e-Readers

[TransformX]

I'm now, in my mind, picturing you lying on your stomach with your feet in the air, like a teenage girl. And it frightens me. Curse you forever, I need to bleach my brain now.

The old Gurm is back!!!

[Gurm]

The old Gurm is back!!!

What, because I don't want to picture a man twice my size (and 3x my hairiness) frolicking in his bedroom whilst leafing through a copy of "Teen Vogue"?

[Umfriend]

As TX said....

All fun but still I wonder, where and when do you read? Because at the end of the day, the only place/time I prefer books is at home with non-fiction, esp. academic papers/textbooks (being able to easily flip back, put markers on important pages etc.) and chess books for which I like to have a board next to me as well.

I actually read a lot on the road, there a device wins in all kinds of comfort and I'm normally not two hours on the road without interuption so it does not tire/annoy that much. If you're picky, just pick the best for the purpose.

[xortam]

1. Typesetting.

I did a quick google around for this. Apparently it's some kind of ... scan? This isn't what I mean. Any idiot can scan a document, clean it up, and build a PDF out of it. I'm talking about licensing the professional fonts and doing real typesetting.

Did you know that a huge percentage of the books you see at the bookstore use fonts that you simply CANNOT ACQUIRE, by any means, for your computer? This is intentional - the font industry is HUGE and exclusive.

Lastly, this is proprietary. I love B&N but they may honestly not exist in 2-3 years (if Borders is any indicator).

I checked for free PP books and found I already had downloaded one but hadn't checked it out yet. It appears to be a hybrid of scanned illustrations/images and digital font text. I zoomed in on the page and the graphics and text initially appeared enlarged with the accompanying loss of resolution and then the text was re-rendered at full res. I imagine it's just using the built-in fonts and thus has the same limitations but I haven't looked into it any further.

AFA B&N's future ... the question is really what is the Nook's future as there is talk of spinning off the digital content division from the retail business.

2. Good screen.

The tablet has a great display - I actually want to get one for the kids. But it's an android tablet, not an e-reader. And LCD isn't a reading technology, at least not for me.

As for the e-ink readers, the lighting conditions under which you can read them are... limited. And the various backlighting schemes seem heavily reliant on LEDs which are ... y'know, not real light.

The Nook tablets are primarily e-readers. Many like to argue that it shouldn't even be marketed as a tablet since it doesn't natively support Amazon Appstore or Google Play. B&N hides Android from the user and goes to some extent to prevent you from using it as an Android tablet. The Nook Color also used a B&N shelled version of Android but they were open to owners rooting the tablet and installing Amazon and/or Google marketplace SW. The Tablet initially shipped with a loophole which was quickly found and exploited to run other's Android apps but they soon closed that hole with a FW update. Developers eventually were able to circumvent B&N's attempts to lockdown the system and one can now boot a variety of Android OS versions off of an SD card or root the device. Reading is superior on the Nook to their own Windows or Mac e-book reading SW and the Nook's focus is first and foremost as an e-reader.

AFA lighting ... light requirements for e-ink displays aren't much different than when reading a physical book. Generally, people seem to really like night reading with the illuminated e-ink devices but if you've tried them and don't care for them, so be it.

3. Books are cheap

The free books have NO formatting, much less REAL formatting.

Of the numerous free e-books that we've downloaded, only the first one, from Google books, was unformatted. The rest were downloaded from B&N. As I said, free e-books come and go (though some are always free, like the classics) and you can find them posted at this thread (jump to the last page for latest) or search for them by sorting by lowest price first at their store.

I was going to add what VJ now pointed out, that the e-readers are great for travel due to their light weight and small size and ability to store vast numbers of e-books and other content.

AFA DRM ... you know they've got apps to get around that. You can read Kindle e-books on a Nook.

[lowlifecat]

This might just be a personal preference but I like reading on my Playbook. The 7" screen looks and feels like a paperback. I've tested out a few different apps and prefer the sideloaded Kindle app. Additionally I invert the colouration scheme: black background with white letters, I find this easier on the eyes.

