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Which eBook Reader is the Best?
Mistress.Erin writes "I cannot decide between Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader. I've read some
reviews, but their motives can be somewhat suspect. So, I come to the most tech savvy group around to ask: which eBook reader is the best? If not Kindle or Reader, then what?" We've discussed this question before, but things have changed a bit since 2005.
I don't understand why the motives of the first two reviews are "suspect".
It's the best!
The best e-book for me is not an eBook, but the good ol' old fashioned ones with covers!
I've read some reviews, but their motives can be somewhat suspect.
I'm actually more curious about why you wrote that than I am about the eBook readers in question.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
if you need an explanation as to why "not Sony," you don't read /. enough.
Don't support DRM technology.
Could someone please enlighten me on what an eBook reader is?
A program just used to display a document?
A program used to read the books with a voice?
A device on which you can upload documents for the sole purpose of reading them?
Pure awesomenes
I own the original Sony Reader. If you mostly download your own books, then the new (PRS-505) Sony Reader is better than the Kindle. The Amazon ebook store is the biggest around, but it's still nothing compared to what is available in print. In fact, it's nothing compared to what's available on IRC.
The best ebook reader around, however, is the Ebookwise 1150. The LCD screen doesn't have great resolution, but it has instant page-flip. The price can't be beat. The back-lighting is wonderful for night reading.
If I were Amazon, I would have released a cheap reader to go along with my expensive reader. Something like the 1150, with just one or two modern improvements (USB file transfer).
I'd just like to say, whoever tagged this 'jetsvssharks', I salute you for bringing Broadway musicals into a story about eBook readers.
Ask the other two guys
Personally I find both Kindle and Sony's reader too large. I use a Toshiba E805 PocketPC with VGA (640x480) to read books with either EReader.com's free reader or Mobipocket. The price is equivalent, about $400, but you can do far more with the PDA, it will surf the web decently, show movies, play games, play music, etc. You can even get a phone PDA that will let you download books and all kinds of other stuff over the air. I have a T-Mobile Dash and although small the screen is definately good enough to read books on too.
For the cost of the Kindle....you can get a cheap laptop, and be able to do more than just read a book. I read ebooks on an ancient Handspring Visor 8mb. Got it ages ago for about $30 on ebay.
One of the oldest and still the best. Perhaps not quite as modern a content delivery system or as space-saving as the Internet and a locked-down-with-DRM POS like the Kindle, but if you want to build a library it's still the best option.
I recently bought a SonyEricsson P1 mobile phone and installed a MobiPocket reader on it and it works very well. I flip the screen and then its almost like reading a pocketbook. Theres a 512 Mbyte flash card in the phone as standard which is quite enough for hundreds of books if you want to. An excellent choice as you only need one device for everything that fits nicely in a pocket. Well worth checking out.
Now the world has gone to bed, Darkness won't engulf my head, I can see by infra-red, How I hate the night.
It probably should be the iPod Touch, but the bloody thing doesn't allow viewing/opening/saving locally stored pdf's, unless you jailbreak it and install apache, php and god knows what else. Such a WASTE!
lemonade was a popular drink and it still is
None of the above. Electronic books currently are nothing but publishers trying to kill used book resale, and I don't see why anybody should stand for it.
is competition good, or is duplication of effort bad?
A PC/Mac/laptop/phone that can read a non-DRMed file that I bought with my own money because it's my copy and I should be able to copy it and back it up to whatever machine I want for my own personal use because the law says I can!
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
Tungsten E, Can get them for cheap and uses SD cards, Lots of books in open format. And with Battery Addition Mod it can run for about 10 hours of reading time...
I would recommend the Kindle for only one big reason:
.PDFs with free Mobipocket creator), and there you go. No DRM necessary, unless you buy books from the Kindle store.
- Text search capability
It's hard to believe that in 2007, the latest Sony reader has no ability to search through the text of a book. This is important for technical reference manuals and textbooks, and was a dealbreaker for me. I don't use the Kindle store (other than to purchase one book when I first got it), so I leave the wireless off to save batteries.
I find the Kindle is dead simple to use. Plug it into your computer with USB, drag some Mobipocket, RTF, or TXT files onto it (convert your
Also, some people will complain about no native PDF support on the Kindle. This is not a bad thing. Sony reader displays PDFs, but shrinks an entire 8.5x11 page down to the size of the tiny screen, so it's almost unreadable! This is why you must convert your PDFs into Mobipocket format first, so that the Kindle can resize the fonts, etc., and it becomes an actually readable e-book, and not a glorified thumbnail viewer.
"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." - Richard M. Nixon
...would be to use a media player that can open text documents. Naturally this is not at all like reading a book (whereas Kindle is *a lot* like reading a book), but you can listen to music on the device while you read, which for portability does have its serious advantages, especially in a car or on a plane. I have a Cowon A2 for this, but there may be better options if you only need text + music.
For what it's worth, from what friends whose tech-savviness I trust have told me, the Kindle is quite cool and if you're seriously after such a device, it is the best out there at the moment. But almost everyone agrees that the price right now is a bit steep and it makes a lot of sense to wait a bit for it to drop and a slightly reworked version to hit shelves (maybe better button design, etc. -- whatever other issues users have complained about in this regard).
I like basketball!!1!
the DS is pretty good.
Get yourself a PDA with a decent resolution that you can set to a low brightness. You will spend less money, have more features in the device, and have greater flexibility in ebook formats.
