Books I Loathed discussion
E-Books - Love or Hate?
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It might not be as nice and cozy as a paper book, but it sure is convenient. Especially if you suddenly get hit by an urge to reread that bit in "H.M.S. Suprise" where Jack and Stephen have a fight about the sloth, or look up a quote from "The Little Prince" that you couldn't quite remember, or whatever. Two weeks ago in the middle of the workday I got the most insistent desire to reread "Three Men in a Boat." So I went to Project Gutenberg and printed it off. If I had a device for e-books, I wouldn't have had to kill that tree, you know?
I completely understand how this sort of thing is incomprehensible to someone who loves the old-fashioned pleasure of cracking open a new book, or letting an old book open by itself to a favourite passage, but it's sort of like my old algebra teacher complaining how CD sound quality just can't convey emotion like vinyl does. That may be true, but CDs and mp3 players sure are convenient.

There are two big problems which this Kindle may or may not have solved. The first (and most important) is a display that won't strain my eyes. It sounds like their new technology may address this, but I won't know until I've held one in my hands and played with it. Second, I read far more older literature than contemporary, so I probably won't buy somethign like this until electronic libraries have a sufficient number of volumes. Of course, copywright and publishers and all that stuff is going to slow down the process of transferring old volumes to digital, but it sounds like all sorts of entities are working on overcoming that issue as fast as possible. This process will increase exponentially as products like the Kindle become popular.
In "The Singularity is Near," Kurzweil speaks briefly about the book as the next technology that must evolve. He makes a good point when he shows that there is always a stepping stone in this evolution (i forget what he calls it exactly), a "false" technology which everyone thinks is "IT" until the evolution is complete and we are left with a whole new reality. He cites the record as an example: the cassette tape was the "false" improvement which lasted briefly, until it was completely overwhelmed by the CD (and we're well on our way to a complete digital music world).
The question is where does teh Kindle fall in this spectrum. I think we've passed the "false" stage, and the Kindle is merely the Beta version that has to test the water. It will be surpassed very quickly.
I hope to have an e-book I use all the time in about five years. It's the reference capabilities that really excites me. Say I'm reading a book that cites another author. I click the link, and bang! I'm reading the exact sentence quoted in the original text. The possibilities are endless. Plus, I read a LOT of books at once and I hate having to choose which volume to take with me...


I'm currently reading Anna Karenina in snippets sent to my email every day, and I like it!
Though, I do prefer snuggling under my blankets at night with a book I can't put down. So not the same using electronics...

I mean, I know you can download to your home pc, which I have never done before (I much prefer holding and handling the actual book...)
Oh Dear, I hope no one is laughing at me.

There are several dedicated ebook readers like the Kindle discussed here. The Sony Reader i think is the only other one that uses E-ink, or whatever the technology is, as a display method. Both of these offer books that are of a proprietary file type so you can only read them on those devices. There are lots of books in other formats, however, offered by all sorts of different services that you can read on PDA's, computers, etc.
I think what kind of device you decide to get depends largely on what you read regularly...
I'd appreciate it if someone knew of a site that puts all this information in one place...

Plus, I wouldnt be able to show off my ever-growing library (something I never quite cared about when it came to CD's -- I was happy to burn and download every song that came to mind)....
I also think 10 bucks is a bit much per book when you really think about it, its only words on a screen that you bought, not anything hard or concrete. Perhaps if the books were only a few dollars a pc.....

But I'm a young foagie. Maybe I need to get with the times?

Not only do I love the way books smell...but I love the feel of a shiny new cover on my cheek. It's so smooth and cool!
ok. I'm a little weird.

On the practical side of thigns, books are great for curling up on the couch with, reading in bed, at the table, on the subway, walking to the subway... And I don't get eye strain from staring at a screen! What's not to love?
And as for the environmental side, several publishers are now using recyled paper (Raincoast Books in Canada did this for Harry Potter - they were one of the first), and what goes into computers is toxic as hell and not recyclable at all. I just wish they didn't publish so many terribly-written books - that is a waste of finite resources!!

