real book can now share my nightmares about the end of the world.
Give me a real book anyday!
Incidentally, BA I did recently read your book & loved it!
Ten out of ten from me.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
I have been shown a Kindle, and while I think that it is a tech that will eventually be nearly universally used, I don’t believe that paper texts will ever go out of style. There’s simply something wonderful about a medium that can be buried in sand or dropped in the ocean without losing much of its information. There is currently no substitute for the ease with which one can annotate text on the paper medium (although I am over thirty, so my fetish for tactile “correctness” is probably not as much of an issue with many younger people — I still miss the clacking of typewriters). I also think that there is value in being “stuck” with one or two books: one is forced to read them. This results in a lot of time spent reading dreck, but also in a lot of time getting through the tough beginnings and reading gems that would otherwise be abandoned too easily.
Also, what if one is concerned with more than one or two texts at a time? I often have two or three books in front of me, as well as a dictionary and a copy of Strunk and White. In the time it takes to tap a few keys to switch books, tap a few keys to flip pages, I’ve found the passage and gone back to the other text.
Okay, I’m a Luddite.
Let the cyber-excoriation begin.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
No book I’ve ever dropped in the ocean (or the bathtub) has been one that I continued reading afterward.
I never thought I’d be a convert but I bought a Kindle more than a year ago to play with figuring I’d take advantage of the return policy and to my surprise I’ve only read two paper books since.
But yes, the Kindle is not for everyone (the fact that I generally read five or six books at a time and can now have them all with me for my 2 hours a day on the train is a huge sell). But while I’ve heard a lot of people say why they don’t think they’d like one, none of the people I know who’ve actually bought one have returned it.
Anyway, Phil, if I’d known you didn’t know I’d have dropped you a note. I bought and read Death From the Skies on my Kindle several weeks ago.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Adrain, don’t you think it’s inevitable that a similar device that is less restrictive will eventually be developed? One that uses something like the standard pdf format without the digital rights management stuff?
Whether or not it’s inevitable depends very much on how the public reacts to DRM-laden e-books. If the public buys the books despite the DRM, publishers will be in no hurry to offer their books in an unprotected format. If the public refuses to buy DRM’d books, the book industry may yet follow in the footsteps of the music industry. Time will tell.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
@Alex,
Oh I would certainly keep one if I had it; the advantages already mentioned make it worth a bit of cash. I’m just pointing out that there are applications for which I think that a single, relatively expensive repository for all of ones books is not a proper choice. I would gladly take a few paperbacks to the beach, or on a hike, or in an overnight canoe trip, but not a device that contained a lot of valued information. If I have a lot of books, losing one isn’t a big deal, but if they are all on my Kindle, then losing that becomes a huge deal. I guess that I could buy another and still have the ability to restore my library, a definite advantage to losing paper texts.
Oh, what about children? If my five-year-old decides that he’s going to “enhance” a few pages of a book I own, he’s merely rendered a few pages of one book difficult to read. If he were to mar the screen of my Kindle (is there a generic term for this type of tech? I kind of don’t like being forced to refer to a product name when referring to something general) my entire library becomes difficult to read.
Again, I think that this technology will soon be ubiquitous, I just also think that there will always be a place for good-old paper.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
There are waterproof cases for the Kindle now so I’m planning on taking that to the beach with me now too (I even mentioned to my wife, while reading that I should try to get a picture of me reading Death from the Skies from the ocean floor when we’re on our diving trip this fall and send it to Phil, doubt a picture would convey it though).
The loss issue is not insignificant. I’ve twice left my Kindle behind (once in a San Francisco mall) and once on a shuttle bus from Orly Airport in Paris but fortunately got it back both times.
I never lend out books or resell them myself so the DRM really doesn’t bother me and the text search of everything I’ve read is great, and I’m not altruistic enough to deny myself just because DRM is some form of societal ill. I’m a sheeple.
May 16th, 2009 at 3:33 am
@ioresult: I agree with you. I have the Kindle and Bookshelf programs on my iPod Touch, and I find I prefer reading on the Touch rather than on paper.
@Autum: I’m 50. That doesn’t mean I can’t think that using my little Touch is better than carrying one or more books. And the general term is “eBook Reader.” They can be physical, like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, or software like the ebook reader programs I installed on my iPod Touch.
“Okay, I’m a Luddite.” No comment.
@Adrian Lopez (and others): I’d like to point out that I am currently reading ebooks from Baen (The Mote in God’s Eye by Jerry Pournelle) and O’Reilly (Essential CVS, 2nd Ed.), and neither have DRM. Amazon does not have a monopoly on e-books, just as Apple doesn’t have a monopoly on digital music players.
Of course, some people (not me) would rather die than use a music player from Sony, Creative Labs, Microsoft, or SanDisk.
@theinquisitor: The upcoming Kindle DX can read PDFs. I *assume* only PDFs without Adobe’s DRM. Sony claims their Reader can use PDF. Thing is, after looking at the SonyStyle web site I can’t tell if you have to convert your PDF to read it on the Sony Reader like you do with the Kindle 1 and 2.
@Chris Swanson: 114 eBooks, and “most still unread”? Why would you do that? I buy my books (bits or dead trees) one at a time as I read them.
