Community weekly poll: Would you buy an e-book reader?
- 11/28/07 3:30 PM
E-Books
by bosn2 - 11/29/07 9:03 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I own an E-Book reader and have done for a few years. My Brother has had one much longer and bought me mine for my Birthday. It was one of those gifts I thought would dwell in my closet and held little interest for me. My job at the time required me to travel a lot and reading books became a major pastime. I was called away on a last moment job and didn't have time to find a good book and I remembered the E-Book off I went on a 6 hour flight the E-book was fantastic I never had to stop reading when lights were dimmed and had 11 hours of battery life.So instead of having a bag full of books to last me several days I had one device that held 74 complete novels. The recharge time was about an hour but you can read while your recharging. E-Bookwise.com was where my brother purchased my E-Book and it was about 110 canadian dollars. I can purchase e-books from many publishing houses for less than I can in any retail store.I admit I wasn't a fan but I woudn't part with it reading in bed with the lights out is my wifes favorite advantage of e-books,helps her put up with me reading in bed
Would you buy an e-book reader?
by tootsil - 11/29/07 9:08 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Nope. . . after four hours on the computer can heardly see, don't need or want a another gadget with a consent renewing flickering screen.
Screens are different
by csmith75 - 12/4/07 9:23 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by tootsilThe screens on the Kindle, Cybook, and the Sony Reader are different than the harsh LCD screens that many of us sit in front of all day.
No to e-book
by asalgal1 - 11/29/07 9:09 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I'd rather listen to an audible book on my MP3 player. Smaller, lighter and can listen to many books. Why carry another device around?
MP3 audible books are inexpensive if you join a club.
I can listen to a book while being ACTIVE.
Why would you want to have to be imobilized by having to read.
I have nothing against reading, if fact I am a big fan, but there is not enough time to read.
I can walk, run, ride a bike, clean house, run errands etc. and still get a good book listened to on my MP3.
I personally am not going to add another device to the collection, ie. cassette tapes, CD players, vhs players, phones etc.
I HATE PAPER but I don't hate it 399 dollars worth.
by dane_62 - 11/29/07 9:26 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Personally I hate paper and would probably read more if I had an electronic device to read on. However paying 399 dollars to save 20 or 30 percent on books and not have to touch paper just isn't worth it. I have palm TX wich works well for ebooks when I can find them and that only cost 299, not to mention it's also a personal orginizer, my bible, Portable mp3 player and portable video player.
Untill these devices are around the 50 to 25 dollar range they will not catch on. The only other way they might work is with the 399 you get to credit toward 20 or 30 books to get you started.
Feel your pain
by csmith75 - 12/4/07 9:26 AM In reply to: I HATE PAPER but I don't hate it 399 dollars worth. by dane_62I'm another one who hates paper. I don't particularly like touching it especially the paper in many books.
Inconvenient
by aCheryl - 11/29/07 9:49 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have a Life Drive. I found out it is just as easy to carry the book. Since the Life Drive can read audible books it is still quite useful but not for actually reading.
Ebooks are the wave of the future - like it or not
by hnygrl412 - 11/29/07 9:53 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The things folks are saying about ebook readers being redundant and unnecessary are the same things that were said about the Compact Disc. And the Ipod.
Both of which are such a part of our culture now you can't remember a time when everyone DIDN'T have an Ipod/MP3 player plugged into their ears. The idea of walking around with a WALKMAN? With TAPES? That's just...stupid. But a decade ago, that was the wave of the future.
Ebooks and ebook readers are here to stay, and those who say they are not, never owned one.
I own an Ebookman 1150 ebook reader. Very basic, very inexpensive (less than 140 bucks brand new), and it does the job amazingly well. I no longer have to wonder what to do with the book once I've read it, and books have no longer taken over my house. And my car. And my desk at work. It was getting ugly people. I had to do something to get my space back.
Also, for those who say ebooks are stupid because they are more expensive, you're wrong.
