Slashdot Mirror
eBooks - What's Holding You Back?
blueZ3 asks: "It seems that the readers of Slashdot are the most likely early adopters of electronic books, but from posts I've seen here, it doesn't appear that many on Slashdot are e-book fans. In the hopes of sparking a discussion, I'd like to ask what keeps you personally from reading e-books?"
"Here are some of my guesses as to why people haven't taken up e-Books:
1. Form factor: They just prefer the feel and 'interface' of a paper book.
2. Lack of a compelling device (or perhaps lack of convergence): They don't own a reader (other than a PC or notebook) and can't take them with them.
3. Lack of content: Books they are interested in aren't available in electronic format
4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings.
Maybe lively discussion from a prospective set of customers might spur the creator of the next generation of electronic book devices. Too bad the name 'iBook' is already taken."
What reason do you have for not taking up e-Books? Are they listed above or are there other reasons that you would like to add?
1. Form factor: They just prefer the feel and 'interface' of a paper book.
2. Lack of a compelling device (or perhaps lack of convergence): They don't own a reader (other than a PC or notebook) and can't take them with them.
3. Lack of content: Books they are interested in aren't available in electronic format
4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings.
Maybe lively discussion from a prospective set of customers might spur the creator of the next generation of electronic book devices. Too bad the name 'iBook' is already taken."
What reason do you have for not taking up e-Books? Are they listed above or are there other reasons that you would like to add?
Even more than just eye relief, is soul relief. I don't want to have to sit in front of my stupid computer to do everything in life. Sometimes it's good to unplug and do something else.
I have the exact same issue. I used to read on my Palm and now I read on my MS-based Smartphone. All the books bought for the Palm are unaccessible from there. This is just unacceptable.
So I keep reading on my phone, and instead of dl'ing and paying, I dl and do not pay. That way I have TXT files that I can view everywhere.
Sad but unfortunately true of all form of media distribution over the internet. When will they learn? We WILL download for it is so much more convenient. We WILL NOT download over-crippled formats because it removes half of the convenience.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
What's holding me back? Everything. That such a product exists is completely beyond me. The disadvantages above are just a few of an infinitely-long list of complete flaws. They really are a dumb idea, when there is *NOTHING* wrong with a book, which are just *PERFECT*. They are a proven and timeless form of communication that will *never* be obsoleted, just as we will never live on the moon, drive flying cars or have robotic teachers at our children's schools. Wake up. There is technology that improves our lives (iPods) and there is technology of uninspired science fantasy that not only would never actually function, but more importantly we will never need (keys fitted with an RFID tag - I am perfectly capable of finding my keys myself, the RFID tag could never tell me I left them at the coffee shop, but if I *was* worried about losing them I would use a code).
So answer my question: Why the asdf would I ever want an 'eBook'?
Its a simple matter of resolution. Typical photographic and typographic prints are 300+ dpi. A LCD screen is usually between 72-100 dpi.
The perfect ebook reader would be something like a hybrid of the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer in Neal Stephenson's book Diamond Age and Nintendo's GameBoy SP.
An ebook reader should have:
That's just some of the things I would like in an ebook reader.
"All you have to do is be fragile and grateful. So stay the underdog." Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
I rarerly purchase any books new, mostly because I enjoy the experience of used book stores. There is nothing quite like paying 1/8th of the cover price or less for a good book.
As a geek, books are something I turn to when I am trying to escape from the daily grind. Since my daily grind involves computers, I like to step away from the screen to escape.
Also, I have never had to reboot a book.
I'm a happy pessimist. I expect and prepare for the worst, when it doesn't happen I am pleasantly surprised.
The question is -- why should I switch? The only reason I can think of is to read off-copyright books for free, instead of having to go to the library. There's no price advantage for current books, no space concern (a full bookshelf makes me look smart), no portability advantage, certainly no readability advantage. So why should I switch?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
There is something Softer about black ink on white paper that I haven't yet encounter on screen. I always feel slightly jarred reading on screen vs paper. it is less relaxing and the information seems to transfer differently. And its not resolution or refresh AFAICT.
Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
The Pocket PC is a nice reading tool, but it's still just not quite up to the paperback experience. The screen only holds about 30% of the text from a paperback page at a time, and I have noticed some slight eyestrain after reading for more than an hour, which I do not experience with traditional books. Plus I will not pay the same price as a paper book for a DRM-hobbled e-book.
At the moment, 95% of my books come from my local public library. I can order books online from a huge library catalog and have them ready for pickup in two days. Thus there is little incentive for me to pay for e-books. I do keep about 20 books on the Pocket PC, for times where I have to wait in a line or have some other "downtime".
I got this copy of The Hobbit when I was 16. I bought this copy of Dune at Haslams in St. Pete. I stole Thomas Covenant from my roommate in college. That history does mean something to me. Provides a continuity.
Easier, much, on the eyes, also.
I generally buy books after I've read them, If they entertained me, then I reward the author (and publishers) by buying the book. Otherwise I don't bother. I borrow books from people, or get them out of a library, it's rare that I buy books that I haven't already read (unless I have book tokens to waste, or there is a special offer on books by a favourite author).
This is what eBooks are lacking, I can't borrow them from other people, I can't go and get the out of the library for free. I have to buy them and THEN enjoy them, the amount of money isn't directly related to the amount of enjoyment I get out of them.
I do the same thing with all my media, I rent DVDs, then if the film is worth it, I buy it (it generally has to be awesome to get me to do this).
I borrow CDs off friends, and generally rip them to my computer, where they will sit for a while and get played occasionally. After a while I either buy the album, or delete the files. I buy a lot of music un-heard as well though so it's a slightly different case.
eBooks came too late, and they are DRMd so that I can't try them out without breaking the law, at the moment it's still much more convenient (they don't need re-charging, they are much less affected by variable light levels, smaller - I have a laptop, not a PDA) to get an actual book. And having a bookshelf which is overflowing, actually makes you look quite educated!
Other reasons include the fact that generally I read a book to get away from technology for a while - If I'm going to have a gadget in front of me I'm going to want to play with it, tweak it, work on it, take it apart, customise it, generally mess around with it, install linux on it, you get the idea. Books are more focussed in this respect
.sigs are for losers
(1) My eyes don't like monitors, both LCDs and CRTs. Maybe ePaper will be better, but right now regular paper is the best way to prevent them from hurting.
(2) Currently, only PDAs are as portable as books. Laptops and especially desktops are just too bulky. But this is overshadowed by...
(3) Books feel good. They have a cozy smell, and they're just fun. They're not going off the shelves anytime soon.
This is why I ripped all my CDs to FLAC. I can quickly convert to any new format mp3/ogg etc. Look up lossless encoding.
:-)
I think that pretty soon the ebook viewer will be solved, I'm thinking eink in a very light and bendy binding A4 & A5 size. Good DPI and no backlight When this happens watch how quickly people scramble for an archive format for books, pdf or somesuch.
I expect to be at the front of the early adopters for ebooks when they get the tech right. The current group of hardware is never going to fly, too cumbersome, too much battery usage, too fragile, too many features etc.
I've already scanned a number of books to greyscale gif, mostly old reference books. I have a huge number of PDFs, if I can buy the pdf rather than the paper I do. At home I have a vertical monitor which just happens to take A4 perfectly
Sorry, not good enough. Ever try reading one of those ebooks in direct sunlight on that PDA of yours? Even the best displays don't compare to good old paper.
There's nothing I like more than stretching out in the sun with an 800 page monster. You actually get something done, while simultaneously losing that green tinge on the skin!
To misquote the dead professor in _I, Robot_ (the movie):
``That, detective, is the wrong question.''
Why *should* I take up ebooks? What is the compelling case? Until there is a compelling case *for* switching, the reasons against aren't crucial, IMO.
I don't see the compelling case. There are environmental issues, but the biggest ones there have more to do with our book economy, which encourages inrcedible amounts of waste. If we only printed books that were worth having, instead of mass marketing thousands of worthless titles a month and having to dispose of the rest, there would be *far* less waste. (Yes, I realize we can have a huge debate about how to determine what books should be printed, and that ebooks would solve this; my point is simply that there are other ways to solve it as well.)
