The Book That Can't Wait Really Can't

[Evil Smurf]

This will only cause digital book piracy. You know, some guy scanning a copy of the book then charging $25 a pop for a copy of the book that will last forever.

 

[ritchards]

So how does the ink not react when it is printed? So it doesn't disappear after being printed and bound?

 

[MrStab]

Couldn't you just re-seal it after you have read it?

 

[sethisjimmy]

Releasing a product with the main gimmick that it is inferior to all others of its own kind... Smart.
Sounds like they can't decide if this is art or just some get rich quick scheme they want to sucker people into paying money for.

 

[Cobalt Lion]

This...just seems like a bad idea. Making a normal non-perishable item perishable. At this point you basically say "I only ever want people to read this once. Ever." and then forget about it by making it useless. This gimmick to this makes it something that I could just not ever recommend to someone if I were a reader of this book. Good luck if that plastic bag gets damaged in the store too.

 

[Evil Smurf]

very interesting idea though

 

[ThePS1Fan]

Here's a better idea. Write books people will read and don't stretch a series out.

 

[Royas]

This plan isn't exactly encouraging me to buy these authors' works, so I guess they really can wait.

 

[SH4DOWSL4Y3R]

Oh god, please don't let Games workshop learn about this and somehow employ it.

I can see it now, halfway through reading a codex, the ink fades and is replaced with: "sorry, it appears your time has expired, please go spend another $50 on a new book"

yes, i'm going off on a tangent, i know, but this just strikes me as something GW would do.

 

[Louzon]

Here's the thing though...they say that if people "don't read their first books, they won't make it to a second." However, that isn't really true. You don't have to READ it for them to make money, you just have to BUY it. There's not some reader that says "they've finally flipped past page 275, e-mail the money to the author's account" or anything. So, to have the pages vanish is more just a slap in the face of the casual readers like myself: I've had Inheritance since it came out last November, and because of life, children, and work, I am just now about five chapters from finishing it. Not gonna happen if it's like this book.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

HAHAHAHAHAHA...
This is so bullshit, I can't properly discuss it without being offensive

Here's the thing though...they say that if people "don't read their first books, they won't make it to a second." However, that isn't really true. You don't have to READ it for them to make money, you just have to BUY it. There's not some reader that says "they've finally flipped past page 275, e-mail the money to the author's account" or anything. So, to have the pages vanish is more just a slap in the face of the casual readers like myself: I've had Inheritance since it came out last November, and because of life, children, and work, I am just now about five chapters from finishing it. Not gonna happen if it's like this book.

Spoiler alert: Darth Vader shows up, teaches Alagaesia how to solve their differences through dance, then hooks up with Arya's mom after she heals his nasty burns.

 

[lacktheknack]

Nope. I like having a full shelf and pulling old books off of it to read.

This threatens all of it.

 

[anian]

Wow, so much progress through centuries of paper making, recycling, making ink that does not fade in the light, developing a notion of enjoying reading in your own time, maybe reading to your children, borrowing books to others to open up their minds and share opinions...

And then these people said "WELL F THAT!"

 

[Space Jawa]

I had no interest in this book before, and now I have even less interest in it. Why on Earth would I ever want to buy a book with an expiration date?

 

[KINGBeerZ]

well that's just silly, what if you want to re read it a year later. or what if it's really long like Lord of The Rings and it disappeared halfway through the book, I mean how much would it suck if you're reading LoTR and the text disappears midway through the seige of Gondor, you just have to assume everyone dies, 'cause let's face it, if Aragorn didn't show up at the end they would have.

 

[NightHawk21]

So you buy the book and keep it in the sealed bag until you can be arsed to read it, that way the book keeps as long as you want it to and the authors still don't get there stories read.

Besides surely authors get a second book based on sales of the first and if the first book gets bought in large numbers then stores will buy the second book in similar quantities, the problem is the third book.

Ya that's what I was going to say. Now instead of not reading the book and having it sit on your shelf, you still don't have to read the book and it can sit on your shelf in a plastic bag. Its a good thing they put the bag on it though else bookstores would be flipping out when people browse through that section.

 

[Ukomba]

DRM for books, nice.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I have a friend who has access to a scanner and a damn good OCR program. If he hears about this, he'll probably scan the book and make a torrent just to spite whoever thought of the idea.

My friend is a great believer in the idea that books are forever. He loves digital stuff, but you do NOT mess with his dead tree collection.