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Wowio used to be a US site that allowed you to download e-books for free. They recently shut down for awhile to 'go global' and since they've restarted I noticed something upsetting - while you can still read the books online for free, you can no longer download the pdfs for free. This is an issue for people who don't want to tie up a lot of internet time (because big brother is watching or those people who still have dial-up and might want to receive a call) mostly, I mean, the ability to at least read them for free is still nice.
But what got me is the prices they are charging - I downloaded a few of their pdfs and they were bad - really bad. The formatting was all off, rendering some of them virtually unreadable! Why would I pay for that? Have they improved it? How much money am I going to risk to find out? The answer is none - I have a library right next door that lets me borrow books for free!
Also, while a lot of the books are only $1 or so, some are outrageously priced. Take a look at It's My Party and I'll Knit if I Want To, a book I downloaded for free a few months ago. Look at the price! $17.50! Now, cruise over to Amazon and look at that same book. I think I'd pay $14.95 for the actual book WAY before I'd pay $17.50 for an e-book.
Still, it might be worth it to flip through the recipe books and whatnot for free (not that there aren't a TON of free online recipes - most that you can format to print beautifully, or at least copy/paste from), and if you're a comic fan there are some... interesting ones there. But I am sad that it's gone, and glad I got a few things while I still could (though I wish I'd nabbed more!).
But what got me is the prices they are charging - I downloaded a few of their pdfs and they were bad - really bad. The formatting was all off, rendering some of them virtually unreadable! Why would I pay for that? Have they improved it? How much money am I going to risk to find out? The answer is none - I have a library right next door that lets me borrow books for free!
Also, while a lot of the books are only $1 or so, some are outrageously priced. Take a look at It's My Party and I'll Knit if I Want To, a book I downloaded for free a few months ago. Look at the price! $17.50! Now, cruise over to Amazon and look at that same book. I think I'd pay $14.95 for the actual book WAY before I'd pay $17.50 for an e-book.
Still, it might be worth it to flip through the recipe books and whatnot for free (not that there aren't a TON of free online recipes - most that you can format to print beautifully, or at least copy/paste from), and if you're a comic fan there are some... interesting ones there. But I am sad that it's gone, and glad I got a few things while I still could (though I wish I'd nabbed more!).