For me, personally? I like having some things online. But sometimes I want those things in paper as well as online, so offer me paper, digital, or both.
When ebooks have the convenience and price of paper books, ask me again.
Having said that, I will now answer the wrong question. 8^) Not exhaustively, but just some major issues for me off the top of my head.
I can read a book in the bathtub. Are any of the ebook readers waterproof? None I've heard of. (Then again, I don't pay that much attention. That compelling case thing.)
I can drop a book almost anywhere but into a fire or vat of acid and it'll survive. But the ebook isn't as hardy. (At least anything I can afford.)
I can loan, give or resell *any* book easily. With the legal nigtmares today over DRM, copyrights and everything else, I have no ieda what I can do with ebooks, and the rules change from title to title.
I don't get eyestrain from spending hours with books, as a rule. I might get a headache or cramps form sitting in one position, but that's easily solved. That's not the case with any sort of digital display I have used.
In many cases, I can spend more money and buy a book that should outlast several generaltions of my family and appeals to several of my senses, or I can buy a cheap paperback that will fall apart after a couple of readings and has less sensory appeal, or I can buy something inbetween. I like that flexibility.
I like the smell of a new book. Build that into your reader, OK?
A book is stone simple for serial reading, and not that hard (if less handy) for jumping around in. Any ebook UI will have to be as easy to use for the base case (serial reading, saving your spot, etc), and better for the other case (reread earlier section, find random stuff). Both are fairly easy to do, but being able to do both well and easily isn't as easy.
I can grab a book to use as a writing surface. I do this a lot, as it turns out.
I can take a book almost anywhere. I can read almost anywhere. While there might be places an ebook works better (rainproof it and you will have started on that compelling case), there are still plenty a book wins for me. Remember that bathtub thing? And a book won't normally slow you down getting through airport security, whereas electronic devices sometimes do (I have experience with this!)
In short, while there are a couple of advantages to ebooks, they don't even begin to make a compelling case for me. Perhaps the above will help you understand why.
Better to lose one $8 book than a $400 reader and every book on it.
And agree about the interface preference. Books are just comforting. Reading is supposed to be something you do to get AWAY from the ever-present electronics. Something simple and entertaining you can take with you anywhere, sit on or drop down a flight of stairs without damage, and loan to friends. It's not something you need to design a digital "experience" around.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
When you're reading a hard-copy book in bed, there's nothing like that to distract you.
Yes, I know, there could be something/someone there distracting you, but we're geeks, remember?
The portability of the paper book is a lot better than my laptop.
I would like to see a decent eBook reader for exactly the opposite reason... My itty bitty Palm can hold hundreds (thousands?) of novels and/or textbooks. A dead-tree version can hold - One.
Now, when I go to bed and want to read for a little while, I'll go into my library and grab a physical book. The "expense" of choosing poorly means I need to get out of bed and visit one room down the hall. When I have to wait in a doctors office or on a bus or even just while away from home for a few days, picking a new book usually doesn't even exist as a possibility.
So since I clearly prefer bits to paper, why do I still have a spare bedroom dedicated to serving as a home library?
The readers.
My notebook has simply amazing resolution, but only lasts three to five hours without AC. My Palm lasts over a full day without recharging it, but hurts to look at for more than a few minutes at a time. Dedicated eBook readers look good and some even get adequate battery life, but make it difficult or even impossible to load non-DRM content.
So what would get me to switch completely?
Something with the form-factor of a small clipboard, preferably flexible, with a high-resolution (though not necessarily color) display (ePaper seems perfect here).
It must either last at least 18 hours on one charge, or take (and last at least 4 hours on) standard rechargeable AA batteries (though without making it too thick - Perhaps the "spine" could hold a column of them?).
It must lets me access (at a minimum) plaintext, postscript, HTML (including MHT or MAF or some comparable all-in-one-file HTML container, including full gif/jpg/png/bmp support), and PDF wouldn't suck. It must also not complain about merely storing any other type of file, though I don't expect it to do anything with them.
