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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!
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?)
well I have Palm Handspring and 240 books that I can read on it and that came out when Ernie was a kid!!
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.
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.
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...!
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?
well I have Palm Handspring and 240 books
the difference is the display. The ebookreader use [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper ]electronic paper[/url] 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.
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?)
Hmmm, Reginald Hill - not familiar so I'd have to ask you...
You'd probably have heard of his principle characters - strange how he's still so anonymous.
Why are they suddenly news? The Kindle has been out since 2007
I thought it was only available in the US until now?
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?
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!
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!
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.
Nope I'll keep my book on paper thanks very much.
But on the other hand, there are quite a lot of free ebooks available.
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.
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...! 😉
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. 🙁
You'll all love them & shout down anyone that doesn't .......
just as soon as Apple do it 🙂
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.
Quite possibly uplink. The basic form factor is very primitive at the moment and one thing Apple does very well is design and usability.
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"
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
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 [u]more[/u] 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).
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!
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. [url= http://www.gutenberg.org/ ]Project Gutenberg[/url] 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 [url= http://lifehacker.com/5382304/google-to-launch-e+book-store-in-early-2010 ]Google is launching an ebook store soon[/url] which will shake things up (especially since they already offer 1.5 million books for free over at http://books.google.com/
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 )
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.
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 [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper ]e-paper[/url]. It's reflective, not transmissive, so much more like ink and paper to read.
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. [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Lossless_Audio_Codec ]FLAC[/url] is a digital file like mp3, but it has the same information in it as a CD.
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.
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.
Greenmantle eh? I prefer The Dancing Floor to that, but John McNab is the best Buchan.
I think these devices are good for convenience but not so good in terms of their tactility.
Then there will be the apple version with endless "apps".
Excellent - all the more entertainment watching the Apple-bashers getting in a froth.
Damn you Apple for offering me a huge choice of free or very cheap software! 🙄
I dont know what it is, but I simply can't absorb things on a screen. I need to see it on paper. Any tech documents I get I have to print off and sit and read with a coffee, rather than scan through the PDF. There must be SOME reasoning behind it, but I can't think of any.
I'm not going anywhere near them until they get issues like this one resolved.
[url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/18/amazon_removes_1984_from_kindle/ ]All your books are belong to us![/url]
Yep, same here.
I often print off documents and then have them up on screen so I can search them easily and find the right page in my printed copy!
Paper is just easier to read, which is what e-paper is trying to resolve.
I think paper will still be easier to flick through though, until they sort out the refresh rate of e-paper.
No thanks. No substitute for an actual book.
GrahamS - Member
Damn you Apple for offering me a huge choice of free or very cheap software!
thanks apple for offering me a huge choice of free or very cheap software that manages to solve problems i never even knew existed.
how on earth would i level a bookshelf, before the app that makes the iphone into a spirit level was released.
wouldnt it be weird if spirit levels actually existed?!
naaahhh, get out of town!
😉
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By the way, if you like your SciFi then have a read of [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age ]The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson[/url]
It has an nice idea about just how far e-books and electronic learning could go 🙂
Olly: five points for use of a Boxxy 😀
I'm a bit mystified by the concept of "trolling".
Person A says something stupid
Person B says "that's stupid"
Person A responds "hahahaha it was a troll and you fell for it"
Err ... right ... and that is clever because ??
Oooooh....
[img] 
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http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/19/barnes-and-noble-nook-color-e-reader-out-tuesday-for-259-says/
"will let users lend e-books to friends" apparently.
I've got Diamond Age, also Snow Crash. Both as proper books, but I also have Snow Crash on my phone, bought through Stanza. Tried to buy Diamond Age from the exact same supplier, only to be informed that my credit card is invalid, as it's not in the US! WTF! That is the problem with ebooks, stupid restrictions on geographic regions. Yes, I know all about copyright, but how come I can buy the exact same book, or any other published in the US via Amazon or B&N, with no restrictions. I bought Kate Griffin's book, A Madness Of Angels, from the US, because they had a hardcover, whereas the UK only a papercover. Again, no restriction. I can't buy any of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan books as ebooks, but I can get any of the hardbacks from the States. This sort of stupidity used to inflict music sales, with iTunes still affected by regional versions. It's a restriction on trade, and should be stopped. The Kindle is available in the UK, but purchases from the US store, and the iPhone Kindle app won't work here. Bloody stupid.
More on the Barnes & Noble Nook, including a video:
http://gizmodo.com/5386140/barnes--noble-nook-up-close-yep-its-real-nice