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Post by Andy Turnbull on Nov 27, 2011 14:41:18 GMT
If you buy via Comixology then yes, desktop purchases sync with mobile devices.
As for other apps I am not sure, I think the DH one does.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 27, 2011 16:16:52 GMT
Oh good. I plan to try it out when the next day of pay rolls along.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 14, 2011 18:44:10 GMT
Reconsidering getting an Ipad. Part of the motivation was because print comics are so expensive now that I have dropped all US comics and the cheaper digital option was more attractive. But now I see the likes of DC and IDW charging the same for digital. I find myself increasingly priced out of comics.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Dec 14, 2011 20:39:23 GMT
I can understand that feeling. I have dropped almost all US comics at the moment - I have Transformers ish 125 on pre-order but that is about it. (I even dropped the seond S.H.I.E.L.D mini in midstream at the same time I culled the IDW Gi Joe continuation. There are a few series I have wanted to try but at the current content/price ratio I can't justify it - and the idea of paying the same price for a digital copy of DC stuff as for the physical comic leaves storage space the only differentiating factor.
I am still considering an iPad but more the the convenience of being able to stuff television stuff and Battletech .pdfs in it for ease of access than for comics to be honest.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 30, 2011 8:19:43 GMT
Yeah, and then I got an Ipad and all resistance evaporated in about 30 seconds. Oh dear.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 7, 2012 11:41:26 GMT
shop.2000adonline.com/categories/comicsDigital copies available for the progs and cheaper than cover price. PDF or CBR and you get 3 downloads. Best option is PDF as you view it in iBooks and then sync it to your pc/mac and you have it as backup on your hardrive permanently. Thus leaving you 2 spare downloads of it. Andy Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 15, 2012 8:22:57 GMT
After 3 months of trying digital comics and being through the red haze period I've come to the conclusion that I prefer print though digital has many positive points. The screen resolution of devices just isn't there yet: lettering is often still a bit pixilated in full screen mode, especially if there is a lot of text which becomes rather painful to read after a few minutes. The guided view option is great for some comics but the constant tapping of the screen to make it work irritates immensely after about 10 mins. Also, the Ipad is still a few grams too heavy to make for comfortable reading after about 20 minutes.
More importantly, the price-points on new releases are still too high and while Comixology provides a decent service (the best model I have seen yet for digital comics) I am rather sick now of downloading comics to an app store or webstore rather than owning them outright (especially at new release prices). It's a bit like having to go to a bricks-and-mortars comics store every time I want to read the comics I already legally own.
So the model of digital comics has moved on quite a bit and I think when some of the issues I have are dealt with (which I expect within the next 18 months -2 years) it will be quite a nice delivery system and most of my comics will probably be digital (saving on a lot of physical space!). But for now it will be an occasional purchase, mostly as a back-up copy or if I want to keep current with something before it is printed in trade format.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 15, 2012 18:41:52 GMT
The impression I'd got was that the world was moving more and more towards people storing everything about their lives on the Internet and accessing it remotely on demand. So much so that people are recommended to bequeath all their passwords to a beneficiary in their will so that everything gets passed on (and families get to decide whether to delete Facebook pages and other websites or leave them as perpetual memorials). But I'm staying out of the whole business. Data stored on the Internet is too ephemeral for me to feel I have control over it, as a posession. I don't even accumulate data on my hard drive because I know that eventually they die.
And so I accumulate CDs and DVDs and, most of all, proper books, which take up space. But at least I know they're mine, and if a CD or DVD gets scratched or becomes unusable, well, it's just one, not my whole collection.
Plus, nothing like a really nice high-end-of-the-market hardback book, for me at any rate.
I suppose the house could burn down...
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 15, 2012 18:46:40 GMT
I've had enough computers go tits up that I only make digital purchases of anything if the service allows me to re-download them as often as I like, ie to other computers.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 20, 2012 0:00:08 GMT
Think the retina display on iPad 3 might be the answer to some of your concerns re: the quality of the image.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 20, 2012 18:12:27 GMT
Indeed.
And I think having some kind of wood-like finish on these digital pads might help. Too cold and metallic to the touch.
When these things look and feel like books, with decent price structure and not downloading to bloody aps then we will be there!
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Mar 20, 2012 19:30:05 GMT
And I think having some kind of wood-like finish on these digital pads might help. The fact that they display pages of a book as if they were completely flat (i.e. unbound) rather than curving away and darkening in the middle (towards the spine) is one of many things they could tweak to make it more like reading an actual book. But I fear they will never be for me. I like to feel the weight of a book in my hand, that I know is proportionate to the number of pages and thus the number of words contained. I like to be able to flick forward and back using a physical process of turning pages rather than an electronic one. I like the way books look, sound, smell and feel. I like books. Martin |
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 20, 2012 20:18:55 GMT
I will always love and prefer a physical book. It's the way my brain is wired.