It must accept a non-proprietary low-cost DRMless media type such as standard CF or SD. It should also have a reasonable quantity of nonvolatile on-board storage that I can copy content to and from (without restriction) the CF/SD/whatever card, so I can keep my favorites in it at all times.
It must have a load-and-render time lower than what it takes to turn a physical page of a book, so perhaps 3 seconds worst-case.
It should, preferably, have some flexibility to act as a sort of general purpose PDA - Nothing fancy, just a personal organizer. It doesn't need a touchscreen or full keyboard, the old-fashioned console game "Please enter your name" style interface would suffice - I don't want another PDA, but I also don't want to need to turn on a separate device just to jot down a note like "meet bob at 9:30" or "Susie Q: 911-5555".
It should support at least one "open" programming interface, to allow the geeks of the world (myself included) to write cool eye-candy-clicky-widgets (c'mon, you know you need Tetris, Snakes, and Mine Sweeper to run on every electronic device you own!) for it. I accept that running such add-ons may drastically reduce the battery life, as long as I have that choice.
For all that, I would pay up to around $500 (for a totally perfect implemenation... Halve that for the basics of what I want).
- as it could be more convenient
- as it could be cheaper
- as it could be easy and simple to share a book I loved with my friends (just 10s seconds transfer), to upgrade my reader when they'll do a better screen, to have a reader for the bus (small, bulletproof, iPod autonomy) and a reader for the house (bigger, less autonomy but better rendering)
Here's why I don't think I'll see that working soon. Point 3 is what I want and what some authors want (they could even get a more direct relationship with the reader and earn a bit more), what the public want. As for music and cinema and software, digital age is doomed and there are, as for me, only two scenarios:Hey wait, not really because there are multiple incompatible models/formats
How could it be? Books are just plain text even if some (10-20%) of them could need some html basic tagging and some others (1-2%) could need a bit more (like pdf).
Oh yes, it's because of point 3
Hey wait, it's not really cheaper. It's sometimes even the opposite. How could it be? As I pay for the paper, the ink, and the shipping/handling/storing is free, a pocket book could cost around $1-3 instead of $5-10.
Oh yes, it's because of point 3
Hey wait, it's not what "they" (editors -of books and software-, manufacturers) want. "They" want repetitive costs for me, DRM, new way of "consuming" books.
- Consume. eBooks (and eSongs and eMovies and eSoftware) going more and more expensive (remember the price of a vinyl, a VHS/ticket, MsOffice in the early 90's?). Old fashion becoming luxury and less accessible to the public. More and more mainstream content.
- Get. eBooks are shared (some initiatives, legal ones especially but also some less legal, are really good) using commonly accessible technology (Palm if it can survive, why not next gen. iPods). more audio-books are made by the public and shared over P2P networks. Isn't it what's happening to eSongs and eMovies and eSoftware?
And I believe it's what will happen until some of "them" understand that "digital age" also means sharing knowledge, software, art (well, some of "them" are on the right way, and iTunes gave a good help for the music/TV "them" as did Sun/IBM/Apple for the software).ClaudeBBG
But if you drop a book the bookmark could fall out AND YOU COULD LOSE YOUR PLACE!
> It seems that the readers of Slashdot are the most likely early adopters of
> electronic books,
Based on what logic? The Ooo! Shiny! factor?
Many slashdotters aren't as drawn to shiny as some people.
> 1. Form factor: They just prefer the feel and 'interface' of a paper book.
That's part of it. It's difficult to tell if you are discounting this as a legitimate factor, however. It sort of seems that you are. The size, ease of use, and dead-simple, legible interface of a paper book are -highly- compelling factors. Bluntly, eBook readers still can't offer anything better.
> 2. Lack of a compelling device (or perhaps lack of convergence): They don't
> own a reader (other than a PC or notebook) and can't take them with them.
I think you under stressed -compelling- there. I read electronic books on my PC and notebook. Where the books refer to PC-centric subjects and that makes it convenient to read -as I work with the content I am learning-.
If it were merely a matter of dragging the notebook along in order to read something non-pc oriented, I'd have just added a lot of weight and inconvenience for very little benefit. I also see no compelling reason to buy a separate device for this purpose.
> 4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite
> publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings.
