E-book readers?

*sigh* I was being sarcastic in the first place. You silly lot.

Re-visiting an old topic:

Was just browsing through Sony's site, you know, as you do, researching other items and came across their Reader Digital Book. I know this has been previously covered up-thread, however, looks like it's been redesigned and has just started shipping today (5 Nov).

The price tag... it's still high, but I think it's okay for now. (After all it is just prior to Christmas, so, I'm expecting prices to be high.)

I'd really like to get one...

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665245739

It's a good thread to revisit from time to time, since technology keeps on changing. For example, although I previously said in this thread (I think!) that I didn't particular care for ebooks, that was months ago.

NOW, I would use one for late nights, when I can't sleep but my wife wants to, and she wants it dark. I can sit up and read. OR, I would daringly use it in the bathtub, because it would be more comfortable than trying to hold a thick, thick book without breaking my arms. (You want to read The Illustrated History of Science Fiction in the 20th Century in the bathtub, your arms will be either detached or built like brick walls by the time you're done).

And I could put the free library of those old books on that one web-site (how can I forget it? Arg. What's it called...) on there and read Burroughs around the house.

Here's the Amazon page, with reviews. The main complaint of note is, so far, the price, and it's a reasonable complaint. But still, I'm interested.

PeeDee said:

...And I could put the free library of those old books on that one web-site (how can I forget it? Arg. What's it called...)

Click to expand...

The guy who made a printing press. I think it was a modified wine press (would that actually be a grape press?). Yeah, what was his name... Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org

PeeDee said:

on there and read Burroughs around the house.

Click to expand...

Ah, yeah. Gutenberg proyect has gotten me out of a few tight spots where I was supposed to do a paper on a classic and forgot to buy the classic...

I'm interested in getting an ebook reader, but only when I know that it's not going to be outdated in a week or so or that I'll be able to download and read the variety of formats that are out there right now...

... not to mention the price. Between swapping books and saving on buying books at the stores by being members, it's hard to justify the prices of the current readers.

anyone got any CHEAP suggestions for good readers that you've used and recommend?

please and thank you!

Snitchcat said:

Was just browsing through Sony's site, you know, as you do, researching other items and came across their Reader Digital Book. I know this has been previously covered up-thread, however, looks like it's been redesigned and has just started shipping today (5 Nov).

Click to expand...

I'm going to the Sony store and checking it out. I didn't like the last one. It had some great design but the software really sucked. Wasn't ready for prime time. Maybe with this upgrade they have improved on the software? I'll check it out and file a report.

The new one does look good, I'm hoping to pick one up in the next couple of months.

I've tired the Sony e-book reader but not bought it. It was easy to read - no glare, crisp fonts. I was interested because I have declining vision and I wanted to see if an e-book reader would allow me to increase the font size to a more comfortable visual level. The Sony one has 3 print sizes. In the future, if I have more vision problems, I might invest in one, but for how, i still prefer the look and feel of a print book.

Christine N. said:

Shadow Ferret,
The readers may not become as cheap as paperbacks, but the e- books themselves usually are. Most around $6-7 or less. And many readers can hold up to 100 books.

Click to expand...

Several months later he answers...

Yeah, the day Half Price books offers ebooks for Half Price is the day I might consider ebooks. I wonder if the library will offer ebooks.

But even so, I'm not inclined to spend my whole life in front of a computer screen, which is what would happen. I'm on the computer at work. I'm on the computer when I write. I'm on the computer when I surf.

Reading books is my only chance to get away and give my eyes a break of sorts.

I also curious if you can take a ebook reader to the beach and read it in the sun like you can a book. I've tried using my laptop in the sun and was sorely disappointed when I couldn't see the screen. What's the point in having a portable device if I can only use it in a building?

Shadow_Ferret said:

Several months later he answers...

Yeah, the day Half Price books offers ebooks for Half Price is the day I might consider ebooks. I wonder if the library will offer ebooks.

But even so, I'm not inclined to spend my whole life in front of a computer screen, which is what would happen. I'm on the computer at work. I'm on the computer when I write. I'm on the computer when I surf.

Reading books is my only chance to get away and give my eyes a break of sorts.

