iPad, Kindle, and Nook are not alone...

thothguard51 · Aug 16, 2010

More and more reading devices are about to hit the market.

http://technologizer.com/2010/08/12/ipad-alternatives/

Some of these new company's and devices will have their own E book stores, which will only increase the glut of searches a reader will have to undertake to find new and existing authors.

While I love competition, because it usually lowers the price of products, in this case I feel the market will suffer from a glut of too many different competing devices.

Of course, as a friend of mine says...the cream will rise to the top so stop worrying about it...

efkelley · Aug 16, 2010

thothguard51 said:
Of course, as a friend of mine says...the cream will rise to the top so stop worrying about it...

I'm with your friend on this one. You have to go through the same sort of thing at a bookstore, getting to the right section, browsing the names/titles, judging the cover, reading the jacket, flipping the pages, etc...

I like the article. Funny how it says "Before scuttlebutt that Apple was working on a tablet started to heat up, no major PC manufacturer seemed to think that consumers wanted a general-purpose, touchscreen-only computing device." Did none of those folks ever watch Star Trek? Who doesn't want a datapad??

thothguard51 · Aug 16, 2010

I like the concept of this one, but the review was not encouraging...

EnTourage eDGe

Availability: Now
OS: Android 1.6
Screen size: It’s got two of ‘em: a 10.1″ LCD touchscreen and a 9.7″ E-Ink touchscreen. It also has a stylus.
Price: $539
What else: The eDGe is a “dualbook”–an e-reader on its left side and a touch tablet on its right side. It’s got its own app store and e-book store.
More info: Engadget didn’t find it terribly satisfying.

efkelley · Aug 16, 2010

Yeah, agreed. I want an actual keyboard before I can turn one of these things into my laptop replacement.

I tried typing on an ipad. Alas, if you're over even 50wpm, you're too fast for it. You'll get the two-fingers syndrome, where you hit 's' and 'o' too quickly and end up typing a 'g'. Now, the bluetooth keyboard is really quite nice. Very slim and works perfectly.

Still waiting for a 10-key solution to touch-typing though!

Deleted member 42 · Aug 16, 2010

I love my iPad, but were I to use it for much more than casual email, I'd use a bluetooth keyboard, not the on screen one.

But it's made it possible for me to read much more easily than I used to.

thothguard51 · Aug 16, 2010

Medi...

I understand you are a MAC type of girl but why the Ipad over other devices.

The reason I ask is because of the negative stuff I have read about Apple limiting applications, e-books. e-magazines and online newspapers that they consider a no-no. I am thinking about a German newspaper that Apple declined to be allow on their Ipad service because the paper has a tendency of showing women's nipples. And there are other instances like this...

To me this reeks of censoring and not about protecting the devices or applications from unwanted malware, viruses or other bad thing...

Deleted member 42 · Aug 16, 2010

thothguard51 said:
Medi...

I understand you are a MAC type of girl but why the Ipad over other devices.

The reason I ask is because of the negative stuff I have read about Apple limiting applications, e-books. e-magazines and online newspapers that they consider a no-no. I am thinking about a German newspaper that Apple declined to be allow on their Ipad service because the paper has a tendency of showing women's nipples. And there are other instances like this...

They aren't limiting what I can have on my iPad, but what can be sold in their store--just like any other merchant.

I'm OK with that. I can make pretty much any digital file that doesn't have DRM into a book.

I'm wrestling with getting books to properly deal with footnotes--I want a reader to be able to return to their place in a book before reading a note--but other than that, the book making process is dead easy, if you just want to be read something with simple aesthetics, and merely a matter of effort and know-how if you want it to be a more formal presentation.

I still read books on my Palm TX too.

thothguard51 · Aug 16, 2010

I only started wearing reading glasses about ten years ago. In the past couple of years I had to increase the strength since my arms are not going to get any longer. I have tried reading from my phone...and I absolutely hate it.

But then, since I got my large 24 inch desk top monitor, I have become spoiled. I have gotten to hate scrolling... lol.

Deleted member 42 · Aug 16, 2010

thothguard51 said:
I only started wearing reading glasses about ten years ago.

I started wearing glasses at 18 months.

thothguard51 said:
In the past couple of years I had to increase the strength since my arms are not going to get any longer. I have tried reading from my phone...and I absolutely hate it.

I like reading from my iPhone, though it's a bit harder than it was when it was new; I'm at that point where my vision is fading rapidly.

thothguard51 said:
But then, since I got my large 24 inch desk top monitor, I have become spoiled. I have gotten to hate scrolling... lol.

My last software dev job had me working at a desk with two 20 inch LCD monitors.

I loved that . . .

kuwisdelu · Aug 17, 2010

thothguard51 said:
Medi...

I understand you are a MAC type of girl but why the Ipad over other devices.