For readings books on the go (public transportation) I preferred mobipocket on my old blackberrys. The app was getting a bit long in the tooth by the time I got my 9860 last year. I got a Z10 recently and am now looking for a decent reader app.

Regarding prices of ebooks: I've always found that the books cost 1/2 the price of hardcover /paperback editions.

[Umfriend]

Funny that, I like reading on my Playbook as well but I use PlayEpub.

[lowlifecat]

Funny that, I like reading on my Playbook as well but I use PlayEpub.

I tried that but I don't remember why I stopped using it.

[Jessterw]

Not sure what I can add that you, claymonkey, and I haven't already talked about here and there over the years. As with movies and then, more recently, music, I have become content with the state of things as they are. Which is to say I haven't purchased a physical book in a long time, generally opting to borrow one from a friend or the library if there's a reason for me not having the digital form.

Of course, being content is far and away from being happy or entirely pleased with the state of things. While I can certainly enjoy a good book regardless of the medium, there is something special about the marriage of a particular typeface to the story. The problem there isn't even with e-readers or e-books, it's with a publishing industry that wants to put as little effort into the digital medium as possible. A situation that is almost a mirror of how the music industry has treated digital music delivery: track information is often incomplete, liners are no more, and cover art is often too small to truly appreciate.

In terms of the state of e-readers on their own, I think we're at a point where they are either going to get really good soon or they will be replaced by tablet devices that start to better tackle the problems with viewing LCD or like display technologies over long periods of time. Sadly, even if e-readers get to where they need to be, they are still limited use devices that are going to have a hard time competing for dollars among the younger generations.

Ok, that was more than nothing to add

Also, I don't recall ever spending more on an e-book than I would have on the paperback. That is still a problem as the distribution between the various parties continues to not favor the author, except in the case of those that self-publish.

[Umfriend]

I tried that but I don't remember why I stopped using it.

I tried it and liked it but have no knowledge of the competition except for KOBO, which I did not particularly like. Do you read in portrait or landscap / 2 colums mode. I find I prefer the latter as it is easier to hold the Playbook for a longer period and I like the lay-out.

JUst had it against my paperback copy of The Fourth Protocol and, Gurm, the screen-size (not device size) is pretty close to the printed area. I'm sure there are readers that have that as well.

Funny that, did not expect to run into another Playbook user. Guess we got the two they sold.

[lowlifecat]

Landscape and two columns. It's like reading a paperback.

I've seen quite a few Playbooks here in ottawa, especially on the bus. Originally I was a bit miffed that BBRY wasn't releasing any updates because of the intense focus on BB10; now that I have a Z10 in hand the PB sits on my bed side table.

Speaking of... Amazon just released Kindle for BB10 today. Unfortunately it's an android port. Will test it out later to see how comfortable it is.

[Fat Tone]

Well I just ordered a Kindle PaperWhite Wifi which arrived yesterday. I'm pretty pleased. I was able to copy over my collection of 980 assorted books, most of which I haven't read, and still have room for many more. Itsa a great size and weight to hold and has a nice rubberised feel. So far I've only read a few chapters, in room light and in darkness, and its been pretty good. I am still experimenting with font size and viewing distance because of these varifocals i have to wear these days (I still hate them).

It has an experimental browser so I tried my online strengths tools. It will work in a pinch but its slow and doesn't cope with the more complex stuff - its still a bonus.

The touch interface is nice. My previous ereader is the Sony PRS 505 (I think that's right). That by comparison is heavy slow and clunky. I was in the habit of hitting the page-change button about three lines before the end of the page - the kindle is a lot faster so I have to relearn that.

I love that the progress indicator can tell you how long in minutes you have to the end of the chapter - brilliant for those "do I wipe now or can I wait" moments

There does seem to be a slight variation in illumination, but you have to be looking for it.

And as to kerning, so far it looks just like a paperback to me!

[Umfriend]

LLC, what, if any, do you use as media player on the PB? How is BB10 in that regard? When I went from the BB9000 to the BB9900 I actually found the BB9900 not able to stream a lot of content from the 'net that the BB9000 could do. PB was a dissapointment in this regard but now there is a player that plays everything I have and is easy on the battery as well.