You can get classics for free. You can get bestsellers for 5 to 20 PERCENT CHEAPER than the stores. ALL books online, I've found, are way cheaper that in Borders or any other bookstore. Even the nice little used bookstore can't compete with free. And sometimes, their books are 2.50 used, and not that much more online new.
So for all you folks who scoff and scorn and say this is just another fad, join the scoffers and scorners of old who also said the RADIO, Talking Pictures, The Automobile, Compact Disks, and the MP3 Player were also expensive and unneccessary fads and would fade away.
Do yourselves a favor. TRY the ebook reader of your choice before you turn your oh-so-superior noses up at it. You just may find you like it.
Why I'd buy an e-book -- when it's cheaper
by WSG - 11/29/07 10:13 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are a number of reasons I'd like an e-book, particularly one with substantial memory and the ability to easily annotate text. I'm not sufficiently convinced yet to spend $399. I'm not often buying best sellers, and I'd have to be convinced that the kind of books I'd buy are available digitally. However, given a sufficiently attractive e-book and a wide variety of available materials -- I'm all for it.
1) I'm a compulsive book buyer whose small apartment is jammed with books -- and whose large house would probably be stuffed with books as well if I had one. I'd like to free up SPACE. Some books I'd want to own -- those well-designed, comfortable to hold, printed on high quality paper. But those are rare.
2) I like to travel with books -- I'd like to be able to carry 5 or 10 with me. Digital information is light and takes up little space in one's suitcase.
3) My eyesight is not great -- and I'd like to be able to adjust the size of the print.
4) I annotate -- I'd prefer to annotate in something other than handwriting.
5) I'd LOVE to be able to have various references permanently part of the e-reader -- such as the OED, the OCD, foreign language dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanac, etc. This would require significant memory -- but we're still talking about text not high def DVDs.
6) So many books are being published on cheap paper, they yellow and disintegrate quickly. Many e-books would simply last longer.
7) I never want to keep magazines -- but I occasionally like to read them. Given their ephemeral nature, I don't need the clutter.
8) I'd love to be on a trip, have a yen to read a particular book, and have it downloaded immediately.
9) If I were a student, I'd LOVE to have all my course books in one place with the ability to carry them around with me.
Of course, it would be important to BACK UP one's purchases. What would be worse than losing an entirely library?
One negative to e-books is that their success would mean smaller print runs for print books -- thereby driving up the price, meaning smaller print runs, thereby driving up the price...etc. I don't think books will go away. However, I think the distribution will be greatly reduced.
For illustrated books, one needs a larger screen. However, if there was enough important illustrated material -- e.g., textbooks -- perhaps a larger version -- more like the size a clipboard -- could be offered.
On closer observation, It's not expensive at all
by Ken Jr. - 11/29/07 12:53 PM In reply to: Why I'd buy an e-book -- when it's cheaper by WSGFor what it's worth:
. The Kindle can be used for either e-book reading or audio book listening.
. The Kindle has MP3 capability.
. The screen on a Kindle (Sony reader too) does not cause eye strain, thanks to some ingenious people at MIT.
. If you're mainly reading, and not downloading, the battery lasts nearly a week. If you're downloading, it lasts only a few days. You can carry a spare $19.99 battery if you're worried about running out of charge. In other words, from a power consumption standpoint there's all the difference in the world between a Kindle and the laptop that some folks use as their e-book reader.
. As for price, with Kindle, books cost considerably less than their paper equivalents (or nothing at all depending on where you get them). After a while Kindle pays for itself. Personally, my plan for offsetting the $400 is to simply take a step down in my Dish Network TV programming for a while. Just a few months of this pays for the Kindle. Glad Kindle didn't do as the cell phone companies did, charge a low price for the item then require a hefty monthly charge for life. Question: How much have you paid for your inexpensive cell phone over, say, a three year period? Question: After buying your Sirius radio how much did you pay in monthly fees over, say, a three year period? Think about it.
I've ordered mine (admitedly though, I've always been an early adapter). As more people recognize Kindle's real capability I suspect the the rate of new orders that Amazon receives will climb significantly.