I'm drooling over those ebook readers myself, but they're just not worth the price when you can get so much more bang for your buck.
I'm not sure what kinds of eBooks the OP plans on reading, but using the Linux-based Nokia N800 or N810 internet tablets as eBook readers using FBReader is pretty popular. You can use the tablet for lots of other cool stuff too. You won't be able to read DRM'd stuff though.
My Palm TX doubles as my ebook reader. My Sony Clie before that. I have never had an issue with using either except in bright daylight. I don't buy DRM'd material and so far have never had a problem with getting material in PDF, PRC/PDB, or text. I could actually handle more formats if so inclined.
Basically, why buy an e-reader? So far none of them seem very good based on specs, so double up on your tech usage until they get a lot better.
Which ever one can read PDFs and doesn't insist on DRM.
I've been struggling with the same issue lately. From my own, non-professional opinion, as I plan to pick one or the other up in the next month or so (well, pending kindle is in stock, I guess).
Pretty much the only 2 things I like about the Kindle are: Built-in wireless and Amazon.com's ebook selection appears to be greater. I love the idea that I can be on the bus and get the urge to pick up something and download it and start reading right then. I don't like how plastic-y it looks and I agree with that rotund reviewer that criticized the button placement. Also, the keyboard is neat, but looks really chintzy. I plan to read, not write, so take that for what it is. Also, what's with having to pay for viewing your own PDFs and whatnot?
Sony: Cheaper. Expansion slots. Decent library. Broad format support. Design looks nicer.
Right now, I'm heavily leaning towards the Sony, although the sheer library, plus the idea of streaming "periodicals" is a nifty idea on the Kindle. Maybe I should just wait for Sony to bring out their next version, which will, if they're smart, add some of that capability.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
Do you want Kindle, Sony's eBook reader, PDF reader, TeX, LyX, Ghostview, or IrfanView?
If you get your eBooks in a nice format like PDF, PostScript, or EPS then you can use any reader for those formats. A PDF reader is available for just about every platform. PostScript, TeX, and EPS aren't far behind. HTML's even a pretty good choice. If you can get your books in one of these formats, you can probably choose your device.
If you choose your device first, there's a good chance you can't choose your format.
No DRM, No batteries, best prices!
:^>
Beyond dead trees, neither of these both use DRM. First company with large publisher support, no DRM, excellent readability, low power use, extreme durability (drop the sucker in the ocean, or down the side of a mountain and it lives) will win this field. Like that'll happen!
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
I have the Sony PRS-505 and I love it. It feels wonderful. The screen is amazing (I believe it is the same screen as is used in the Kindle). I use linux, so I don't use the Sony Connect software. I use libprs500, which is a nice little program available for windows, linux and mac. I get my books from places like ebooks.com in Microsoft Reader (win2k in a virtual machine) format because the DRM can be broken and the files are easy to convert to a properly formatted PDF with OpenOffice. I only use the reader for reading books, so I can't speak to the quality of the music player. I can easily read 3000 pages on a charge. It is rated at 7500 page turns, but it still uses a tiny bit of power when it is just sitting there (unless you do an actual shutdown which is not obvious how to do and the startup time from completley off is significant). It took me about 25 pages of reading on the reader before I managed to stop admiring the device and get drawn into my book. Now, I can start reading a book and I almost forget I am using the reader.
Yeah, definitely Emacs. The only eBook reader that can read things to you with a Lisp...
I just want one that's waterproof. So I can read in the hot tub and floating out in the lake. I currently use a treo in a waterproof case and that's in the hot tub, but floating out in the lake the glare on the case is a problem. The only options I have found so far are rather expensive or have primitive screens.
I have used both. I also occasionally read books on my laptop. For most purposes, the eInk readers are a lot easier to read than LCD displays. I prefer the Sony Reader. DRM is not that much of an issue to me because I generally buy or download my books from non-Sony sources, BUT--and this is a major point--if you are a Mac User (or a Linux user), I recommend the Kindle. Sony, in their infinite ignorance, does not support anything but Windows. The other factor that I would check on is how many books are available in your format. I know a few people who have said that they couldn't find certain books for the Kindle that are available for the PRS-505. Personally, I have had the opposite results. One device that might bear watching is the OLPC computer because it offers the best of both worlds--it is a color display until you turn the brightness all the way down, and then it becomes a reflective gray scale display.
The best Ebook reader is the Hanlin Ereader v3. It runs the Linux OS, it is not DRM based, and it supports the most book formats or otherwise file format freedom. It supports PDF, DOC, WOLF, HTML, MP3, TXT, RTF, CHM, FB2, Djvu, PNG, TIFF, GIF, RTF, and JPG formats.
I'm with you. And, I went to my local library and got a card. And now, I have access to thousands of titles for the cost of my tax dollars.
I think a big part of the popularity of the e-readers is because it's just another gadget. Folks will come up with plenty of rationalizations as to why they need it or how it's so superior to a book. But that's the consumer mentality, I guess. It goes the same for fast cars (need them to merge with traffic!), SUVs (safety after all and I have kids!), computers, cameras, etc...
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
http://naebllc.com/index.html
Is one I have been following. Price is still a little steep but it's designed as an open device, not locked to proprietary formats and networks. I haven't been following the details on the Kindle or the sony device, but the device details are available at the link above. The highlights are that it uses 2bit grayscale e-ink, an ARM processor from Samsung and Linux as the OS. On release it will support RTF, HTML, PDF and PRC (Mobipocket). It looks like it may be available before the end of the year (week after next) but they aren't quite ready to accept money and ship product at this momnet.
