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Last post Author Topic: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader  (Read 26041 times)

herneith

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #25 on: August 14, 2010, 11:31 AM »
I have the Sony touch screen.  I am thinking of upgrading to the Kindle DX with its larger screen.  Thanks for the review!
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mouser

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #26 on: August 14, 2010, 11:45 AM »
it seems like a bunch of new ebook readers may be coming out at the end of the year, might pay to wait a bit, i'm not sure.

rpruyn

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #27 on: August 14, 2010, 04:52 PM »
Been lurking in the dark on this forum, and since I have some experience with testing ebook readers, I'd like to share my thoughts with you.
As I am in Europe, the Kindle revolution passed me by somewhat. I had a short experience with the device, and haven't tried out the pdf-conversion service or the Amazon store experience. So I will stick to the hands-on experiences I had with the ones I had with me a bit longer.

First the bad ;)
1. Make one with a built in reading lamp. A lot of people still read mostly at night, and it's rather annoying having to be close to a lamp to enjoy the book on your reader. I have been searching for a way of attaching a little reading light, but so far have come up short finding something tailor made or halfway affordable.
2. The interfaces of most ebook readers are counter-intuitive, involve too many buttons, and are terribly slow. From all the devices I tested, including Sony Reader, BeBook Neo, Samsung E60 etc. etc. there wasn't a single one I found myself happy with. Indeed, the Kindle handled itself better than most, but I still wasn't thrilled about it. There is something enraging about having to struggle with menus to get the right fonts, leaf through to the right page, or skip between two books.
3. On most ebook readers the contrast is a serious issue. I am happy to see Amazon responded to this with the new, small Kindle, and there is a new generation of e-ink devices on its way. If the letters are too flimsy to read, you will still strain your eyes while reading.
4. I partially agree with the earlier posters there should be a better way to annotate and look up references. Some ebook readers will allow to select text and store separately, but organizing and exporting these notes leaves much to be desired.
5. Reading pdf's, the dominant format for all those wonderful learning materials, is a drag. Conversion with the (wonderful) Calibre fixes some of the issues, but displaying more complex material like tables etc. just doesn't work. Maybe I should just quit trying to read pdf's on a 6" screen  >:( and buy a Kindle DX.
6. Getting the books you want is a big problem. In Europe, that is. Again, I have no experience with the Amazon store, but most vendors here make it as enjoyable to buy a digital book as having your toenails removed.

Now the good :)
1. As Mouser said, it's GREAT to revisit (or visit) all those classics in the public domain. Archive.org and Project Gutenberg are both excellent sources.
2. You read faster! By being able to change the font size and the position in which you can hold the device (landscape/portrait) I find myself going through books way faster. Plus, you can wipe off food stains of the reader, which is something you can't really do with a paper book.  :-[
3. I love the dictionary function built into most modern ebook readers. It's such a thrill to look up words right away, especially for a non-native speaker like myself.
4. Battery life is the scourge of most gadget owners, and it's amazing not to have to worry about this problem so much. My Sony Reader will have tendency to run on empty if unused for a week or longer, but that's easily fixable.  ;)
5. Try out books! As with music I like to read a book through once. If I absolutely love it, I will still buy a nice hardcover edition, and put it somewhere I can see.
6. Having a place to store manuals, documents etc. etc. If you are disorganized like I am, it's nice to keep a digital copy of important documents on the side, so you don't spend ages looking for that one piece of paper you know you've put somewhere.

I still think that ebook readers deserve a place next to the iPads, Androids and netbooks. I hope they are going to stick around for a while. If I don't buy a Kindle 3, I am looking forward to Asus' ebook reader, and the Plastic Logic reader, although I think the latter will be horribly expensive, if it ever gets here.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 05:00 PM by rpruyn »

grapeshot

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #28 on: August 14, 2010, 06:32 PM »
I purchased the Barnes & Noble Nook several months ago, and like most people here, I find it mostly useful, but I don't think it will completely replace hardbacks.  (Paperbacks, maybe, but not a good, quality hardback edition of any of your favorites.)  Also, to clarify, I read lots of novels, and some non-fiction, mainly history related and current events, and sometimes biographies or humorous works.  I never intended to use an eReader as a way to carry a lot of reference works around, and after seeing how they work, I'm not entirely sure that this is better than pdf's on a laptop.  I did install a thesaurus, but found that the edition I purchased isn't what I imagined it would be.  Searching is slow and awkward, and although the backbone of ePub files is XHTML, this thesaurus was surprisingly link-free.  I would have thought that linking words upon words would be the prime reason to have a thesaurus as an ebook.