-Big point-; the only corrections I would make are to change "They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers" to "They don't like DRM" -period-, and add that the rights of consumers are given little or no protection under recent DRM legislation. Why buy an encumbered book, especially when publishers are unwilling to cooperate in securing the rights of consumers to use the content they purchase -as they see fit-?
> What reason do you have for not taking up e-Books? Are they listed above
> or are there other reasons that you would like to add?
I want to make sure this isn't misunderstood. Don't read anything into what I'm writing. There is no subtext; it's all clear and open.
Plain paper books -work-. They offer the right combination of features, properly balanced, with adequate protections for both the consumer and the publisher. It ain't broke; it doesn't need fixing.
In order to be a compelling replacement, eBooks have to offer at -least- a close approximation of the same benefits, plus something else.
They don't.
They're getting better; eBooks are not as atrociously hard to read as they once were; but they aren't as easy or easier on the eyes than paper books.
They aren't as annoyingly crippled in terms of conflicting/limited/proprietary DRM schemes as they once were; they're still encumbered, though, and paper books aren't.
The devices aren't stupid single function toys anymore, so you can use them even when not reading an eBook. And the devices generally support decent battery life/durability, etc. But paper books still don't need -any- reader device, and hence -never- have battery life or electronics failure issues.
They might be getting to be nearly, almost as good at being books as books are. Maybe. But in some ways, they may never be as good, or even really that -close-.
I can pass around a book, scribble in it, prop it open on my desk, give it away, etc. eBooks are -never- going to reach the same convenience in these areas. Maybe -close-; maybe with -additional enhancements-. But not the same; never exactly equal.
And that means they don't make it past the "if it ain't broke" test. If I am satisfied with paper books (and I and -many millions of other people are-), then I need to be drawn to some other feature. Something outside of being a good book, that draws me to eBooks instead of paper. I haven't found one yet.
Some people say they save trees; I do more for that by reusing paper bags and not buying useless magazines. Some people say you can save a little money; I save more by buying used
I read a few books on an old Palm V five or six years ago. That was fine, until the Palm V fell in a lake.
What did I learn from my clumsy anecdote?
1. Nobody sold books I wanted in a format that worked on the device without a crack.
2. The device was expensive compared to a book.
3. The display was workable, but lousy compared to a real book. It did work at night without a light, though.
4. The batteries in a real book last much longer.
5. You can't read an e-book until you reach cruising altitude on a plane.
These days, I just take a paperback, and there's a small waterproof LED headlamp in my bag that gets something like 120 hours to a set of AAA batteries.
Somebody will eventually nail the device form factor-- small super-hi-res high-contrast screen that doesn't cost so much you worry about it and batteries/solar panels/whatever that never let you down. Airplanes will allow them during takeoff, and book companies will sell universally compatible files of their entire in-print and out-of-print collections.
I don't own a laptop. I prefer reading off of printed paper, can take it outdoors or other pleasant locations, can recline on a couch. Even for things shorter than books, I almost always print them out and read the paper. I'm hardly old fashioned (20-something year old graduate student in electrical engineering). Sorry but the ebook idea just seems stupid to me.
The single biggest problem with ebooks is that my permanent access to the content isn't guaranteed by the publisher. Computers, software and consumer electronics become obsolete quickly. I don't want to lose every book I own when I upgrade Windows or my old ebook reader dies. As an example, I purchased an $80 textbook in ebook form for Adobe's original ebook reader software. Six months later, Adobe began using Acrobat for ebooks and my $80 book became inaccessible after installing their new reader software. I spent several days trying to find a way to transfer my digital rights to the book over to the new software. I ultimately found a way to do it, but I had to rely on cached Google pages and mirrored copies of a conversion utility. (For some reason, Adobe had removed the instructions and conversion software from their site.) If I buy access to fixed electronic content -- be it music or books -- I expect to have a persistent and irrevocable right to access that content _forever_. Unfortunately, the creators of ebook systems put very little effort into protecting consumers, and instead concentrate almost solely on protecting content providers. If ebooks are to succeed, our DRM rights need to be guaranteed, even when content companies and reader manufacturers go out of business. ---Gary