...it's the software - the DRM. I've been an eBook fan for a while - I love the convenience. I have read on many devices - but if you want to get the books that are "protected" then you immediately lock yourself into a scheme that will limit your choices.
I have no experience with either device, but am tempted by both. Either comes with their own DRM hell. If the past and other devices are an indicator, I'd bet that Sony's reader is a beautiful piece of hardware that is utterly crippled by the software they loaded it down with.
I've been happy with using Fictionwise (www.fictionwise.com) - they've got a good collection of stuff and for the non-secure stuff you can download it into many different formats.
Alas that new stuff is more and more coming out in proprietary/secure formats only. So I just check those out from the library.
I do my reading on a Pocket PC, with uBook, which is great software. I haven't used FBReader but it looks good from afar. Can anyone compare them?
When I saw the tiny Asus machine, "ebook" was the first thing I thought of. Battery life is not great, but I'd be willing to plug it in on the couch/in bed, reserving battery power for being away. My Pocket PC only runs for a few hours too, and it's almost always enough to get me back to a charger-YMMV.
the best book reader is wood pulp, pressed and cut into pages
its cheap, its battery life is infinite, it has excellent contrast in bright light, and no DRM
eBooks to me are like electronic voting or verbally asking computers natural language questions rather than using a keyboard: weird technofetishist fantasies that don't improve upon existing technology, and are forever doomed to fail
you watch, kindle, and the sony reader will be forgotten in 6 months, like all the previous eBook tech that came with great fanfare and disappeared like a fart in the wind
eBooks don't improve upon real books folks, they simply don't
you may now continue ignoring the little kid saying the king is naked
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I know ppl who still knock those new fangled typewriters. You would fit right in. Get with it.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Why not consider the Iliad? It's an open (linux) platform, has wifi, a better screen than either of the others, and you can annotate books & make notes w/ the stylus. A bit pricier, tho:
http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad
-- THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK -- --
* Ahh! But does it run Linux? Yes. Yes it does. It's dual-boot Xubuntu and XP.
A lot of my dead tree books are falling apart. The bindings are coming apart and the pages are yellowed and disintegrating.
There's only so much you can do with Scotch tape to hold them together a little bit longer.
The one with the most features AFTER
the DRM is completely absent !!!!
The XO Laptop display is visible in full daylight. Its software is completely open. It can read and display open formats like plain text and PDF. It can download the files from the Internet using WiFi. It has extremely low power consumption and if you find yourself too far away from an outlet, you can charge it yourself. For the cost of a Kindle from Amazon you can buy an XO and donate one to a child.
From the specs page of the XO PC at One Laptop Per Child:
http://laptop.org/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml
* Liquid-crystal display: 7.5" Dual-mode TFT display;
* Viewing area: 152.4mm × 114.3mm;
* Resolution: 1200 (H) × 900 (V) resolution (200 DPI);
* Monochrome display: High-resolution, reflective sunlight-readable monochrome mode; Color display: Standard-resolution, Quincunx-sampled, transmissive color mode;
* LCD power consumption: 0.1 Watt with backlight off; 0.2-1.0 Watt with backlight on;
* The display-controller chip (DCON) with memory that enables the display to remain live with the processor suspended; the display and this chip are the basis of our extremely low power architecture; the display controller chip also enables deswizzling and anti-aliasing in color mode.
So where can I buy all the ebooks that amazon/sony have for sale in their stores in a non-DRM'd format? Not really good to buy a non-drm'd reader if I can't get content for it.
Wait for Apple's solution!
The question can't be answered without knowing what is important.
If you don't need the extreme runtime epaper can provide (no power use when displaying static text... except for the Kindle if you don't disable the radio.) just get a small laptop, tablet computer or pda. The Nokia handheld has close to the same number of pixels in smaller space so the dpi is actually better.
For epaper devices it really comes down to three choices, Amazon, Sony or Other
Amazon is selling you a cell phone with an epaper display. Yes you CAN shove other material into it but they don't make it easy and probably can't trust em to not make it harder in the future. It is so obviously a play to lock Amazon in as THE supplier of etexts in the same way the iPod was a brazen attempt to monopolize digital music and video distribution. And remember that it uses a cell phone as it's CPU. Violate the Amazon TOS and kiss your content goodbye.
Sony uses the exact same display (according to the epaper vendor) so if you have seen one you know what the display quality of the other is like. (Low res, low contrast and slow IMHO) Sony probably has equally sinister desires as Amazon but considering their position in the book market has no hope of achiving any sort of monopoly. So if evil is out, count on em being stupid at some point and killing the product with something mindbogglingly retarded.
Or you can go third party, google for em there are several smaller vendors selling the same panel with essentially the same pokey CPUs in various colors of plastic shell.
Many run Linux but that won't do you much good unless you find a hack to blow their DRM infested firmware out. No DRM, no ebooks from mainstream houses but the free stuff, tech docs and pirate stuff would still be good to go. Of course there isn't much point to hacking one anyway, they are slow and the screen refresh is bad enough to preclude any interactive app.
Democrat delenda est
Nowadays, I tend to read eBooks with less(1) but I once used dictator. It displays the file word by word with speed adaptating to punctuation. It feels very strange to read text with it but it's not entirely unpleasing.
No GNU has been Hurd during the making of this comment.