Here's what I don't like:

The Nook has had some hardware issues which I had to contend with and overcome.  (I've had to shim the battery in its holder so that it made good contact with the electrodes, and two of the paging buttons are cracked -- although the unit still works fine.  By all accounts, B&N will exchange mine no questions asked; I just haven't gotten around to it.)  However, even with these issues, I'm still happy with it and have no regrets.

Page turning was a little slow at first, but a software revision fixed that. 

The Barnes & Noble book browsing experience is nowhere near as helpful as the Amazon website experience is.  I find myself browsing at the Amazon site, then buying the books I find on my Nook.  The Barnes & Noble book browsing experience is pretty much limited to searching through lists beginning with the best sellers.  If you're happy with reading those, you'll quickly find reading material.  If you prefer reading off-the-beaten path works, browsing for books really sucks.  Otherwise, you have to know what authors you want to search for, as it is unlikely you'll make any serendipitous finds.

Maybe it's because I'm an old school gal, but reading with the Nook is just not the same as curling up with a good book.  It is by no means bad, but it doesn't feel quite the same, either.  (Although, this could be an old-dog/new-tricks problem.) 

On airplanes, during take-off and landing, you have to turn these off.  You don't have to do that with a paper book.

I don't necessarily mind re-purchasing some of my favorite books, but the medium is still too young to have extensive back-lists available for many of my favorite mid-list authors.  I scanned one paperback that I desperately wanted an e-version for, and went through the conversion (from pdf scan to text) and re-conversion (from text to ePub) and successfully got it on the Nook.  Whew!  It took a lot of work, and I would gladly have paid for the convenience of not having to go through all that.  To be fair, though, this isn't a problem specific to the Nook; it exists with all eReaders to varying degrees.

Remembering to recharge a battery can be a challenge for me.  (This challenge is paradoxically easier AND harder when faced with re-charging all my other electronics.  I have SO many things that need re-charging that it reminds me to add the Nook to the list, but....I have SOOO many things that need re-charging that I feel overwhelmed!)

You still need an external light to read by.  This is not usually a problem, as most of the time one is available, but it is something to consider.

It cannot replace picture books or art books.  The screen is monochrome. 

What I Like:

It's perfect for travel.  I travel a fair bit, and sometimes to some pretty out-of-the-way, rural places.  I used to try and pack enough reading material, but the weight of all that was a constant nuisance.  That's no longer an issue.   

It's especially nice to be able to subscribe to one of the major newspapers using my Nook.  When I'm traveling in rural Alabama or Arkansas, I am at least assured that I'll have a newspaper to read, which makes me feel in touch with the rest of the world.  Even at home, it's nice to not have to run to the newstand to buy my daily copy, nor do I have the bother of recycling the piles of newsprint every week.  I hope more magazines will also come on board; that would be far more convenient than searching high and low for a newstand that carries obscure journals.

It conveniently fits in my purse, or my bag, and is always available whenever I find myself waiting in line, or at a restaurant.  And it remembers exactly where I left off reading; no more fumbling for something to use as a bookmark.

As many others have pointed out, the classics are all freely available from sites like Project Gutenberg.  You can, if you wish, buy them, too, and for only $1 or $2 dollars you can get them downloaded without hooking it up to a computer and downloading and sideloading the work.   (You pay for convenience, in this case.)  Even some early to mid 20th century works are available at low cost.  For example, Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples is available at $4 per volume, which for me is low enough to consider buying one to see what it's like.  I've always wanted to try this work, but didn't ever want to pay full paper edition prices for something I might find uninvolving.  (Yeah, yeah, there's the library for that, too....)

I like being able to change fonts (the Nook has 3 available) and to re-size the fonts. 

The Nook gets two small essays downloaded every morning.  One is a humorous piece, and the other is a related to literature.  While I wouldn't make my purchasing decision on this feature alone, it is a nice touch.

I like the user interface, which is a combination of a color touch screen and buttons for turning pages.  I found it pretty intuitive to figure out, and haven't had to resort to any user's manual yet.

I like being able to buy books via 3G.  Yes, the B&N book browsing experience leaves much to be desired, but even so, if you're not near a bookstore, and you've run out of fresh reading material, it's still pretty awesome.

I have sooo many books, that I've started to have to prune my collection.  An ebook edition is a painless way to still have some of your favorites on hand -- especially if like me, you like to reread them a lot.

Things I Don't Care About One Way Or Another:

Lending books.  My tastes are so different than most that no one bothers with what I read, and it's rare for anyone to have what I like on their shelves.  While I think it's a shame that digital editions are so locked up that one cannot lend something to a friend, the way you can with a paper edition, it hasn't proven to be any special hardship for me.   

