To wish books come with codes to put onto E readers

[McNewPants2013]

At home I like to read a book, however it's not practical to carry them around to read.

Aibu to want to be able to have a code to put onto my e reader.

I would love that! Even if you had to pay a bit, say just a token amount. It would make things much easier!

Invent it, make a million. Ask for this thread to be deleted before someone at MN steals your idea.

I've thought this too but I couldn't figure out a way that the code would be kept for buyers only as opposed to people picking them up from the shelf and nicking the code (yes way too much thought :o)

Peanut what about a lottery scratch card type deal? You get to scratch it when you buy it...

They have started doing this when you buy records. It contains a code for an MP3 download of the album inside the record sleeve.

I can't see why they can't do this for books too.

It simple the code could be printed onto the receipt, like on Xbox live.

Or you need to scratch of the code

I was talking about this earlier. I thought that if you'd bought the actual book from amazon then you should be able to download the book for free to your kindle.
DP says something about publishing rights means it won't happen.

I've wanted this for ages too. It would be such a good idea. I love real books, but my kindle is so practical sometimes. I would buy more real books if this happened.

Because you effectively want 2 books for the price of 1.
You could buy 'hard copy' books as gifts and get yourself a free e-book.
While agreeing it would be lovely - I can't see any publisher giving away a free e-book with every real book bought.
You want 2 books, in 2 different formats/ You buy 2 books, in 2 different formats.
(Not saying I agree - just think that's probably why they don't do it)

I reckon Amazon will start doing it soon and are working out how it should be done eg £6.99 kindle price or £8.99 paperback and kindle. That would be fantastic for customers and I'm sure I'd buy more books too. But dreadful for bookshops as it would make Amazon even more competitive. I guess if a company like Waterstones can get in first....

Yes, a decent heavyweight vinyl record plus download can cost up to eighteen quid. So it is more than the vinyl alone.

As long as it isn't 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire' is a book really that difficult to carry around though?

God, I would LOVE this! My Kindle purchase has not turned out as I hoped. The idea was that there would be less actual books piled around the house, but charity shops are still doing big business out of me AND I buy ebooks too!

Anyhow, that's not the point. I read a lot of fantasy books (Robert Jordan, George R R Martin, Robin Hobb, etc) and like to read Stephen King's latest when it hits the shelves. However, fantasy books are hefty buggers (the one I'm reading at the moment is over 1,000 pages!) and hardbacks are a bitch to read in bed. Plus, I love going to a coffee shop and having a good read with a vanilla latte (and sometimes cake, if I'm feeling particularly evil). Well, thick books are heavy and cumbersome to carry around in my bag and hardbacks are just a total no-no.

Sooooooo, my point is it would be fantastic to be able to read my paperback copy at home and carry my Kindle about with the digital copy for coffee shop escapades. Shame it will probably never happen...

Oh god, I have been sharing this idea with anyone who will listen for years now and they have all looked at me like I'm crazy I think it's win win as I can't think that many people buy both digital and traditional format of the same book, so they wouldn't really lose out there, and I think it would lead to increased sales of normal books and e readers.

It isn't hard to carry around, ComposHat, yet many people do take a Kindle rather than a book. I have internet on mine, and work documents, so it's more than just a book. I also often have several books on the go, and the idea that every book I'd bought would then also be on my Kindle sounds brilliant. At the same time, I would much rather have the physical book for home, personally. I couldn't ever give up books and would hate the idea of anything forcing book shops out of business.

A lot of textbooks do already come with this, I think it's becoming standard in academic publishing. Wonder if it will catch on in trade publishing.

Films have this as well. When you buy the DVD or Blu-ray you get a digital copy. You may pay slightly more but I would say it's worth it for books also.

I've thought this too, and was about to post an enthusiastic YANBU until MichelleRooJnr opened my eyes with a sensible reason why not . I can't think of a practical way to avoid that.

However, surely a price premium would make it workable. All CDs can be turned to mp3s, and it isn't buying-copying-regifting killing the physical format music market, but download only (piracy a separate issue).

There are lots of reasons to want both e- and hard copy of a book; I only really bought an e-reader to stop arguments about having the lamp on to read in bed, but would still rather have the paper book at home. Similarly commuting, travel, etc. Attempting to read a fat book with one hand while strap hanging is not fun, but I still want A Dance With Dragons Middlemarch adorning my shelves at home.

I dont see the issue with "free" books MichelleRooJnr

Its no more risky than the "triple play" or free download that is available with most DVDs/Bluerays these days. I always buy the triple play if its for sale as we did with the new Madagascar film, the kids can watch the DVD in their playroom, we keep the blue ray for family viewing and put the download on the ipad-alike.

And when you consider the cost of books these days, I dont think that offering an ebook download on purchase of the hard copy is that outrageous. I would imagine that the first publishing house that did this would find their sales going through the roof. I know that if I had a choice between a book with no download and one with then I would choose the one with!

Also, once it was known that ebook downloads came with books then very few people would actually buy the book as a gift and keep the download, in the same way that I didnt pinch the download of the DVD I bought mum for Xmas even though I knew she wouldnt use it. I asked her if I could have it and she said yes, but if she had said no then I wouldnt have bought the DVD, so no loss to the company either way.

Most DVDs now come with a digital copy. It's a one-use code so it's sealed inside the case (could also be a scratch-off thing in a book). I work somewhere which sells second hand DVDs and there's a disclaimer somewhere saying that the digital copy may have been used so it's not guaranteed to be included.

I think it will probably start happening in the next few days.

Years!

What's to stop people buying the book from a bookshop, downloading the code, then returning the book? Would the code allow you to download the book more than once? Would a shop have to accept the return of a book where the code had been 'scratched off?' Who would want to buy a returned book where the download had already been activated?

I wouldn't mind paying a little extra, but not full price.

Can you actually return books?

DVDs aren't accepted as returns if they've been unsealed, (unless faulty) I think it would be the same for books. (And with a book less chance of saying "This doesn't play" when really it does).

I mean, really, what's to stop people downloading all books illegally? At least using this theory, the book sellers would make a bit of extra cash from the people who want both formats and actually want to pay.