These electronic book thingies then

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These electronic book thingies then

51 posts & 22 voices | Started 2 years ago by JulianA | Latest reply from GrahamS

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JulianA - Member

Me, I shan't be buying one (or anything else, given my finances) anytime soon as I like my proper books too much.

The other probem I have with them is this:

I wouldn't be able to tell who's reading what on the train!

Really, wouldn't you rather talk to someone reading Patrick Leigh Fermor or Robert Byron than someone reading John Grisham (OK, if they're reading Jasper Fforde it's worth asking if they are also known as Captain Flashheart), but otherwise? I mean, really?!

One just won't be able to tell any more!

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

Why are they suddenly news? The Kindle has been out since 2007.

I suspect we'll all be using the sooner or later, but I reckon they need a couple more years development before they properly replace books.

Once they are effectively a single sheet of paper that you can fold up and put in your pocket but still get perfect text on, THEN they'll take over. (five years? Ten?)

Posted 2 years ago #
rogerthecat - Member

well I have Palm Handspring and 240 books that I can read on it and that came out when Ernie was a kid!!

Posted 2 years ago #
Flaperon - Member

I can't stand people talking to me on the train, so it's a good thing. Besides, it means I can read rubbish without feeling guilty.

Posted 2 years ago #
sc-xc - Member

OK, if they're reading Jasper Fforde

Never heard of him until today, but saw that the photo flogging the ST tat in the latest issue has a load of his books on the bookcase.

Posted 2 years ago #
JulianA - Member

Yeah, I thought that the Kindle had been around for a while.

I suppose an eBook of some description would save us having to pay excess baggage charges for bird, flower, archaeology and just about everything else books when going on holiday...!

Posted 2 years ago #
JulianA - Member

Flaperon - Member
I can't stand people talking to me on the train, so it's a good thing. Besides, it means I can read rubbish without feeling guilty.

Read and inwardly digested all your Trevor Thom, then, Flaperon?

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

well I have Palm Handspring and 240 books

the difference is the display. The ebookreader use electronic paper which is passive reflective rather than transmissive (i.e. it reads like paper rather than a bright screen)

having said that I downloaded and comfortably read a short novel on my phone last night.

Posted 2 years ago #
aracer - Member

Thanks for the reminder - have a nice book here I'm supposed to be reading rather than wasting my time on the internet (what sort of street cred do I get for Reginald Hill?)

Posted 2 years ago #
JulianA - Member

Hmmm, Reginald Hill - not familiar so I'd have to ask you...

Posted 2 years ago #
aracer - Member

You'd probably have heard of his principle characters - strange how he's still so anonymous.

Posted 2 years ago #
DrJ - Member

Why are they suddenly news? The Kindle has been out since 2007

I thought it was only available in the US until now?

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

Ahh maybe that's it. Not been paying too much attention to them yet. Was the Sony one not available here already?

This years big Xmas gadget?

Posted 2 years ago #
DrJ - Member

Was the Sony one not available here already?

Think so. I've seen people with them, but not noticed them in shops.

Useful for holidays, as me and MrsJ usually end up with half our luggage allowance used for books, and then fight over who's reading what first!

Posted 2 years ago #
AdamW - Member

I'd love a book reader as I can't be bothered lugging around a massive number of books everywhere.

But - and a bit but!

The books are more expensive on the electronic version than they are in the shops. Look at Waterstones which is pushing the Sony reader quite strongly. You end up paying a couple of pounds more for a book electronically which doesn't need printing/transporting and since it is made up of words it will only be a couple of megabytes in size. And you don't get the 'three for two' offers or anything like that.

So I won't be getting one until the books are a couple of quid cheaper than their physical counterparts.

And Reginald HIll? Oh dear I read 'Diary of the Dead' and thought the author was trying too hard to make himself sound clever!

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

An even bigger rip off when you consider that you can't then lend the book you bought to a friend or hand it in to the book stall at the village fair.

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Nope I'll keep my book on paper thanks very much.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

But on the other hand, there are quite a lot of free ebooks available.

Posted 2 years ago #
Brother_Will - Member

Its still an emerging technology right now but looks promising e-ink is easy to read and consumes very little power but the readers are still expensive with little choice. But the over the next few years we will see new players like plastic logic entering the market and innovations with e-ink tech like color displays.

Posted 2 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

Not for me, thanks. Where's the pleasure in them?
No trawling a book shop looking for inspiration
No smug feeling on finding something you wanted to read in the book stall at the village fete
No smell. Books smell lovely
So many reasons not to like them, if you ask me! I'll stick to my print and paper thanks.

JulianA, am currently reading Greenmantle, thankyouverymuch...!

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

People made the same arguments about CDs versus MP3s. And vinyl versus CDs before that.

In the end, convenience and price will beat nostalgia and smells.

Posted 2 years ago #
uplink - Member

You'll all love them & shout down anyone that doesn't .......

just as soon as Apple do it

Posted 2 years ago #
NikNak7890 - Member

I'm unlikely to read a book using an "eReader", as I like hold a book in my hands, feeling the paper.