The Nook has a couple of games on it that you can play.  One is chess, the other is sodoku wordgames.  I don't do either of these.  (But if they ever get freecell, or mah-jong, look out baby!!)

The Nook also has a web browser, but it isn't especially fast.  (It's still in Beta.)  I have used it, but with the grayscale screen, most color websites aren't all that easy to read, and one has to use the touchscreen for scrolling, which makes it awkward to navigate websites.  Still, in a pinch, you can use this to catch up with a favorite blog -- assuming you can find a wifi access point.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. - Groucho Marx

nimrodsicl

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #29 on: August 15, 2010, 03:33 AM »
too pricey!
$200-$300 just to read a book. Can spend that on a notebook and adjust the font! Oh! I just did and it seem the notebook does a whole lot more for less money. Soz peeps, just another hyper gadget.

app103

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #30 on: August 15, 2010, 02:40 PM »
A lot of what mouser said is how I feel about reading books on my old Pocket PC. It's great for novels, but not too good for looking up stuff in reference books. There can be some issues with formatting in older and poorly made PDF files, which I spoke about here.

If you can find an internet service provider that still offers service for pocket pcs (you'll need to buy the specific modem they tell you to), or you really don't need an internet connection for surfing the web, or you can be content to only having wifi access with a card that's sold separately, buying a used pocket pc might make sense, since it's cheaper than a smart phone or a dedicated ebook reader. A lot of people went and got themselves smart phones or ebook readers and decided they don't want or need their old pocket pc any more and are selling them dirt cheap.

So if you haven't bit the bullet and went the smart phone route and never bought an ebook reader and you want a cheaper device to see if you'd even like this kind of stuff, that's the way I'd go. It's a good stepping stone. Yes, the screen is smaller than an ebook reader, but not as small as most phones. You can install games and other software on it, there is plenty of freeware available, and it comes with a handful of useful apps, pre-installed (calculator, PIM, todo list, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Paint, Windows Media Player, MS Reader).

Some warnings: Make sure the one you buy isn't so old that it requires an older version of ActiveSync, because the older versions will not run on Vista/Win7. (I would recommend a more recent iPaq if you can get one)

Some of them you can upgrade the OS, some of them you can't. Research the model you are thinking of buying very thoroughly (and the OS it runs).

Stay away from any that have an SH3 CPU...it's harder to get software that runs on that.

I prefer .lit format for ebooks, when I can get them, but if I have no other choice but plain text (as with most of the books offered through Project Gutenberg) then I convert the .txt files to .lit with the free version of ReaderWorks.

Renegade

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #31 on: August 15, 2010, 04:59 PM »
too pricey!
$200-$300 just to read a book. Can spend that on a notebook and adjust the font! Oh! I just did and it seem the notebook does a whole lot more for less money. Soz peeps, just another hyper gadget.


You're really paying for the convenience of a small unit that is less bulky than a laptop. But yeah, they are extravagant for a lot of people.

I don't really have much use for one as I read almost exclusively reference material.
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olepete

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #32 on: August 15, 2010, 06:46 PM »
I have enjoyed reading the posts. Recently I checked out ebooks and moved from being a sceptic to enthusiast. I was able to pick up a new Benq device on ebay. It's brilliant; reads in several formats eg .txt, .pdf, .epub, .html; reads image (b&w only) and music files; wireless connection - to name just a few of its charms. An avid reader, I've just finished my fourth book on it and have installed about 30 books taking up less than 10% of the memory. A mini SD card allows further expansion.

My advice to anyone contemplating an ebook is to check out what's available. There are advantages to having an ebook not tied to a particular seller eg Kindle, Nook. There are ebooks (admittedly expensive) that allow for annotation and highlighting. Choose a 6" rather than a 5" inch screen. There is a large corpus of free ebooks available on the net. There is a free software application, 'Stanza' which enables format conversion eg .html to .txt.

AndeT1

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #33 on: August 16, 2010, 08:26 AM »
I've been using my old HP PDA as an ebook reader for about 8 years.  The small screen means I've got thousands of pages to read instead of hundreds, but the portability is worth it.
I have about 45 books on it right now and when I'm done, I'll wipe them (they're already in my Calibre catalog) and write new ones on the PDA; again from my computer's Calibre catalog.  I'm now saving up for a Nook (shouldn't take more than 3 years), as I believe that is the best e-reader for the bucks.  A Nook is not locked from loading books from your computer or other sources than Barnes & Noble.  The Kindle is locked in Amazon, and although the have a good booklist, I can get free books from many other places.