The reason I ask is because of the negative stuff I have read about Apple limiting applications, e-books. e-magazines and online newspapers that they consider a no-no. I am thinking about a German newspaper that Apple declined to be allow on their Ipad service because the paper has a tendency of showing women's nipples. And there are other instances like this...

Hmm. Hadn't heard of that one. Do you have a source? I know some subscription-based magazines/newspapers are having trouble coming to agreements with Apple over other (how to handle subscriptions) issues.

Though I'm not Medi, to answer your question... have you ever used any of these other devices? Read the reviews? To put it quite simply, despite it's limitations, the iPad offers by far the best tablet experience for most people. Dedicated eReaders may offer better reading experiences for some people, but as an media consumption device and portable tablet computer... there ain't no iPad killer yet that's gotten it even close.

Besides which, even if iBooks has its limitations, you can get apps for B&N, Kindle, Stanza, etc., etc.

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 17, 2010

thothguard51 said:
While I love competition, because it usually lowers the price of products, in this case I feel the market will suffer from a glut of too many different competing devices.

I don't shop for books online. I don't get the same experience I do going to a book store and browsing through the books, looking at covers, picking them up, reading the blurbs, paging through them.

kuwisdelu · Aug 17, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
I don't shop for books online. I don't get the same experience I do going to a book store and browsing through the books, looking at covers, picking them up, reading the blurbs, paging through them.

And online bookstores don't have little coffee shops in them!

KTC · Aug 17, 2010

KOBO FOREVER!

www.koboereader.com

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 17, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
And online bookstores don't have little coffee shops in them!

No people watching either.

thothguard51 · Aug 17, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
Hmm. Hadn't heard of that one. Do you have a source? I know some subscription-based magazines/newspapers are having trouble coming to agreements with Apple over other (how to handle subscriptions) issues.

It was an article I read months ago on Engadget or perhaps Publishers Weekly. There was a big brew-ha-ha about a German Magazine not allowed in the Apple subscriptions because their Page 6 (or whatever it was called) showed women nipples. Apparently, Apple has something against nipples. A lot of the EU magazines were all upset over this decision by Apple. I don't think you can get Playboy or other such magazines from the Apple store as well. Now its not that want to see nipples, but Apple has done this in such a way, (from what I have read), that even Art Magazines that might show nipples can be banned. Or so I have read but not experienced.

Though I'm not Medi, to answer your question... have you ever used any of these other devices? Read the reviews? To put it quite simply, despite it's limitations, the iPad offers by far the best tablet experience for most people. Dedicated eReaders may offer better reading experiences for some people, but as an media consumption device and portable tablet computer... there ain't no iPad killer yet that's gotten it even close.

I have a friend who has a Kindle and another who has a Nook. Both are OK for what they do. I like the e-ink, but not the weight so much for reading one handed. I'M a two handed typist and very fast, and the touch keyboards suck for me, too small. They slow me down and I make more mistakes than normal. If I have to go with a blue tooth keypad, then why should I give up my laptop which has more computing power than these other devices.

As for the Ipad, I agree its much more than just a reading device. It's really a platform for a tablet computer. Ten years ago it would have been nice for work, but today...no so much.

Besides which, even if iBooks has its limitations, you can get apps for B&N, Kindle, Stanza, etc., etc.

I have the Kindle for PC on my computers and have bought a few books for it. Mostly, I have experimented with downloading free books just to see if I can get used to prolonged reading sessions from a screen before I invest in a portable reader. I suspect I will in the next year or so. Like I said in a previous response, I like the concept behind the device I noted, but the reviews are not promising and the price is high...

KTC · Aug 17, 2010

thothguard51 said:
I have the Kindle for PC on my computers and have bought a few books for it. Mostly, I have experimented with downloading free books just to see if I can get used to prolonged reading sessions from a screen before I invest in a portable reader. I suspect I will in the next year or so. Like I said in a previous response, I like the concept behind the device I noted, but the reviews are not promising and the price is high...

But reading in an e-reader for PC program is completely different than reading on a e-reader device. The Kobo, mentioned above, is like reading on the page. It is NOTHING like reading on my PC...nothing at all. I don't like reading on my PC. "prolonged reading sessions from a screen" of a PC...is not going to prepare you for an e-reader.

kuwisdelu · Aug 17, 2010

thothguard51 said:
I have the Kindle for PC on my computers and have bought a few books for it. Mostly, I have experimented with downloading free books just to see if I can get used to prolonged reading sessions from a screen before I invest in a portable reader. I suspect I will in the next year or so. Like I said in a previous response, I like the concept behind the device I noted, but the reviews are not promising and the price is high...

Personally, I find it much easier to read a book on my iPod than on a computer screen. Probably just the form factor.

Deleted member 42 · Aug 17, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
Hmm. Hadn't heard of that one. Do you have a source? I know some subscription-based magazines/newspapers are having trouble coming to agreements with Apple over other (how to handle subscriptions) issues..

