Ereaders and Ebooks

[Sashana]

So the book world is changing rapidly thanks to eBooks and eReaders. I'm saving up for an eReader and I was wondering what you guys think about these devices. Some people refuse to use them and some people really do love them. I don't own an eReader (yet) but recently instead of buying paperback or hardcover, I find myself reading a lot of eBooks either on the computer or on my iPod. eBooks are cheaper and sometimes they’re even free and they take up no space. But then again there is nothing like holding the actual book in your hand. What do you guys think about eBooks and eReader. Love it? Hate it? Read it? Or leave it?

[Lisarenee]

I've got Kindle on my iPad so I will be buying something in the future, but I really enjoy holding a book in my hands. Besides sometimes you can get emotional and I've known people (Wonder who that can be?*bats eyes innocently*) who have thrown a book when something happens that gets them upset or has a cliffhanger. If they put out of print books on the Ereaders I think a lot of people would buy them. Especially if the prices are more reasonable than what the books on Ebay and the like.

[Lauren]

Lisarenne? You threw a book! That's funny :)) You seem to get very into your reading.

[Lisarenee]

Didn't throw it far - just to the ground in disgust, but I couldn't do that with an Ereader. At least not one I want to keep.:)

[Lauren]

Haha :))

[exxcentrica]

I've only thrown a book once. It was . When that T-Rex stuck its head through the waterfall and sniffed at the kids hiding behind it, I screamed and threw that book clear across the family room. Scared the daylights out of my dad, who was watching TV in the same room!

So...no scary books on an e-reader for me, if I ever do decide to get one.

[Lisarenee]

Maybe they need to make them out of a rubbery bouncy material or at least coat them in it. LOL

[Christine (Cagnes)]

I have a kindle & LOVE it, a much better reading experience to a book... IMHO! It's lightweight, easy to hold one handed, no pages to turn, don't have the problem of pages turning or the book closing when you lay it down on a table, it's clean... no worries about what that gross stain my be, never moldy or smelly, you can carry hundreds of books with you at all times... in one hand, you can change the font size & skip the reading glasses, download a book in under a minute... no more searching bookstores or waiting for deliveries, instantly look up a word with the built in dictionary.. one of my favorite features.

It's one of those things that you don't realize how awesome it is until you have one. I never thought that I would love an ereader this much, but now I can't imagine being without one. I read much more now that I have a kindle!

[Irene]

I have a Sony eReader and I love it.

[Sashana]

Christine S, your making me very excited! I can't wait until I've saved enough money to but my eReader.

Irene, I want the Sony Touch Edition. I would have preferred the Sony Pocket edition but it doesn't have expandable memory :( Which one do you have?

[Heather]

Man, I bet I will be the only person NOT to get any kind of reader. I am tempted but I the thought of not being able to HOLD a book would drive me crazy. Then I would worry about the batteries running out and what have you. Silly huh? And like Lisa, I would need one that would be able to withstand me throwing it should a certain scene piss me off..

[Sashana]

Heather wrote: "Man, I bet I will be the only person NOT to get any kind of reader. I am tempted but I the thought of not being able to HOLD a book would drive me crazy. Then I would worry about the batteries runn..."

Heather, I think that if and when I get my eReader I'll still buy some paparbacks. I'll just buy my favorite books in paperback and buy everything else in the form of eBooks.

[Heather]

Sashana, that is a good idea. That is something to consider..

I feel the same way about HD TV's and Blue Ray DVD's. I was a pain to buy all my movies on DVD from VHS. I will be doing the same thing or close to it whenever I get a new HD TV and Blue Ray player..

[Lisarenee]

I went of vacation this summer and had a back-pack full of books. If I had to do it again I'd take an Ereader. It would be nicer than carrying all those books around, so the next trip I take I'll probably try to load up my iPad (which has a kindle function) with a bunch of books. I talked with someone at Barnes & Nobles about the Nook and they said you get a back-up library with them. So every time you purchase a book they keep track of it on your Barnes & Nobles account. I think they limit how many you can have and I wonder if that means you have to pay a fee every year to keep the library/account current. I forgot to ask that question. I wonder if Amazon does the same thing?

[Christine (Cagnes)]

Lisarenee... it sounds similar to Amazon. When you buy a kindle book it stays in your Amazon account... you can delete the book from your reader & reload it at any time. With Amazon there is no fee & most books can be loaded on about 7 different devices at one time.... Kindles, iphone, computer, ipad, blackberry, etc all count as a device. You can have several family members or friends on the same account & they can share the same books.