I advise everyone who has an e-reader to back up the books on their computer and use a good computer catalog to keep track of what will eventually be a lot of books and stories.

wraith808

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #34 on: August 16, 2010, 10:15 AM »
I had been using my iPhone for my book reader using Stanza and eReader (from B&N) - I have the apps from Amazon, Borders, and Apple installed, but hadn't bought any books from them.  Now I'm using my tc1100 for reading, and loving the larger space... on there, I use eReader (from B&N) and the FictionWise reader, though I have Calibre and Stanza loaded.  I can also read PDFs easier now.  I'm still thinking about getting a WiFi nook, but I'm not sure about that.

I advise everyone who has an e-reader to back up the books on their computer and use a good computer catalog to keep track of what will eventually be a lot of books and stories.

+1.  I'm thinking about doing a NANY entry for cataloging all sorts of electronic reading material- it's been something I've needed for a while.  There are so many ways to read things that it's hard to keep track of them.

atkinsod

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #35 on: August 16, 2010, 02:43 PM »
Great overview, and I agree completely.

I purchased the Pocket Sony from a sale at Woot at just over $100. It is bare bones (no dictionary or annotations; just reading) and simply love it for fiction and sequential reading (I'm going through the Bible right now). I find myself reading much more than I did before, as I can easily pick up the eReader on my way out the door to walk the dog, and don't have to worry about losing a bookmark, etc.

For PDFs, I'm saving up for an iPad.

Doug

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #36 on: August 17, 2010, 03:17 PM »
I haven't seen the new Kindle DX, which sounds promising, but I have played with the Nook and various Sony models, and was not at all tempted by them for many reasons, not least of which is the low resolution relative to size (most are 600x800, the Sony Daily Edition 600x1024) and the (to me) highly distracting page flip blanking.

I've only seen the iPad briefly, but I can't really imagine reading anything for long on it - I own an 8 year old Panasonic Toughbook CF-R1 running Windows XP, which weighs 2.2 lbs and has one of the best screens I have ever seen on a laptop, with the same size (9.7") and resolution (1024x768) as the iPad. I use it frequently for reading PDF documents and web browsing, but I wouldn't really want to read a book on it, mostly because I find it too tiring to read on an LCD screen for any extended length of time.

That said, a couple of months ago, I traded my 4 year old Treo for an HTC Droid and to my great surprise, find it quite usable as an e-book reader.  It has an extremely sharp 3.7" 480x800 screen, which is not much less resolution than most e-book readers.  I had thought that I would find it hard to read on because of the small size, but to the contrary, find that I can hold it close enough to read without glasses, and because the screen is so sharp, not be distracted by resolution effects. It isn't really usable for technical documents in PDF format, but the free Aldiko reader handles ePub texts beautifully  with more flexibility than dedicated e-book readers (font, size, line spacing, color themes, layout, navigation, brightness, etc.).

It also helps that my Incredible has an AMOLED screen, which has greater contrast and less glare than the LCD screens on most smart devices, including the iPad. It's not a good choice for reading in bright sunlight, but indoors, and especially in bed at night, it is great. Unfortunately, because Samsung has decided to keep its entire production of AMOLED screens for its own devices, the newer Incredibles supposedly have SLCD screens. Samsung is expected to introduce a 7" Android device with an AMOLED screen later this year, which sounds interesting.


mouser

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #37 on: September 01, 2010, 11:39 AM »
some very useful comments on this blog entry: http://text-patterns...ways-of-jesting.html

I have often been frustrated by my inability when using the Kindle to get a sense of just how long the riffs are. It helps to know whether this is going to be a relatively brief one or whether it will go on for pages: having that knowledge enables the reader to adjust the quality of his or her attention accordingly. Again and again while Kindling my way through IJ I have been forced into awareness of how much my reading practices rely on this spatial awareness: not just knowing how far I am into a book (since the Kindle always shows you where you are in percentage form), but knowing when the next chapter or section break is coming. It turns out that that kind of knowledge has always been very helpful to me, especially when I am reading a difficult or otherwise challenging book — but I never knew how helpful until now.

phitsc

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Re: Some initial reflections on using an ebook reader
« Reply #38 on: September 12, 2010, 04:16 PM »
I'm currently reading a novel with many parallel plot lines, sometimes 6 or more. It sometimes happens that I would like to go back and re-read something, to pick up where a plot line left, or just to clarify something. While this is quite easy with a real book, it's virtually impossible with the kindle, it's just too slow to skim through pages.