Apple's half-witted approval staff have denied permission for a bunch of books--some of them classics like the Kama Sutra, (from Gutenberg's edition, which is well, not all that big a deal if you've read the Bible), or a well-respected graphic novel of Joyce's Ulysses.

Most of the decisions have been reversed--but they have been stupid. And odd--objecting to a comic that shows buttocks of a man, emerging from swimming, but not to an app designed to be a digital version of Playboy.

But bookstores can choose what to carry, and what not to carry, so Apple can be as stupid as they like.

What I find more problematic for iBooks, Apple's bookstore, is the inconsistent approach to a buyer having purchased a flawed book, one that was "converted" improperly and has many many errors in it. In many cases customers, having determined in various ways that a corrected version of the book has been made available in the iBooks bookstore, have been told they have to buy it again.

I do mean many errors, by the way. In some cases averaging as many as five a page, over the length of the book.

If you go to just about any bookstore with a printed book that has a manufacturing/printing error, say missing pages, or duplicate pages, or pages with ink smears that make the book unreadable, the bookstore will refund your money or give you another new copy in exchange--and so will the publisher. It's standard behavior.

Apple absolutely needs to have a policy with replacement or redownload of corrected ebooks.

DrZoidberg · Aug 18, 2010

I don't think we've seen the end of where this will go. So far every new device tries to lock readers to one webshop. That's a lame attempt to create a monopoly and will always fail in the long run. So whatever reader will become standard we ain't seen nothing yet. The Sony reader is a contender since it is pretty open to what formats it accepts.

BenPanced · Aug 18, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
I don't shop for books online. I don't get the same experience I do going to a book store and browsing through the books, looking at covers, picking them up, reading the blurbs, paging through them.

kuwisdelu said:
And online bookstores don't have little coffee shops in them!

Shadow_Ferret said:
No people watching either.

Conversely, I don't have people staring at me when I buy and download e-books for my nook. Except maybe the cat, and I've lived with him long enough to where I can ignore it. Mostly.

kuwisdelu · Aug 18, 2010

Medievalist said:
Apple's half-witted approval staff have denied permission for a bunch of books--some of them classics like the Kama Sutra, (from Gutenberg's edition, which is well, not all that big a deal if you've read the Bible), or a well-respected graphic novel of Joyce's Ulysses.

Well that's just freakin' weird, especially with apps like "1000 sex positions" on the app store....

Hopefully they get on a same page soon, and it better be a good one.

Apple absolutely needs to have a policy with replacement or redownload of corrected ebooks.

Agreed. iBooks is still in a relative infancy compared to Amazon and B&N. Hopefully this will be rectified.

Along with getting some more content.

thothguard51 · Aug 18, 2010

Well, here is a question that maybe Medi or someone else can answer.

If, I decided to publish my own book as an e-book, and I do or pay for the conversion of the files to various formats and then enter into an agreement with Apple of Amazon to publish the book, or make it available, what is to stop me from also embedding malware or viruses in the files?

I mean there are lots of little companies out there that I thin eventually someone is going to do this, if not already. Is it Apples and Amazon's policy to scan these file before making them available? If so, how do we know that smaller independent companies are as honest?

I know, it is also my responsibility to make sure my own security applications do their job, but if its something new... This is why I don't download games from the Internet. Afraid of what else I might be downloading...

Deleted member 42 · Aug 18, 2010

thothguard51 said:
If, I decided to publish my own book as an e-book, and I do or pay for the conversion of the files to various formats and then enter into an agreement with Apple of Amazon to publish the book, or make it available, what is to stop me from also embedding malware or viruses in the files?

The files are checked at Amazon and at Apple in several ways.

Both have in fact caught problem files before making the books available.

With Apple and iBooks they check not only the contents of the file in terms of the code, but they check the books for problems.

In terms of Apps, Apple has removed a number of apps that did subversive things--like collect user data--or that violated Apple's UI (User Interface) rules, or used code that was illegally obtained, etc.

N.B. I am NOT saying that I agree in all instances with Apple's decisions--just that they were made.

thothguard51 · Aug 18, 2010

Well this makes me more comfortable with the big players in this market, but what about little start ups that sell from their own store?

Deleted member 42 · Aug 18, 2010

thothguard51 said:
Well this makes me more comfortable with the big players in this market, but what about little start ups that sell from their own store?

You'd have to ask.

I've bought books from Apple/iBooks
Baan
Fictionwise
ereader.com
Barnes and Noble

I know, from contacts within the organizations, that all of these places have careful procedures in place.

iPad, Kindle, and Nook are not alone...

A Gentleman of a refined age...

ow

A Gentleman of a refined age...

ow

Deleted member 42

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Deleted member 42

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Deleted member 42

Revolutionize the World

Court Jester

Revolutionize the World

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Court Jester

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Revolutionize the World

Deleted member 42

aka TomOfSweden

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

Revolutionize the World

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Deleted member 42

A Gentleman of a refined age...

Deleted member 42