[Lisarenee]

That is a nice feature, the sharing. Can you add friends and family members as you go or are you limited with how many people you can add? Why does this sound like one of those phone plans? Didn't one of them have a family and friends plan? Anyway, can even the best sellers and newly released books be shared? I think I remember someone saying they might not be able to be shared by one of the two - Nook or Kindle.

[Sashana]

Does the Nook or Kindle have the library feature? I know Sony has a feature that you can borrow eBooks from you library-not really sure how it works though.

[Christine (Cagnes)]

With the Nook you can loan a book. I'm not sure of all the stipulations, I believe it's only for 2 weeks & the book can't be on both Nooks at the same time.

You can add multiple Kindles as you go. The thing is that they are sharing the same account so all orders would be made with that account log-in and credit card. Some people buy gift cards to pay for their books or use different credit cards. You would only want to add someone close who you trust since they would have access to ordering with your credit card.... unless you do the ordering for them & then have the book sent to their device.

Here's info direct from amazon...

Can I share content with other Kindles?

Books can be shared between Kindles, Kindle for PC, or iPhones that are registered to the same account. There may be limits on th number of devices (usually six) that can simultaneously use a single book. Subscriptions to newspapers or periodicals cannot be shared on multiple devices. If you purchased a Kindle (Latest Generation), you can re-download books wirelessly for free, anytime, to your Kindles. We even back up your last page read and annotations, so when you re-download your books you can pick up where you left off with all of your notes still in place.

Sashana... Kindle doesn't have the library feature. I think the Nook may allow it.

[Lauren]

I'd really like a Nook.... Sigh.

[Lisarenee]

Thanks Christine.

[exxcentrica]

Christine S. wrote: "I have a kindle & LOVE it, a much better reading experience to a book... IMHO! It's lightweight, easy to hold one handed, no pages to turn, don't have the problem of pages turning or the book closi..."

OMG Christine, you REALLY make me want one! I might get a kindle when it goes under $100.

[Lauren]

I just got an email from Barns and Nobel saying that they came out with a NOOK app for iPhone/iPod touch. Pretty excited to download that!

[Christine (Cagnes)]

Kimberly *Kyhm* wrote: "OMG Christine, you REALLY make me want one! I might get a kindle when it goes under $100. "

It's actually a pretty good time to buy one now. The new Kindle 3's are priced lower than ever, the wi-fi only model is only $139! There are also several improvements from the previous model... better contrast, smaller & lighter, longer battery life, more storage, & I love the new black color!

New Kindle

[Lisarenee]

Do you think they'll do away with book covers if the Ebooks take over? Someone said they didn't get all the pictures that most hardbacks or paperbacks had when they order the ebook versions.

[Tai]

I own a Nook and I LOVE it! It literally goes everywhere with me. Having my entire library at my fingertips is my favorite thing about it I no longer have to plan out what I want to read ahead of time. I also have a love/hate relationship with being able to buy books instantly without having to leave my house. I love the instant gratification but I’m not liking how much I am spending on books…lol. I didn’t realize how much having to drive to a book store curbed my book spending habit. But that is the worse thing I can say my nook allows me to buy too many books too fast.

[Christine (Cagnes)]

Lisarenee wrote: "Do you think they'll do away with book covers if the Ebooks take over? Someone said they didn't get all the pictures that most hardbacks or paperbacks had when they order the ebook versions."

I don't think Ebooks will take over completely... at least not in my lifetime. ;) I don't think they'll do away with book covers either. I get the book cover image with my Amazon books & also whatever drawings or charts that may be in the book.

The kindle version even had the adorable sketch of Albert the dog in

[Lisarenee]

Just heard of an interesting development by me. The Clearwater High School in Clearwater, Florida are replacing their textbooks and have replaced them with Kindles. Here is a link to the story in the St. Petersburg Times:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/educatio...

[Trina]

@ Tai, I am having the exact same problem. I bought my nook about two months ago and seem to always be buying books. Having to go all the way to the bookstore definitely put a hamper on my bookbuying. But now, it takes mere moments to buy a book and read it instantly.

[Lauren]

I wish our highschool was doing that! Very cool

[Lisarenee]

I wish they'd offer a coupon when you buy an Ebook so you could get a real book for less. All the places that offer both types of books should IMHO do so.

[Stephanie]

at first i wasn't big on buying an ereader. i don't usually buy books. i get them from trading them online or from my mom or I LIVE NEXT DOOR TO THE LIBRARY!!!! lucky me! but then while reading an advertisement for the sony ereader, i learned that you can download books from the library right onto them! so the library showed me how to use it and now i own one!!!! but i haven't used it all that much. i'm having a hard time finding ebooks for free that i am interested. also, since the world of ebooks is new to the library, they don't have alot of choices yet. and i have 3 bookcases full of actual books that i need to get thru!