As a technology, I think it's an important step. For news, Educational or resource documents, it's perfect, because it can be searchable for that particular piece of information you're looking for, but I doubt it's ringing the death knell for books.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

Quite possibly uplink. The basic form factor is very primitive at the moment and one thing Apple does very well is design and usability.

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

Will this e-stuff support what a book can?
Being drop on the floor?
Being spilled with tea and dried in the oven?
Being in a suit case and handled with the due care from the staff at the airport?
Managing one week or two of commute in a bag with all the shit that scratch/bump around?
Entertain your 3 year old nephew/niece/friends toddler (that involve the smashing on the floor bit too)?
There is a massive difference between music and books. Music wasn't convenient since day one (can you really imagine having the original band in your suitcase?). Books were. And that make a hell of a difference.

Oh and CFH it's "fête"

Posted 2 years ago #
joemarshall - Member

I think the big catch is not in the technology, but more in the software / digital rights side of things:

The first thing to worry about is that there are several e-book formats. If you buy things in one format, it won't work on a different reader. For example, whilst it should be perfect for educational resources, at the moment, the 'e-book' system that many UK universities and large publishers have been suckered into (ebrary), doesn't work on any portable devices - and it doesn't even let you print out more than 10 pages, meaning that for many books in university libraries now, the only way to read them is at a computer.

With the commercial systems, if you buy a book on kindle, you can't use it on the sony e-book reader or vice-versa.

You also can't lend them to your mates, they don't work for libraries, you can't sell them on second hand. Which for a stingy bugger like me is a real problem, I think I've read at least 40-50 books so far this year, and I've bought maybe 2 new books.

Joe

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

juan:

No an ereader isn't quite as robust as a paper book. Though once they start using plastic polymers and such then it may end up being more durable. Waterproof is certainly an easy option for starters.

Still I doubt you'll be using it to prop up a wobbly table or to swat flies with.

There is a massive difference between music and books. Music wasn't convenient since day one (can you really imagine having the original band in your suitcase?).

Yeah, but weren't tapes convenient enough? Or CDs? Or MiniDisks?
They still got replaced by the ultimate convenience: nothing (but bits).

Posted 2 years ago #
robbo1234biking - Member

I spend most of my day looking at a computer screen so reading a book from one doesnt appeal. I know they will take over eventually but Im quite happy with books at the moment!

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

joe: Nail. Head.

That's plus the dodgy form factor is pretty much my misgivings about them. But hopefully most of that will fade eventually.

There are quite a few open formats appearing. Project Gutenberg offers 30,000 free ebooks already in plain text.

Public domain classics can be released for free. And like MP3 there is already a fairly established pirate market challenging the DRM rules.

Plus Google is launching an ebook store soon which will shake things up (especially since they already offer 1.5 million books for free over at http://books.google.com/

Posted 2 years ago #
Olly - Member

ive had a play with one (in waterstones) and they are incredible, in an odd kind of way.
it is just like looking at paper. but the paper changes before your eyes.

iirc they also only use power when they are moving the state of the pixels, so the page is always displayed, it doesnt have to be "on"

my Ex Gf, is a MASSIVE reader, every time we went to waterstones, she would come out with 3 or 4 thick books, and have finished them all off in a matter of days, i think if your going through books that quick, it might be useful, but she said she wouldnt even consider having one. owning data isnt the same as owning the Greatest collapisble device ever invented (according to this excellent book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collapsibles-Design-Album-Space-Saving-Objects/dp/0500513015 )

Posted 2 years ago #
juan - Member

They still got replaced by the ultimate convenience: nothing (but bits).

Well MP3 is nowhere as good as CD quality wise, lets face it. Ok to listen in the car/bus/plane on crappy headset or speaker.
But at home I much prefer the sound of a CD. But I agree about the minidisk.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

I spend most of my day looking at a computer screen so reading a book from one doesnt appeal.

It's not a screen though. It's e-paper. It's reflective, not transmissive, so much more like ink and paper to read.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

Well MP3 is nowhere as good as CD quality lets face it....I much prefer the sound of a CD

True but there are other options though. FLAC is a digital file like mp3, but it has the same information in it as a CD.

Posted 2 years ago #
Trimix - Member

When you own a book its yours and thats it. You wont be sent junk advertising, have problems lending it to others or miss leaving it on the train.

Ebooks are an attempt to put some control back into the publishers hands. Why for example does this new electroinc one have a keyboard ? Its not like the CD revolution, where they are more portable than records and you just listen to music. Books are held and read. Its a tangiable thing. In that case simple and cheap works best.

We will be bombarded by amazon etc now and marketing will be ramped up to the max to pursuade us to relinquish control back to them. No more second hand books where the money wont go to the publisher is the business dream of these things. How long before they are "online" and you get ads half way through a read ? Then there will be the apple version with endless "apps".

Give me a second hand book any day.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrahamS - Member

Why for example does this new electroinc one have a keyboard ?

Erm.. so you can search the text of your book or buy a new one online?
What do you think it's for?

How long before they are "online"...

They are. Kindle has a 3G wireless modem built-in.

..and you get ads half way through a read ?

I wouldn't object to that if it meant I got the book for free.

Posted 2 years ago #