I also curious if you can take a ebook reader to the beach and read it in the sun like you can a book. I've tried using my laptop in the sun and was sorely disappointed when I couldn't see the screen. What's the point in having a portable device if I can only use it in a building?

Click to expand...

Many libraries offer ebooks... well, my public library does.

You know what's wrong with ebooks?

I can't write comments in the margins. I can't put a little pencil tick in the corner so I can go back to that passage months later and reread it.

I think ebooks are for one-time, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of readers, not for readers who like to keep the book and use it for further reference or enjoyment.

(Or maybe they do have a notation ability in the software and I'm just unware of it never having seen one.)

Shadow_Ferret said:

You know what's wrong with ebooks?

I can't write comments in the margins. I can't put a little pencil tick in the corner so I can go back to that passage months later and reread it.

I think ebooks are for one-time, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of readers, not for readers who like to keep the book and use it for further reference or enjoyment.

(Or maybe they do have a notation ability in the software and I'm just unware of it never having seen one.)

Click to expand...

Actually the new readers would have annotation capability. Bookmarking has been around for ages. You can also "highlight" ebooks. You can also "search" eBook contents, which you can't do with print; you can also change font sizes, which you can't do with print either.

benbradley said:

The guy who made a printing press. I think it was a modified wine press (would that actually be a grape press?). Yeah, what was his name... Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org

Click to expand...

And don't forget the Baen Free Library for science fiction and fantasy. Many people think it helped Baen become a better known publisher with more sales and more hardbacks, etc.

Christine N. said:

It's still too expensive. And Amazon's is too ugly. I might still buy myself an ebookwise reader though. I've heard good things.

Click to expand...

Has it been confirmed that the Amazon reader really looked like that? A lot of people thought that picture was a hoax. Or maybe it was a prototype, so it doesn't resemble the actual product.

I do use the eBookwise, and I love it. It has a backlight (which the Sony doesn't have) and allows bookmarks, searching, etc. The resolution isn't as great, but at least it doesn't have that long page refresh rate. The Sony reader looks great, but it's a very early eInk device, probably the equivalent of those early Atari home computers.

Shadow_Ferret said:

You know what's wrong with ebooks?

I can't write comments in the margins. I can't put a little pencil tick in the corner so I can go back to that passage months later and reread it.

Click to expand...

The eBookwise lets you make comments on the screen. However, it's not real handwriting recognition because the handwriting is saved as a graphic, not as actual words. It also allows bookmarks and highlighting. However, when you delete the book from the reader, the markups are not saved on the computer. Other ebook readers, particularly PDA-based ones, do have commenting features that do store comments on both the reader and the computer. Also, even if you delete the book from the reader (which is often needed to save space on some devices), in almost all cases, the original is still stored on the computer.

For what it's worth, I posted the Amazon link less for the picture and more for the reviews. Amazon's pictures are always touch and go.

If I had an eBook reader, I could see where I would definitely get use out of it, as mentioned above...but that said, I would still get LESS use out of it than my physical library of books, which I suspect would continue to get added to faster than my ebook library.

But, but... do they look good on my bookshelf?

an iPod on my shelf doesn't look nearly as good as a line of CD cases (or vinyl). Nonetheless, I prefer it these days.

Bah. I still have my collection of vinyl and I still continue to increase it.

as a writer who is e-pubbed, I definitely took a gamble that e-book readers would increase in popularity. Although erotica is the big seller for e-books, other genres are moving up in sales. I am hoping (underlined and highlighted) that as more readers lose their distaste for the technology the convenience of an e-book reader will overcome those factors.

no, really. it wasn't a commerical for my book...I swear it! the commercial is in my siggy.

I hate CDs and cases. MP3s are a godsend. I'm looking forward to total library of digital contents for movies, shows, podcasts, etc. I think I'd love to have eBooks (the idea of taking my entire book collection on the road is so enticing!), but there's still something magical about paper and ink.

I just broke down and bought a tiny laptop (the Asus eee, weighs 2 lbs and it's adorably small but with a real keyboard!). The 7" screen is so crisp, and the laptop itself so portable, that I'm planning to try it out as an ebook reader.

I'd prefer an ebook reader that opened up like a book and had two screens facing each other that displayed two pages at a time, but they don't seem to have anything like that out yet. The more like a book an ebook reader can be, the more people will likely try it out, I'd say.