Jump to content

Thoughts on the eBook reader


Recommended Posts

I'm still debating this, but am in no hurry.

ejp, if you have the patience, it will certainly be rewarded. The current devices have glass screens which crack easily. It is expected that plastic eInk screens will be released in 2010. They will be much more durable. We will know a lot more about what is in the pipeline in two weeks when the Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas.

I throughly researched this (with special thanks going to clave for steering me to mobileread.com) over more than five months. I ran out of patience. My jetBook Lite wasn't released until perhaps three months after my research began.

But you can be sure that no matter how long you wait, there will be something better and cheaper expected another six months after that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 98
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

In the meantime I am reading a couple of books which came included - HD Thoreau's Waldon Pond and Lao Tzu's The Art of War.

Of course I meant Sun Tzu. I think that Lao was the fellow who said, "The long journey begins with but a single step."

And it's Walden! I must have been tired when I made that post!

Edited by GA Russell
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

So, did anyone get an eBook reader for Christmas?

I got a Kindle - unexpected and unasked-for. I've been enjoying it, for what it is. I've downloaded a bunch of free stuff, and have read Wodehouse, Kipling, and Samuel Johnson on it so far. I've uploaded several PDF books and documents to it, including Allen Lowe's e-booklet from the Really the Blues? set. It's nice not to be tied to the computer screen to read that. My one attempt at downloading and reading poetry on the Kindle was a disappointment - I downloaded Housman's A Shropshire Lad, but the layout and line breaks don't match what Housman wrote.

I can see this as my literary version of my iPod. It won't be my primary method of reading, just as my iPod is not my primary method of listening to music. But it's pretty cool to be able to put so much stuff into one device that fits into my coat pocket. It's got its place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Kindle - What's not to like? If you travel at all, it's a godsend. Last summer when I went to Hawaii for several weeks, I took enough paperbacks to put my luggage over the weight limit, so I had to transfer some of them to my carry-on to avoid a $75.00 fee. If I'd had my Kindle then, it wouldn't have been an issue. To me, the travel element makes the whole thing a no-brainer. Also, if you have lots of books like I do, space and storage become a consideration. Not so with a Kindle. My only complaint at this point is that Amazon takes advantage of you when it comes to newer releases. When they start charging you within a buck or two of the actual hard cover price, it strikes me as usurious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kindle - What's not to like? If you travel at all, it's a godsend. Last summer when I went to Hawaii for several weeks, I took enough paperbacks to put my luggage over the weight limit, so I had to transfer some of them to my carry-on to avoid a $75.00 fee. If I'd had my Kindle then, it wouldn't have been an issue. To me, the travel element makes the whole thing a no-brainer. Also, if you have lots of books like I do, space and storage become a consideration. Not so with a Kindle. My only complaint at this point is that Amazon takes advantage of you when it comes to newer releases. When they start charging you within a buck or two of the actual hard cover price, it strikes me as usurious.

That's not Amazon it's the idiot publishers. Amazon wanted to make all new hard covers $9.99.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kindle - What's not to like? If you travel at all, it's a godsend. Last summer when I went to Hawaii for several weeks, I took enough paperbacks to put my luggage over the weight limit, so I had to transfer some of them to my carry-on to avoid a $75.00 fee. If I'd had my Kindle then, it wouldn't have been an issue. To me, the travel element makes the whole thing a no-brainer. Also, if you have lots of books like I do, space and storage become a consideration. Not so with a Kindle. My only complaint at this point is that Amazon takes advantage of you when it comes to newer releases. When they start charging you within a buck or two of the actual hard cover price, it strikes me as usurious.

Agree on all counts, I use to agonize over what books to bring on a trip, now, no agony. I read tons of pre-1900 stuff so I've been able to get a lot of writers for free, or $0.99 and $1.99, some of the buys are just plan fantastic. I'm a big booster of Kindle now. Why publishers are keeping the price of newer books high, I don't know, it seems self defeating, I would buy a lot of newer book at $9.00.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[

Why publishers are keeping the price of newer books high, I don't know, it seems self defeating, I would buy a lot of newer book at $9.00.

For the same reason that record companies priced cds out of the reach of many consumers and sent them to pirates: they couldn't think of any other way to raise income other than to raise prices. Publishers are even more egregiously dumb since there are no manufacturing costs involved with e-books. Costs the same to sell a million as it does to sell one. (Someone once did a test halving the price of downloading songs and discovered they sold 4 times as many (IIRC). Nevertheless the record companies pressured iTunes to raise prices. )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 8 months later...

If you need extra storage for a device that doesn't have SD expansion (Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPad), there's the WiDrive from Kingston. You access the drive's contents via the WiFi on your device. As far as ebooks are concerned, all Kindles have more than enough storage for anybody, but I store films on the WiDrive. You load the WiDrive app on your device and that's your interface.

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Drive-External-WID-16GBZ/dp/B00576APBQ/ref=sr_1_2

Edited by Pete C
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you need extra storage for a device that doesn't have SD expansion (Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPad), there's the WiDrive from Kingston. You access the drive's contents via the WiFi on your device. As far as ebooks are concerned, all Kindles have more than enough storage for anybody, but I store films on the WiDrive. You load the WiDrive app on your device and that's your interface.

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Drive-External-WID-16GBZ/dp/B00576APBQ/ref=sr_1_2

I know this is off-topic, but is there a similar device to watch DVDs on an iPad?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this is off-topic, but is there a similar device to watch DVDs on an iPad?

http://www.macworld.com/article/1162103/samsung_announces_new_optical_drive_with_wi_fi_connectivity.html

Pete, I was expecting something expensive, but your recommendation is only $39.99!

Yeah, I bought it when the price came down considerably.

Thanks! I see it's available through Amazon, though the user reviews are underwhelming. But this is the right idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...