Personally I'd pick my laptop over any e-reader out there, or even a PDA would be a better choice than any e-reader.
Did anyone think about UMPC? or Tablet PC? I think they have more power, so you can run the regular Adobe reader, instead of the mobile version.
man, I've got thousands of books I bought used and I'm planning on getting an eBook reader in 2008.
I don't get your statement at all.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Well, I noticed you can get a refurb one on the sony website for $200 and thought "hey, I can turn that around on ebay if I don't like it. Then I found out that it has phenomenal linux support (albeit not from sony). Then, I got it, and fell in love.
I've found that I read more now because it's more portable. I get slashdot feeds on it, NYTimes, a bunch of PDF and text ebooks, and it's tiny. There's enough stuff in gutenberg to keep me reading for a long time, and a lot of it is classic stuff I've been wanting to read for ages. I've also got a number of books in txt format (can't remember where I got them, I've had them since pre-torrent days) that read great.
And what everyone says about the screens, it's true. You really DO forget you're reading on that new flashy gizmo. It's so thin and light I keep it in my backpack all the time, and while I'm between classes or waiting for something at work, or doing anything bus-related, I read a bit.
As far as I'm concerned, I'll never be without an ebook reader again, as long as it's eink. At the rate I've been using it, I'll have paid it off in reading material in about 2 months.
no pinhead can come along and take the writing off the pages once you've bought it.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
I have been reading ebooks for years using whatever PDA I have been carrying around (currently: a Palm TX). I have a large library of non-DRM ebooks: a bunch of stuff that's so old it is out of copyright (for example, the Sherlock Holmes stories), and a bunch of Baen ebooks.
I plug Baen every chance I get: they give away some ebooks for free, they sell the others at good prices, they offer multiple formats, and they don't wrap the books in DRM.
Baen Free Library (free ebooks)
Baen books for sale
Most of my reading is ebooks on my PDA now. Any time I have a few minutes to spend (sitting in a waiting room, for example) I can pull out my PDA and read a few more pages. I always have my book with me and it's always at the last page I was reading.
For long airplane trips (like flying to Japan) I still use my old Handspring Visor. The Palm TX is good for maybe four hours on a charge; the Visor is good for dozens of hours with a pair of good AAA cells.
I'm planning to buy an XO mini-laptop, and that should make an excellent ebook reader. Like the Visor, it will be readable in direct sunlight, and will have long battery life. It should be excellent for long airplane flights. It's a lot bigger than a Palm PDA, but it is smaller and lighter than most hard-cover novels.
http://laptopgiving.org/en/index.php
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I use a Palm TX, too. It's great, but when reading in the dark (so as not to disturb the sleeping wife) the display just can't be made dim enough for my taste, even with a black background.
Proprietary formats and hardware. Not passing along any of the cost savings to consumers.
I've been reading books on a Pocket PC for about five years. That's not what I bought it for, but it turned out to be one of my biggest uses for the handheld.
I can use or convert any format I've run across. And it's easy to read on. People are always dubious about that until I show them. Nice and bright, turn pages quickly with a jog wheel, one-handed reading at any angle. Sure, I mostly read paper, but the handheld is good for travel. Battery life leaves something to be desired ... but if I turn off wifi and dial down brightness a bit, I get five hours or so.
And there are a ton of books available via P2P. I say that with some resignation, as an author ... but it's not like I'm in the elite. I'm prepared to adjust my business model. ;-)
I don't see why no one else has noticed this, but how about the XO laptop (a.k.a. the OLPC)? Besides being the same price as the kindle, (including giving one to a child in need with a $200 tax deductible donation) with a dual-mode display: one a conventional color LED laptop screen, the other a sunlight-readable, black-and-white e-book The software interface is truly incredible. The color display only uses 1 watt, and the e-book monochrome display only consumes 0.2 watts. It's rugged, has built-in wifi... It runs linux, there's python, collaborative music-making and writing...
I don't own one so I could be misreading, but if I understand correctly, Kindle has free wireless internet access via the Sprint network, which is itself pretty valuable. I hear its browser sucks, but it's still better than nothing. It also apparently has some alternate (non-sucky-browser) interface to Wikipedia, and just being able to look up Wikipedia articles for free over a wireless cell network seems like a fairly useful feature, at least for those of us who aren't willing to shell out monthly or per-KB fees for wireless internet on our cell phones.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Steve Gibson of Spinrite fame, wrote ar eview of the Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3R24QH3CDS83N/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm Walt
I have the new Sony reader (PRS 505) and love it. It's sleek, comfortable to hold, easy to read, has excellent battery life, has plenty of storage built in, supports sony and sd flash cards, runs linux, works fine with all OSes I've plugged it into (osx, linux, & windows). You're not limited to DRMed formats either -- out of the box it suports the DRMed and non-DRMed sony format, txt, rtf, and pdf. PDF is a bit annoying with 8.5x11 formatted documents. The BBeB format is probably the "best" in the sense that it makes opening books and font size changes happen quicker than say rtf or txt. Using libprs500 you can convert additional formats to BBeB, most notably html, lit, and (with an additional step) chm. I use mine all the time. In short, it rules and I have no complaints about it whatsoever.
I looked at the Sony reader in Costco and the Kindle online.
...) is the very high resolution and effective infinite refresh this makes it real easy on the eyes when you are reading for hours at a time.
