I'm just curious if anyone else has experimented with this or not, not suggesting anyone should go out and do this from now on.

Since Amazon added the feature to 'search inside any book' for words or phrases, and they'll show the page the word was found on and the next couple of pages after that, I've found it's possible to get to read an entire book online instead of buying it. For instance, I searched on the word 'Hornblower' in the book "Hornblower and the Hotspur," and I have a link to every single page of the book now. If I wanted to, I could read the book online.

I know not all books will have a main name or phrase repeated on every single page, but it allows you to search on simple words like 'the,' 'it,' etc.

It seems like this would be a bad feature for them to have. Not everyone is going to exploit it to read any book they want, but there are plenty of people who read books and other things on their computers all day at work to pass the time, or who read ebooks on their computer in general that would take advantage of this feature instead of buying the book.

While books are grossly overpriced, and I know some people will do anything to save a buck, this seems a bit ridiculous. Having to search every 3 pages could be quite a hassle. Let see, then, a book like Don Quixote would require something like 320 searches. The library has books for free, and it's a lot easier and less time consuming to go there than to search every 3 pages of a book. This also interupts the flow of the book, something I would imagine any serious reader (as you would have to be to do this) would not want to do. Let's just say I won't be doing this any time soon.

Dan

Yeah, too much of a hassle. Reading online sucks too IMO, as it tires my eyes out much faster.

Book prices are ridiculous these days though. I mean all of Chuck Palahniuk's paperbacks are $13.00! And these are relatively short, and easy to read books that you finish in a couple days even if you just read it in bed each night.

It doesn't work like that. Like any search engine in the world, it gives you a link to every single page that word is found on. Only 1 search is required if you pick a word that is bound to be on every page.

In the example I posted above 'Hornblower' appears as part of the title at the top of every page in the book, so 1 search on that gave a link to every single page in the book. So, nothing to do other than click the next link for the next page, just like any other e-reader in the world.

And, a book like Don Quixote is public domain, available for free through Project Guttenberg, so no searches required there!

I think Amazon's idea of browsing online is just plain brilliant. I've done a significant portion of research just searching through amazon. If the option of reading the entire book online is made available, I will definitely be among those who buy into it.

You can download quite a few books in Word or PDF format off places like Kazza for free.

I've read The Insidious Dr Fu Manchu, Moby Dick, The Land that Time Forgot, and many short stories by Poe, Lovecraft, Le Fanu, and others online for free from several different sites. It's not so bad. It does kind of rip on the eyes, but I'd be on here surfing anyway if I'm not reading, so it's all the same.

Pretty much any classic book can be downloaded and read for free on your computer or PDA. As far as the newer titles that are not public domain I have found the ebook prices to still be much cheaper. Most of the new releases can be picked up for $7-$8 while they are $17-$18 at Amazon.

Use the library. Sheesh!

Here's a great site for public domain books:
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

All in all, not a terribly bad idea. Beats sitting at the computer watching porn.

No, it doesn't!

There is a number to the searches you can perform per book, so while you'd get pretty far, you cannot read the whole book like that.