Anyone not like PDFs?

[philreed]

There is too much good stuff in pdf only format for me to pass by.

That's good to hear. Thank you.

 

[dutorn]

I dislike trying to read the PDFs off the computer screen, along with the fact I can't really have my PDFs at the game table since I don't own a labtop. It would be nice to print them all out, but I'd rather have the nice hardbound book.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I love PDFs. There are things I would not need all that often and don't want the book on my shelf as it would take up too much space. Also, if I want to take some materials to work to go over on my lunch break then I can easily port them around.

As far as printing costs, well, I don't mind. But if my bosses at work found out they might say something.

 

[Rasyr]

What we need, though, are high-contrast high-resolution hand-held monitors; somethig that would be as easy to read and carry as a book. I hear that's in the works too, but I've yet to see a working model.

You mean like this?

http://beta.news.com.com/The+100+laptop+moves+closer+to+reality/2100-1044_3-5884683.html

And don't forget to take a good look at the pics....

http://beta.news.com.com/Images+MITs+100+laptop/2300-1044_3-5884639.html?tag=nefd.lede

 

[drowdude]

While I appreciate the resource and utility of pdfs... I *really* hate trying to read long documents off a computer screen. I never really get the complete "feel" from the book until its in my hands and I can spend time flipping through it; if you know what I mean.

 

[Greg K]

I think pdfs have their place, but I will not purchase them and stick to free pdfs. My reason for this has to do with not being able to make an informed decision ( based upon my glancing through or reading the entire product) as to whether or not a given product is worth purchasing. With a "dead tree" product, I can examine the entire product in the store and decide whether or not it is worth my purchasing. Being able to view an entire product has saved me numerous times from what would have been "buyer's regret" especially with regards to WOTC supplements. Unfortunately, despite their being many talented individuals writing pdfs, pdfs. (with rare excpetions) do not allow me to be as discerning since I am lucky to get a few pages of select material which I might like, but such previews do not guarantee that I will enjoy the rest of the content.

Now, if by some chance, pdf publishers allowed us to preview entire products, I would be more likely to buy pdfs. However, for non-print on demand, I would have to consider the page count , product price and price of printing. The purchase price and cost of printing including any fees for just opening the file (currently $4 the last time I went to Kinkos) should be less than purchasing a similiarly sized softcover print product since the durability, paper quality etc. is probably less than a printed product.

 

[IronWolf]

See, comments like these make me worry since I just finished writing a lengthy sourcebook for pdf release. Fortunately, RPGnow offers print on demand for lengthy pdfs, and the quality is about as good as a regular perfect-bound sourcebook. And, at least in the case of my book, that makes for a pretty good deal - I think it'll come out to about 230 pages for about 20 dollars printed, and a little less than 10 as a pdf.

I should be a little more clear. There are a few more variables that go into my decision when deciding whether to buy a PDF for me than just length. If it is a book I really want and it exists in both print and book format I will go with actual book format. For books I really want the Print on Demand works for me if it doesn't otherwise exist in hard copy. So if the product is something I really want, I would still pick the book up even in PDF format, even if I think I will have to print it myself. I am less likely to pick it up on a whim though, I would have had to have heard good things about it in reviews or discussion on EN World.

 

[JimAde]

I love PDFs for the simple reason that they lower the bar to publishers. Lots of good material exists that would never have seen the light of day if somebody had to take a risk on the printing costs. Not to mention shipping, inventory, etc. etc. Electrons are so light!

I don't think you'll ever see 2-page paper publication, either.

 

[genshou]

I love PDFs. There are things I would not need all that often and don't want the book on my shelf as it would take up too much space. Also, if I want to take some materials to work to go over on my lunch break then I can easily port them around.

As far as printing costs, well, I don't mind. But if my bosses at work found out they might say something.

My dad works at Hewlett Packard, so I give him my PDFs and he prints them out using the test printers, which are printing and running 24/7. Free paper and free ink. I've got it really cushy, don't I?

 

[genshou]

I love PDFs. There's something magical about having an 80 GB hard drive when you have no more space in your room for another bookshelf, and your current one is full with piles of books all over your room.