[Carol Cork *Young at Heart Oldie*]

I'm thinking of having a Kindle as a Christmas present from my husband. I am rapidly running out of space on my bookshelves but was not very keen on the idea of ebooks because, at present, I can only read them on a PC which I don't like compared to sitting in a comfy chair with an actual book. The other day, my husband showed me an advert on Amazon for the Kindle and this seemed ideal.

[Sans]

I love ebooks, I just need to get a new device. It's great for travel and for sneaking in reading when it's uber slow at work. They're also useful if you read smutty books with cheesy covers and don't want to deal with nosy people on public transit trying to see what you're reading.

I was sharing a second generation Kindle with a friend and I loved it (I sold my "half" of it because our tastes in books is wildly different). The new ones have sharper screens, better response time and are thinner, not to mention heaps cheaper.

I'm currently trying to decide if I should get the 3G Kindle or wait for the Velocity Cruz Tablet to come out next month. It runs on Android 2.1, uses wifi (no data plan!) and it comes with the Borders ebook app installed. You can also download Kindle for Android through the app store, so I could consolidate all my ebooks on one device. It's $299, but I wouldn't have to buy a new mobile anymore.

[Geraldine]

You guys really make me excited because I'm working on turning my novel into E-book form. Whether I like it or not, it's a sign of the times. Gerry thusbound.com

[Lauren]

What must you do, as an author, to turn your book into an ebook?

[Sarah]

Lauren wrote: "What must you do, as an author, to turn your book into an ebook?"

Lauren,
There are a couple of ways - firstly, do you have the e-rights to your work and do you have a publisher?
If you're doing it yourself I'd recommend Smashwords.com (am I allowed to link that here?) for most ebook formats and Amazon for their Kindle. Both are reasonably easy to set up.
All the best with it, and feel free to pick my brains if you want I'll be happy to help out.
Sarah

[Sashana]

Sarah, you can post as many links as you like (as long as they're not offensive).

[Sarah]

Thanks Sashana!

[Lisarenee]

I just used my iPad using the Kindle software to read Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider. I loved it because I can search for words or names within a book. I also love that I can bookmark and highlight parts I feel are significant or may want to quote later. I still love a real book, but the ability to search within a book is really a plus. The only think I would want different is for page numbers. I wonder why they don't have them?

[Sarah]

They don't have page numbers because every time you change the font size or tinker with your settings you are potentially changing the page breaks.

I have the kindle app on my PC for now, but I'd love to get some form of ereader one day.
Sarah

[Lisarenee]

Sarah said,"They don't have page numbers because every time you change the font size or tinker with your settings you are potentially changing the page breaks."

That makes sense. Whenever I turn my iPad a quarter turn I either get more or less text on the screen. At times it's a nice feature, but when it happens accidentally it can get annoying. I need to check out the notes feature one of these days.

[Sans]

Sarah, that totally makes sense. Thank you for answering a long-held question of mine.

[Lauren]

Sarah, it sounds like a lot of work... Definatly would be worth it though.

[Sarah]

Lauren,
It can be a lot of work and it's certainly fiddly. But there are step by step guides available and it's actually not as bad as it could be. And definitely worth it in the end.

[Arthur]

I have posted it in another thread, so copy&paste:

I have been reading on ebook readers for 3 years.
The first ebook reader was Sony Reader PRS-500 (1 year), then Sony Reader PRS-505 (current).
I am planning to upgrade to Sony Reader PRS-650 that was announced a few weeks ago.
eInk is the winner. I work with computers but I cannot read books on screen. I get eye strain within 20 minutes. eInk solved this issue along with the battery life - 2 weeks without recharging rocks. No worries if I get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I love my Sony Reader. It is always with me. I believe buying ebook reader with eInk screen is the best money spending I have ever done in my life.

[Irene]

I have a Sony PRS-600. I love it. Unless God forbid it breaks, I don't plan on ever changing it over for another model. The eInk is incredible.

[Sashana]

Irene, I can tell. I had an internal battle on Nook vs. Sony but every single time I think about getting a different model I always end up at Sony. I'm glad I waited though because the latest model looks HOT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35yB4q...

[Sarah]

I want one.
If I'm really, really good d'you think Father Christmas might get me one?

[Sashana]

Lol, Sarah I hope he gets one for you and me.

[Sarah]

... licks end of pencil stub....

Dear Father Christmas,
I have been a very good girl, honest. Well, I tried, mostly, well, a bit, ok not really but I meant to....


(It's not going to work is it?)