Post 9tyAmwzvgC5YSyVDQu by es0mhi@tilde.zone
 (DIR) More posts by es0mhi@tilde.zone
 (DIR) Post #9txpKJxz6c4SGc6GAa by jynx@mastodon.sdf.org
       2020-04-12T10:00:45Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       Late night epiphany: most of the books ever written are available on the internet for free with some searching. The prime motivation for the extreme price gouging with printer ink is not greed, it is to prevent us from printing books. Doing so has been made prohibitively expensive. To read the books we have access to, we need a device and a way to charge a battery, instead of just needing light to see the page.
       
 (DIR) Post #9txwytBoGYlGltrG9g by onan@dobbs.town
       2020-04-12T11:26:54Z
       
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       @jynx I and others have found it less efficient in time and expense to own a printer (at all) versus use a public printer for small jobs and use lulu.com for small runs of books.  I specify lulu over KDP because lulu is said to be more trusting when a person submits a book to print and claims to have permission to print it.  Ahem.
       
 (DIR) Post #9tyAmwzvgC5YSyVDQu by es0mhi@tilde.zone
       2020-04-12T14:01:35Z
       
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       @jynx I'm not sure why you assume that "most books ever written are available on the internet". Most likely they are not even available in 'classical' libraries. Just to give you an idea: we know the titles of 132 tragedies of the ancient greek author Sophocles but only 7 of them have survived in their entirty. We don't know how many of those books that were written get ever printed and how many of those printed get scanned and uploaded to the internet. (If you consider other languages than English, the percentage is very small indeed.)On your idea of using your own printer to print books: I own an e-reader that is 11 years old. I use it every day, can charge it via small solar panel and hope to use it for at least one more decade. All that said: I love printed books, own thousands of them and one of the projects on my to-do list is to make a book myself from the first idea, (writing, editing, layout, printing,) to binding. I have all the stuff around that I would need and I still haven't tried.
       
 (DIR) Post #9tyExNZi7YhbbeT1cG by jynx@mastodon.sdf.org
       2020-04-12T14:48:17Z
       
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       @es0mhi When weighing a hundred and some odd books versus the number written daily in a world with unprecedented global population, I stand by my statement as written. As far as writing a book, please do. Your project sounds very satisfying.
       
 (DIR) Post #9tyFSqth9QwDWbp28G by jynx@mastodon.sdf.org
       2020-04-12T14:54:00Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @onan I too have heard that about Lulu. I would counter your position centered on efficiency, however. I am old enough to remember printers as standard equipment. I stopped using them due to the expense... before the plague, when I was employed, I printed *many* books on my employer's dime. It is well known fact that ink is a very over priced commodity. I have doubts that the profit motive is the sole reason in light of other observations in this world we live in.
       
 (DIR) Post #9tyFed9u3ZekOH1HkG by onan@dobbs.town
       2020-04-12T14:56:08Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @jynx agreed: nothing more economical than spending someone else’s money.  I have had friends in print shops in the past and it was a fine resource.