The real nice thing about the E-Ink devices (Sony Reader, Kindle, Bookeen,
The Sony is sleek and well designed, didn't like being locked into one store though. I ended up getting a Bookeen Gen3 and am very happy so far -- it weighs very little and looks much nicer than the Kindle. It supports the Mobipocket format and there are 20-30 online stores that have content; you will find some stores have books others do not.
If you want to be able to browse web pages or other interactive things and believe that's more important than a reader device then I suggest you look outside of the E-Ink devices.
If you value being able to search your e-books, something like the Kindle or other readers which have a keyboard may be better suited to your habits.
This matrix compares specs of most major readers out there. http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix/
Books On Board has a pretty good deal on Bookeen: http://www.booksonboard.com//
An avid reader of Sci-F, Fantasy, and the occasional Mystery.
-John
None of the above. Electronic books currently are nothing but publishers trying to kill used book resale, and I don't see why anybody should stand for it.
Theoretically though, in time, the e-books should be much cheaper than the equivalent books. And the other reason to use e-books is one of convenience, which if you've got any kind of library you need to slough around with you every time you move house, you'd understand.
Last time I did it, I just wanted to die. And then I decided "No, if I can get all my books on flash memory, I'd be very very happy".
Coming soon - pyrogyra
man, I've got thousands of books I bought used and I'm planning on getting an eBook reader in 2008. I don't get your statement at all.
I think the GP's post was intimating this question: once you get an eBook reader, how many used books do you think you'll continue to purchase?
By moving to eBook, there is no resale because of DRM issues; everyone will have to buy their own "new copy."
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.
...are the cheap ebook readers? It's a damn LCD+SD reader+battery, you can get them as 'electronic picture frames' for 50 bucks (Except they don't display text.), but 'ebook readers' all cost 200 dollars.
Yeah, yeah, I know eInk is expensive, but there are no cheap LCD ones either.
Hell, you can buy almost suitable MP3 players for 50 bucks.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
I own a Sony eReader PRS-505. I got it to use mainly when I travel internationally, it's wonderful to carry 10+ hours of reading material in one slim package. I've found that it's also fine for everyday use. I use the USB cable (comes with the reader) to hook up to my WinXP laptop for charging and updating content.
You can get books either through Sony's eBook site or by uploading RTFs and PDFs. (And a few other formats, that I don't use.) I have yet to buy a book from Sony, but I'm a big sci-fi reader so I've downloaded a bunch of stuff from the Baen free library (http://www.baen.com/library/) and other sources.
Technically, I really like the features. The battery life is great, I've used it pretty much non-stop on international flights for 12+ hours and never even saw the battery indicator go down. The viewing area is plenty big, as long as you use the zoom feature properly to expand pages of PDFs. It's easy to switch from one book to another, and to maintain bookmarks.
My only real complaint isn't specifically about the Sony, it's more an industry thing - I wish there was a standard book format. Rocket eBook, Windows CE books, Microsoft reader, Palm format, etc. It gets old seeing all those different formats all the time.
I did see mention above about some other features missing, like a text search. Personally I don't really care about that so it's not an issue for me. Also I've seen folks complain about having to use a computer to get content (rather than wireless like a Kindle), but again it's not an issue for me. I work on my computer all the time, no hardship for me to use it for my reader content.
Skip Franklin
It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black. -- despair.com
You won't find it at BestBuy, but take a look at the HanLin eReader.
The current model is about the same as the Kindle, minus the wireless, nice button interface, and DRM, and plus some real format support (PDF, various images, even doc files to some extent).
The new model due out in the early part of the new year will make ebooks are really worth looking at. 825x1200 resolution on a ten inch screen with PDF support makes me very interested.
Get the Nokia N810 Internet tablet. I have its older predecessor N770, but I have played with the immediate predecessor N800.
They have a built-in web browser (with Flash and Javascript), and it's a full fledged Linux handheld, with a large community of developers. It even has a SIP compatible VOIP program, a webcam for web conferencing, email client and a PIM (personal information manager - addressbook, calendar, etc). The only thing that sucks are the screensize (800x480) and the battery life (about 3 hours). But you could get some extra batteries, and somehow manage with the screen size (it's higher than most computers 15 years ago). The N810 even adds built-in GPS receiver. It's one device that does it all - PIM, email, VOIP/video conference, web browsing, ebook reader and GPS navigation. It has WiFi and bluetooth built-in.
Pair it with your cellphone (with EDGE or 3G built-in) and you're good to go. In fact, I'm planning to get rid of my big PDA-cellphone and get a tiny cellphone with 3G and bluetooth. I'll just carry a Nokia N810 when I need the fancy features. When I go out to a restaurant to eat, I don't want to carry a large PDA-phone. A tiny cellphone is all I need. This way, even when I switch cellphone carriers or visit a foreign country, all I need to worry about is to get (or borrow) a cellphone with 3G and bluetooth. It just needs to serve as a replaceable modem for my Nokia N810 handheld. It has a built-in keyboard, onscreen keyboard, decent handwriting recognition, and can pair with a bluetooth keyboard for long typing sessions. No more worries about getting an expensive PDA-phone (Shudder iPhone) and getting locked to an obsolete technology or a crappy cellphone company.
Did I mention you can use it as an eBook reader, btw?
Two reasons that there is value to an ebook reader over PDA or laptop:
1. The eInk screen is substantially easier to read. The Sony 2G is actually uncanny... looks like stickers stuck on the screen. The Kindle is much less contrasty and harder to read.
