Uhohspaghettio wrote on 12/21/14 at 15:16:44:
 

I don't deny that it would be lunacy to play over every line in Kotronias's GM Rep Fianchetto book; I really don't understand the bulk of such books except insofar as they are reference works. But reading every line in Vukovich or Averbach or Botvinnik with a set (or an interactive ebook) is certainly possible, expected by the author, and, as I can tell you from personal experience, extremely effective at improving one's play.  You think ahead from the diagram positions (and others), as you would without a set, and then you move the pieces and see much more than before (and perhaps new questions). It's the way the books were intended to be used and the way they have been used throughout history, except by those whose blindfold chess is so good they don't need a set.

1.  I don't care for the ebooks.  I still buy regular books.    I like being able to have multiple books open at the same time.

2. I don't like reading off direct light and prefer reflected light coming off a page, so no, I do not like the practical aspects of ebooks.

3. n/a

4. Forward Chess, Everyman, NIC 


Trees are a renewable resource.  ebooks have a larger carbon footprint than do books.  The whole movement toward ebooks is not because people clamor for it but because its cheaper to produce for publishers.   


"In the case of eBooks, though, vast amounts of materials are also necessary for the eReaders themselves, and this is something typically overlooked by proponents of digitization: the material costs are either ignored, or, more misleadingly, they’re classified as the byproduct of the tech industry instead of the book industry.

The carbon footprint of the digital book industry is mostly growing in addition to, not to the detriment of, the growing carbon footprint of the print book industry."

(quote source: http://www.themillions.com/2012/05/are-ereaders-really-green.html) ;

The whole ebook boom is just another 'man behind the curtain' moment in marketing history.  Once again large corps doing what is best for their profits and marketing it in ways that convince people it is in their own best interests when it is not.

"If you worry for the future of our rainforests, and if you worry for the future of our planet, the responsible decision is to purchase or borrow books printed on recycled paper and from ecologically conscious vendors."


http://www.themillions.com/2012/05/are-ereaders-really-green.html

Elsewhere in these forums we have discussed the relative strengths and weaknesses of the several chess ebook formats.

But the posts on this forum have not yet discussed the popularity of chess ebooks.
* Are chess enthusiasts buying ebooks, or are paperbacks still dominant?
* Do those players who have purchased chess ebooks like them, or instead wish they had bought the paperback?

Paper books have some advantages. For instance, I write in my books, and doing so is very helpful. I can flip back and forth short and far distances with paper, quickly and with full understanding of where I am each time.

Chess ebooks on the static Kindle format are okay, but their only advantage is portability and non-consumption of limited shelf space in the home.
Much more interesting are the dynamic format chess ebooks.

I have bought four chess ebooks. I like them. Nunn's Chess Endings in Gambit's own view app (Android) works well.
But...

Dynamic chess ebooks on openings seem to not work well in practice!

The reason is that variations tend to overwhelm the practical use of the format. It need not overwhelm, but currently the authoring environment required for these dynamic chess ebooks lacks important features.
The authoring environment is ChessBase.

ChessBase cannot write tables, simple rows and columns, the Microsoft Word can.

The old MCO table presentation format was excellent. With one small modification, such tables will always be the clearest format for presenting variations to the human eye.
The MCO tables suffered a bad stigma only because the books that used them were nearly devoid of accompanying explanatory text. The decision to omit text was not made by the tables.

---- ---- ----

So I ask you all...

1. When you buy chess books these days, do you sometimes buy dynamic chess ebooks?

2. Are you happy with the practical aspects of reading dynamic chess ebooks?

3. Does the practical use of a dynamic chess ebook vary with the type of chess book, such as Openings vs Endings vs Annotated games vs Puzzles?
(I think it varies, in that dynamic chess ebooks about an Opening are particularly difficult to use.)

4. Which vendor of dynamic chess ebooks do you have experience with:
* ForwardChess.com
* Gambit
* Everyman
* New in Chess - magazine.


Thanks.
.