I guess I could also see it as good for travel. I hate to have to buy tons of books when I am traveling or having to lug them around with me, because if I like the book, I want to keep it and it is no fun carrying tons of books around. But at the price of this thing, and the price of ebooks not sounding much cheaper, I wouldn't pay for it as an addendum to the real thing.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2007/11...
I personally think it's a great idea but would never pay for it, plus I would probably never use it. I love paper. And collecting books.

Purchasing and downloading books sounds like a good idea (and it is), but you can't transfer other documents or books that you already own to it without incuring a "transfer charge". Nobody wants to buy a book, then pay again to put it on their Kindle. That's be like buying a song from iTunes, but then having to pay a service fee to use it on your iPod (which you also already purchased).
With Wi-Fi being free and everywhere, I think they're hurting themselves by not allowing data transfers to happen without being charged.
The sad reality is, people have been spoiled by the ease of the digital age. You don't have to pay anything to email a friend a digital copy of a photo. But rights management groups want you to pay to send a digital copy of a song. Same with books. And until media can be shared easily, without recurring charges, and without insane rights management restrictions, gadgets like these won't catch on.
Show me an e-reader that can use Wi-Fi and without the noose of a DRM and I'll get interested.

Red Evans author On Ice a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Red-Evans/d... Amazon



There is also the factor of eye strain, and electrocution in the bathtub.
Plus, in my opinion, there is nothing so beautiful as a bookcase brimming with books.





I have a waterproof case for my Palm (Tungsten T|X), which means I can finally relax with my book in the bathtub--with print books I always fret about getting the pages wet.
I read ebooks about as much as I read print books these days, and I only read print books at all because not everything's available as an ebook. (I keep hoping some of these thicker print books I have in the "to read" pile will come out as ebooks before I actually get to them...like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell *sigh*.)
One thing I miss when I'm reading a print book is autoscroll. All three of the ebook readers I have installed on my Palm (Plucker, eReader and MobiPocket) have an autoscroll function. You can adjust the speed, it's easy to stop and restart it if you need to.... Yeah, I know, how lazy am I that I don't even want to turn pages? I tell myself it's good speed reading practice.
(Amazon's Kindle, however, doesn't have autoscroll--the eInk screen technology can't handle it (which means Sony Reader's doesn't either, nor any of the other ebook readers that use eInk). Those eInk readers are also too big for my tastes. You'd think reading off a screen the size of a deck of cards would be frustrating (and I'm sure it is for some), but I have no difficulty with it. And my husband reads novels off an even smaller screen on his Palm Treo!)
(Amazon's Kindle has done something really nice for ebooks, though--they've forced the prices from other ebook providers down to a more reasonable level. For years the typical practice was for ebook providers to charge hardcover prices for ebooks (!!!) until the paperback edition of the book came out, at which point the ebook price would drop to that of the paperback. What a ripoff. So, yay for competition! The only way Amazon could make a bigger improvement on the ebook market would be to make Kindle-format-compatible software available for handhelds so that we're not forced to pay $399 and give up autoscroll and the other nice things our handhelds offer us in order to take advantage of Amazon's selection and pricing. (And hey, I'm not buying a $399 Kindle from them no matter what--it just comes down to am I paying Amazon for my ebooks or Booksonboard.com? Right now, it's Booksonboard.))
I do like the weight of a paper book, though, the heft of it in my hands when I first pick it up. That does make me happy. But after the first few moments...eh, I'd be at least as happy holding my lightweight Palm in one hand while watching the story crawl up the screen.

I'd love to have something handy to look up a reference or if I need clarification of something... 'Cause I, like others, take a guilty pleasure in seeing the books lined up on my shelf.



http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983
As much as I love the idea of being able to carry hundreds of books with me at one time and have instant access to anything ever published, I can't imagine how a cold, gray electronic device could ever be as sensual and wonderful as a bound book. "Snuggling up" and "computer" just don't mesh for me. But then, I am pushing 40, so maybe I'm destined to be old-fashioned. What do you all think?