2. Battery life. eInk does not use significant power unless you are turning the page, so the battery life of these things is on the order of 1week plus with heavy usage. When I have used laptops or PDAs for reading, the batteries die quickly (before I want to stop reading).
Comparing the two.
Sony:
Much more contrast on screen. Very easy to read.
Smaller
Lighter
Much more intuitive user interface. It has multiple choice buttons for navigations.
Better physical design with buttons in convenient positions
Feels more solid and less cheap than Kindle
Software allows you to retag and organize files.
DRM and limited store is a big minus.
Better multiple format support
Kindle:
Staggeringly bad industrial design. Only really one good way to hold the thing without hitting one of the buttons which inexplicably are found on every side.
Want to turn up the contrast on the screen.
Bizaarr user interface that requires scrolling and multiple clicks with a secondary lcd screen to perform simple functions.
Keyboard take a lot of space.
No software to tag and oragnize files. So the list of files on the device is unweidly, long, and filled with incomprehensible tags from Gutenberg, Manybooks, or Fictionwise.
Very restrictive DRM which cancels out its advantage of having a much larger and easier to use store for books.
Wireless is good for subscribing to periodicals, not much else.
Amazon has a staggeringly inefficient mail-in system for conversion. No conversion has worked well so far, strange spacing and formatting even in simple documents.
They need simple PC software to manage the thing. The self-contained bit is inefficient and a waste of wireless and organization.
I figure there are three kinds of reader:
1. Like me - buy and keep books forever. Neither reader much good because DRM keep you from owning the books forever, just until the store dies or you want to change to a better competing reader.
2. Buy books read and resell - no right-of-resale with either device.
3. Buy "beach books" and throw them away. Both readers were made for you with the Kindle having a better store.
I would love an eBook reader if I could get access to my O'Reilly Safari account through it. With the Kindle running on wireless, having the entire O'Reilly library at your fingertips in portable format would be awesome.
It has a 1200x900 mono display (lower color resolution) that approaches paper quality and is just about perfect for this sort of thing.
Display size is a bit small but it's more than usable, especially when folded up with the display out. All open source (Linux, etc.) and a bargain at twice the price (which is what you'd be paying; but take comfort in the fact that in addition to an electronic toy for yourself you'll be contributing to the education of a child elsewhere in the world).
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
Laser printer. Once rendered the batteries never go flat.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I mainly use a Flybook subnotebook at 8.9", with enough batteries for about 15 hours of use (if I carry all batteries with me). An HTC Universal, with more than 15 hours of use (again if I carry both of its batteries) is a helpful alternative in cases I need something smaller. A few times I use other devices as well, but these are the ones most useful for ebooks. Coupled with 3G UMTS or 3.5G HSDPA they ar wonderful, especially the Flybook, which can be used easily even while walking. It isn't the "perfect" machine of course (nothing is perfect), but it works reasonably well and thanks to being a full PC it can run GNU/Linux and read all formats and do everything. In fact it's what I mainly use for all kinds of work while out of my home office (ie every day, I am the nomad kind of person), not only ebooks (it's only in code compile that it sucks, but I do most bug compiles on the server remotely so no big problem).
I've read several reviews of ebook readers and even tried one. The produects are either over-priced, SLOW!@!@#!@#, low memory, screw up on pdfs, are infected with DRM, have screens that are hard to see under certain lighting conditions, etc etc...... I"m sure i'm forgetting a few problems, but [pics] I found several used laptops in the trash behind the La Jolla library and got a light weight dell working. It doesn't have any of the problems of the ereaders except for its weight.
The question isn't "Is an ebook reader a good deal for me today?", it's the much more interesting "What will the social result be if everyone gets an ebook reader with DRM?". The answer is simply that the publishers will have the full control over your use of written human knowledge that they've always wanted - which should be a prospect that makes the convenience argument seem largely irrelevant.
This is a very simple question of ethics, and it fails the Kantian "can I universalize this choice" test. Buying a DRM-infested ebook reader simply isn't an ethical choice.
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
gosh... of course I meant big compiles...!
Well you haven't provided enough information to really answer the question - the answer is dependant on your needs. I'll let you know what I'm planning to buy and why.
I've been reading eBooks since about 1999, and have used a Palm PDA, two different Sony Clies (one still being used) and a Nokia N95 mobile phone (also still being used) for portable reading devices. In addition I also use pc's for reading them.
My choice of reader is based on how I have purchased eBooks in the past. I have a library of somewhere around 500 books, purchase from Baen or from their free library.
Due to various computer problems I've had to rebuild my library either because I've gotten a new reader or gotten a new pc on a number of occasions. I had no problems downloading them even though it may have been years since I purchased the books.
I don't know how purchases made from Amazon for the Kindle but from what I understand if you purchased an ebook from Amazon more than a year ago you are no longer able to download it. Going by my expereince with previous readers this is definitely a downside for the Kindle.
Similarly I have used numerous different devices to read the eBooks I've purchased so anything that has a purchasing mechanism that employs any form of DRM is also a downside.
I'm also based in the UK so the wireless side of the Kindle is useless to me.
The prices for books from their own stores are also more expensive than elsewhere.
Given that I now have a backup reader (in the form of my mobile phone) I'm planning on picking up the re-badged Bookean reader to be sold by NAEB (mentioned further up in this discussion). This reader sued the same eInk display as both the the Sony & Amazon devices, lacks the keyboard (which I wouldn't use) and is cheaper. It is DRM free and I don't need to worry about having problems being able to put my library on there.