With digital, I see it as an alternative way of getting and storing material. The delivery system is improving all the time and while I will probably use it more as things improve it will never supplant the pleasure of holding a book.
With digital reading, I see myself using it almost entirely for comics and rarely for prose. I have no interest in owning a Kindle (or similar device) for reading novels.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Mar 20, 2012 20:33:05 GMT
There is nothing to beat the feel of an actual book. Especially a book that one has had a while. I have a number of books I have owned for large chunks of my life, and I love the fact that every smudge in the ink and every discolouration of the edges of the pages is a part of my life story. They have literally aged with me and there is nothing to beat the tangible feel of that in the hand.
I suspect that when I do move to a digital device (which will happen, if not as soon as I was considering) it is going to see use for comics, for watching televisual stuff on the go, and for things I want for reference. It'll be useful to easily carry around .pdfs of things that I am going to want to refer to a given page of, but for reading prose for pleasure I am always going to default to the printed page.
Karl
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 21, 2012 0:36:53 GMT
Having bought some books via the iBooks store, I can say I prefer print.
It is ideal for comics/tv stuff and as Karl says reference books would probably be a good fit, full length novels - less so.
Andy
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 23, 2012 10:13:51 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 23, 2012 17:08:28 GMT
I seem to recall him not being at all keen on digital comics!
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Sept 23, 2012 17:42:16 GMT
Times change.
Andy
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 16, 2012 0:53:26 GMT
Things Phil has learnt today:
CBZ and CBR files are really renamed Zip & Rar files and it's possible to lift the jpegs from out of them and make your own compilations :-)
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 16, 2012 21:42:07 GMT
I've just downloaded my The Cold Deck compilation onto my iPad :-)
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Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 17, 2012 14:19:57 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 4, 2013 18:42:40 GMT
The fantastic kids comic The Phoenix now has an app. Excellent! I must subscribe!
-Ralph
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Jim
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Micromaster Backside Monitor
Now in glorious Ultra HD 4K
Posts: 4,916
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Post by Jim on Jan 5, 2013 18:31:57 GMT
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 11, 2013 0:09:42 GMT
Got my sub in for The Phoenix.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 12, 2013 22:35:08 GMT
I've been thinking recently about why I have lost almost all interest in my once iron-clad life-long weekly comics habit, Transformers or otherwise. It's the digital model. While I have many issues with current digital formats/pricepoints it has taken away any sense of urgency to get comics as they come out as I can now get them whenever I like. No rush to get a comic before it sells out or becomes difficult to get. With digital the comics seem to stay 'in print'. Even takes away the 'wait for the trade' mentality. I now have a 'wait until I am in the mood' mentality. This has had the knock-on effect of taking away any need to stay current either. If I need to catch up on, say, IDW Transformers I can hit a button and within seconds the last 6 months or whatever is there for me to read (depending on funds!).
If I want a paper trade, I tend to go see what the library has in rather than buy them though. They cost far too much relative to average reading time.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 14, 2013 18:12:05 GMT
I think that will be true of a lot of readers, it's early days now but I wonder how this will affect the way comics are created in the long term.
It's definitely going to impact the economics of the business, if readers are no longer buying "on schedule" as it were. I wonder if this will finally get us away from this bollocks writing for the trade approach for everything and perhaps see us get some more serial storytelling again?
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 15, 2013 18:27:11 GMT
Indeed, but the current digital model creates no need in me to get instalments as soon as they come out. I've got months of 2000ad I haven't read yet, for instance. I know I can read it when I feel like it and then catch up on further issues without hassle or haste.
As for decompressed crap, it will die on its ass but more due to the daft price-points rather than the sheep like fanbase failing to continue lapping up any old crap with two words a page because the art of Tony Stark making a cup of tea for 10 pages looks nice.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 7, 2013 15:35:36 GMT
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Post by legios on Mar 7, 2013 20:11:24 GMT
They are basically making a play to be the "iTunes" of the digital comics ecosystem out there - get a big enough supply base that they develop a large enough customer base that sheer inertia an weight make them an unstoppable force. It is a very viable strategy.
Karl
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 7, 2013 22:26:32 GMT
Yup, and given that they are cross platform, they have a huge leg up on say iBooks or even Amazon's Kindle store.
Andy
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