Maybe . . .
by acbar8 - 11/29/07 10:38 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The recent, rapid spread of electronic newspapers and blogs makes me think that as people become more used to reading their news on the screen, particularly the print news media, the dominant delivery paradigm is going to shift from printed paper to screen. It's already impossible to get some young people to read printed material off-line and off-screen. That doesn't mean the printed book is going to become a quaint anachronism anytime soon - but there is a generational difference in attitude. Look at the parallel rapid growth in sales of audio books (particularly the unabridged sort) sold to commuters and long-distance travelers; this too is largely a generational thing. I expect publishers first will have win more widespread acceptance of on-line magazine subscriptions, not to mention e-newspapers, before e-books will ever go mainstream, but I'm convinced it is only a matter of time before e-books dominate the field.
But will I buy an e-book reader? Why on Earth should I buy a dedicated reader at $300-400 as opposed to a generic laptop with equivalent memory and an even larger screen, but for little more? There's too much convergence here; no way am I going to invest in yet another dedicated gadget to haul around. If the latest e-book readers come up with some must-have features, there is no reason not to build those features into laptops generally.
I already own an e-book reader
by mrangel - 11/29/07 10:55 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Several years ago I bought an ebook reader from ebookwise.com for under $150, I just checked and they still carry them for the same low price. I use it ALL THE TIME!...I have a 45min commute to and from work and am an extremely fast reader so I used to have to carry several books at a time, not to mention that I read several books at the same time (I need variety). My ebook allows me to download html files, text files and add them to read later...also there are tons of free books available online. Mine has a battery life of about 15-19hrs per charge depending on how bright you have the screen. I won't buy books until the price comes down...currently new books are only about $1 less than the price of the paperback. Not worth it when there is so much free stuff to read. Once the price of the Kindle or Sony comes down I might consider switching it is a lot less bulky than my current one. but until that time I am happy reading on my ebookwise.
Would you buy an e-book reader?
by Henriv - 11/29/07 11:12 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I buy a lot of e-books AND periodicals. But, I decided to continue using my tablet PC to read them. The reason is, that all readers I tried are not versatile enough, when compared to my tablet.
If someone would start to market a reader that could read multiple formats and has a large enough screen to read magazines I will be one of the first buyers.
I do see a future in e-publishing and as a consequence for specialized readers. But right now, readers only seem to be a vehicle to sell a limited number of titles in some propietary format. If that continues the e-publishing will never develop. See the lessons from the general computer market....
H
I'm definitely getting one, and giving one for a present
by JimGable - 11/29/07 11:15 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I've had a chance to use both the Kindle and the Sony, and I'm definitely getting a Kindle. Many of the negative posts make a lot of claims about the usability of these new ebooks without having used the new screen. It is extremely different than laptops or cellphones etc. Yes, you can read on laptops or Treos, but for extended periods, the e-ink screen is hugely more comfortable. And it works outdoors in the brightest of sunshine, something nearly impossible on traditional screens.
As for people who just don't want to give up the warm familiar feeling of bound books, that is natural and they won't be early adopters in any case. But as time passes and more young people used to electronics become older people used to electronics, this transition will pick up. Meanwhile the hardware and software will get better, the price will go down and the number of titles available will go up.
Before Kindle it was unclear if e-books were really going to make it, but now it looks very certain. Maybe not with iPod like numbers, but with Amazon making this huge commitment, it's on track.
I Prefer Paper
by randi000 - 11/29/07 11:51 AM In reply to: Would you buy an e-book reader? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As others have mentioned, I like the portability & feel of paper. I have back problems & try to keep the weight that I'm carrying to a minimum. I have a feeling it's a lot easier to carry a book under your arm, if need be, than one of these machines.
Most important to me is that I like to linger over words, back up to re-read portions of the book, or flip back to find out about characters or events that I may have forgotten. I think it gives me better opportunity to appreciate the author's writing style. And if I like the book, I can loan it to friends!
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