Kithran
Personally, I'm waiting for the Readius. It uses e-Ink like the Kindle, but actually rolls up into a compact portable device. It's supposed to be released in Italy 2008, so I might be in store for a long wait here in Canada, but I think it will be worth it.
listen to the market
in 6 months, eat crow
this is not the first time ebooks were attempted, and they perennially appeal to those who don't get it, so this is not the last time ebooks will be attempted either
pure folly
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
bbaston on Groklaw received his XO laptop (see this story) seems to think that it will work really well for that purpose. I'm going to find out in a few weeks. Give one, get one!
Um, one thing about the whole DRM/eBook thing: no resale. I work in a used book store (not exactly a tech job, I know) and we do a pretty good business in used books, both as a storefront and over the internet (rare books sell much better on ABEbooks or Amazon than they do out of a storefront). With eBooks, you can't sell your old books for cash or exchange them for other eBooks at a store, lend them to a friend, or sell them yourself over the internet once you've finished reading them. In other words, a traditional book has a very long lifetime and can be enjoyed by several readers many times, can grow in value (1st Ed., inscribed copies, etc), and has a physical presence.
And if you leave on on the seat next to you at the airport you aren't out hundreds of dollars.
I use FBReader on a linux based pda (Nokia N800). I have tried various others, and like this one the best.
Posted by a Debian GNU/Linux user
Moving them sucks, granted, but not having them would suck also. A large collection of books on a flash drive just isn't as nice to look at as a wall full of books.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
you find a lot of free pdfs on the net, and the one hand usage with the wheel for paging is ideal. in plucker you can add one click lookup of words for translation and if you add this font you have the right balance between strong readability and narrow width - I read hundreds of books this way.. PAT
SEO Test: TIGI und SEBASTIAN - Online Shop - V
The killer app here for me will be when I can read it in the bath/hottub. Hm, of course, that's my next killer app for laptop/web surfing too.
Sorry, I'm a writer. That makes you raw material.
I think the XO laptop does most of that, though it won't fit in anyone's pocket. But they're going to stop the give one/get one program at the end of the month.
I'm less sure about which Microsoft formats it can handle, but it's programmable, and the old binary formats have been reversed enough that I suspect *someone* will be able to extract at least the text from Word docs.
Of course, given its wireless, etc. if you have Word docs, you could always just convert them to PDF or some other standard format that the XO already understands.
At this point, for me at least, Sony is off the list of acceptable products. From their CD's with root kits, to mini-DV tapes recorded in professional grade camcorders that cannot be read in any other camcorder, their products will end up screwing you over somehow. They are way into lock-in and product degradation. They no longer care about making a good product that people will want to buy. They have the big name that is keeping them afloat as the common tech-illiterate will buy their stuff because they see the commercials and they are familiar with the name.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
You can actually buy it on Amazon for $289, and SONY is currently including 100 FREE CLASSIC BOOKS (of your choice) from a large selection. The READER (505) is well-designed, easy to use, and a pleasure to own. It is light; I can hold it in one hand while on the exercise bike, or have it rest on my chest while in the reclining chair. Downloading books from the SONY site (or transfering your own WORD files, etc.), is a snap. Since the battery is only used to turn the page, you are guaranteed to fall asleep long before the battery runs out. I find I am reading more books now, than before I purchased the Reader. Even when the battery is low, you can still read while charging. (less than 2 hours) Unlike Amazon, SONY allows you to read your book library on any PC (including a search function). Any combination of up to five SONY READERS (plus one PC) can be linked to the same account, and share the same books. Therefore, up to six people in your "family" can read the same book simultaneously. Enough said?
I have the Sony's reader, but I would actually recommend a PDA. I personally have been using a Sony NX-70V for years, and have use it to read many ebooks.
For me, it comes down to the ergonomics of using both. I can get very comfortable while using the PDA, and I like how I can turn the pages just by clicking a button, or using the jog dial. The Sony Reader's buttons are not in a position where I normally keep my hands, so I have to move more in order to turn a page.
Also, I've dropped both the PDA and the Sony Reader, and the Sony Reader's screen is more fragile. I have lost about a half inch of the screen on the left, but I can actually work around this problem by playing with the document margins.
Advantages to PDA:
Lower Cost (You can get the PDA on eBay for less than $100)
Can be used in low light, because of backlighting
Better ergonomics
Less fragile
Advantages to Sony Reader:
Lower Power Consumption for better battery life
Great tip, thanks. I was intrigued enough to go looking further:
http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/09/18/hanlin-ereader-v9-due-later-this-year-with-10-inch-e-ink-screen-new-vizplex-tech-included/
Of all the readers out there, the only one that has me really interested is the Iliad (discussed briefly in a comment above), but the high price tag is making me a bit reluctant to jump. The price of the current Hanlin is much more reasonable, and I've been dying for an eReader with a big screen for me to read technical PDFs and RTFs on.
I'm suprised no one's mentioned this yet (Well, so a quick CTRL+F says, anyway) but I use my PSP all the time as a eBook reader. With a copy of bookr ( http://bookr.sourceforge.net/ ), it's a nice elegent setup. True, the screen dimensions only allow a third of a page to be displayed at a time, but the little analog stick works nicely as a scroll wheel. For less than two bills, I'm guessing there are probably not a lot of cheaper solutions out there. The one downside, IMHO, is that (Ok, besides being a Sony product) the bookr software only reads PDFs and plain text files, IIRC.