@Phil Plait: Kudos to you for using a serif font here!
May 16th, 2009 at 3:54 am
kindle = kin dull… the universe is a boring family of stars, planets etc going around each other…
May 16th, 2009 at 4:45 am
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/
That is all.
May 16th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Oh shoot, realized I just posted a link instead of putting it in my name.
Anyway, it’s from Penny Arcade, and I think it says all that needs to be said on this subject.
May 16th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I’m usually annoyed by people screaming about DRM, but I have to agree with Adrian Lopez. While I would like a Kindle, if the books are tied to the device, forget it.
What I don’t get is when you load someone a book, they physically take the copy and you can no longer access it until you get it back. Is it so hard to do this with electronic copies (discounting hacks). i.e. you option to “beam” your copy of a book to another Kindle. When this is done, you can no longer access it on your device until the borrower “beams” it back. I realize, though, that the publishers would rather make people pay for every copy and probably paid every time a particular book gets read. I don’t think, however, that consumers will put up with that sort of control. Not the smart consumer, anyway. I know there’s fewer of those every day, but there’s enough.
What happens if your Kindle dies? Do you have to pay for all your books again. In the above-mentioned scenario, if you drop a book into the tub, it is fixable. If you fry a Kindle and the books are tied to the device, you’re screwed.
May 16th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Sorry. I didn’t realize people could be so passionate about an electronic device. This preference goes deeper than convienence – it’s what speaks to you. Paper people love the smell of a new book, holding it in your hand, seeing it on the bookshelves, looking at a book you’ve had for 30 years or more….. We’re just hoping all that doesn’t disappear in the brave new world. The most important thing is that you’re Reading!!
May 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I love you and your book and your site Mr Plait. You been an inspiration and companion of sorts for the last few years. But, I have to say, it’s uncool to tweak your fans.
I have a Kindle, I love it, and I even have DftS! on it. Your comments make me want to remove it tho.
Personally, I’m more interested in the content than the medium. My Kindle has traveled the world with me far more conveniently than a bag of books ever could.
May 16th, 2009 at 10:52 am
John Betts, seriously? I mean, really seriously? It’s nice you like the book and site, but c’mon. That was a fairly minor and harmless joke. If it upsets you that much, than I gently suggest the problem lies not in my words.
May 16th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I love ebooks. Dead trees should house bacteria, bugs, small rodents, etc.
That being said, I have a small forest full of words and ink on my shelves. I bought DFTS in dead tree format, but I would have loved the opportunity to purchase it on ebook format.
Unfortunately, the proprietary kindle format is unsupported on my preferred device. I like my Acer netbook for reading. I orientate the screen sideways, and turn pages with the space bar. At 2lbs, its comfortable to hold and read. It might not be as trendy and hip as the Kindle, but I sure get more use out of mine. After I finish reading, I can just reorient the screen and check Phils blog, read some email, check out The Daily Show on Hulu, etc.
Proprietary limited use devices like the Kindle are tech-deadends. Our devices need to be flexible and multi use. The DRM idea needs to die also, but thats another discussion entirely.
In closing, as an avid ebook proponent, I like that the Kindle is getting people used to the idea of paperless books. I just hope that people will demand the obvious flaws be fixed.
May 16th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I enjoy books of both types and have thousands in both formats… I don’t get out much.
May 16th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
@gopher65: not all of them; e.g. Baen’s crowd tends to be sane in that respect…
May 16th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Did you know that the Amazon eBooks are done in color? You can’t see that on the black & white Kindle readers, but I can on my iPod Touch. All of the cover photos are in color, and in _Quicken 2008 For Dummies_, I can see screen shots with the Quicken logo in red and white.
@Kimbo Jones: FWIW, the Sony Reader is available in Canada.
@Naked Bunny with a Whip: What he(?) said. *grin*
@drksky: “What happens if your Kindle dies? Do you have to pay for all your books again. (sic)”
No. Once you get a replacement Kindle and register it to your account, you can re-download your books. This link describes the process to doing that when a customer replaces a Kindle 1 with a Kindle 2:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200316870&#library
I have a question of my own. From what I see, the Amazon Kindle store features a drop-down box on their web page to select which device to download a purchase to, which implies that Amazon allows a customer to own more than one device (Kindle or iPhone/Touch). Does this mean that a family can have multiple Kindles assigned to one account, buy eBooks and assign them as desired? Can one eBook be downloaded to multiple Kindles assuming they are on the same account? Simultaneously (actually downloaded sequentially and read simultaneously)?
I only have my one iPod Touch, so I can’t test this idea.
May 17th, 2009 at 2:12 am
@Revyloution: “Proprietary limited use devices like the Kindle are tech-deadends. Our devices need to be flexible and multi use.” Agreed, which is why I read my Kindle eBooks on an iPod Touch. Of course, with the limits that Apple and AT&T put on the devices, how flexible they are is debatable.
That said, for me eBook readers like Kindle For iPhone and Bookshelf are the “killer apps” for the Touch.
May 17th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I just purchased my copy today…couldn’t put it down and read the whole book in one sitting. I loved it. I want more!!! I am a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and let them all know how much I loved the book. AMAZING!!!