Could anyone who has an ebook reader capable of displaying PDFs comment on how capable they are at displaying PDF's? I would imagine it's a big pain because most PDFs are designed for 8.5x11 paper, whereas these readers are tiny. Is it possible to read scanned pages? I would also imagine that the background smear on badly scanned documents might be a problem because the e-ink displays can only display a few shades of grey. Can anyone comment?
If you check the "customers" page on eink.com, you can see all the current e-Book producers and go to each site and check them out.
I have done this and I feel that the iRex Iliad is the top dog. You can read the specs here
Not counting the sweet ability to write with it using the built-in Wacom Penabled touch screen, here are some other plusses:
* It uses the 8.1 inch, 768x1024 pixel screen. All other e-book readers currently on the market use the 6-inch, 600x800 pixel screen.
* It claims 16 shades of grey (4-big). All other e-book readers are at 3-bit (8 shades)
* Decent Processing power with a 400mhz X-Scale processor
* Built-in wireless-G with support for 10/100mbs ether.
* IT'S HACKABLE! There appears to be an active dev community for it and even a sanction dev site
My OLPC just arrived today (less than an hour ago in fact) and I'm planning on using it as my eBook reader. But if I manage to 'outgrow' the OLPC as an eBook reader, the iLiad will be my next one.
Cube On! (http://stores.ebay.com/PuzzleProz)
If you want it for the reading experience, get the Sony.
If you want it so that everyone will think you're geeky, get the Kindle.
If you want it because you're truly geeky, get the Irex Iliad.
There's more information than you ever wanted to know about e-book hardware, software, formats, etc. at MobileRead
Sorry, I'm a writer. That makes you raw material.
http://www.summize.com/topic/sony/ebook/vs/amazon/kindle
If you want small and economical it is hard to beat the Nokia 770.
Around $130 and with Wifi and Opera and 800x480 color screen does
so much more than just read ebooks. Great way to surf Project
Project Gutenberg, Ibiblio, Wikipedia or your local library too.
Harder to find now that Nokia 810 model is out and 770 is 3rd
generation back, but if you cannot find it, you may find a 800
for a bit more.
I currently have the ATT tilt phone with mobiepocket reader and it works fantastic. http://www.mobipocket.com/en/HomePage/default.asp?Language=EN
I use the Palm TX for my eBook reading. I currently have about 150 books on the card.
I fire up the mp3 player to listen to music while I read and I take a break periodically to play games between chapters.
It does have word search, places to put bookmarks and annotations, a capability to use the dictionary to look up words, and a (somewhat buggy) version for the PC to read on the computer as well.
That is on top of the Palm's functionality for my work.
It is also just a little more expensive than the Kindle.
So I prefer a smaller multi function eReader to a large clunky single function device.
The only thing about the Palm Reader format that I really hate is that the eBook sellers use your credit card number as the key for the encrypted files. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!
They're both in the early-adopter phase for different reasons. Both devices have the same great 6" e-ink screen (with the same down-side of slow response and flash on refresh). Both devices have restrictive DRM, but allow uploading of your own non-DRMd content. The Kindle has wireless, a keyboard, and more advanced software. It also has the worst industrial design and usability imaginable. The Sony has no wireless, must be tethered to a computer to sync books, only supports Windows officially, and has more limited software. It also has very nice (nearly Apple-like) industrial design and simplicity. I bought the Sony since I'd rather have fewer better-designed features than a pile of half-baked ones. As others have noted, it doesn't do PDF very well because most PDFs are created for US letter sized pages & don't scale down the the smaller screens. it works great with items converted from plain text, rtf, html, lit, etc. There are also nice third-party applications (LibPRS500, for example) that have revere-engineered the file format and allow native sync and conversion on Linux, MacOS X.
How long will it take to kill Kindle?
HW
They've killed Kindle! DAMMIT! YOU BASTARDS!
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Well, I recently spent five weeks in the eastern California desert in a town with no used book stores, or new book stores for that matter. When I ran out of books to read, I got pretty bored. I would have killed for an e-book reader. Oh yeah, no internet connection either except when I went to the coffee shop.
You want to stay away from any proprietary technology (why? you shouldn't have to ask...)
.lit format - microsoft reader, I'm looking at you!)
.html and .rtf. (text, pdf and .lit are to be shunned at all costs)
.html or .rtf (zipped .html is the best). If you can't easily read these on your device, then what's the point?
That pretty much immediately rules out the Kindle, and any thing Sony has ever made...
(also, anything that requires books be in
I've been reading ebooks exclusively since 2001, and after much experimentation, I've settled on ubook reader on pretty much any brand of pocketpc. (It doesn't matter which, personally I'm using a Dell Axim as I like having the thumb scroll button, but what ever takes your fancy...)
What's important in a reader?
- Being able to read any format, particularly
- Being able to read any document, regardless of source (I believe neither the kindle or sony's reader *allow* you to do this. I say allow, because they easily can, they just *choose* not to let you).
- Being able to customize the font, margins, text size etc (Where microsoft reader is severely lacking)
- Being able to turn pages without lagging (microsoft reader, again I'm looking at you).
The most important thing is being able to read any format. Most of the ebooks easily and freely acquired will be in
A pocket pc has a lot more functionality than any of the dedicated readers - its big let down (compared at least to the kindle) is the screen. But my Axim runs at 640x480 resolution, and the text is as crisp as you'd ever want it to be. There's a plethora of ebook readers for the pocket pc, again, my personal recommendation is ubook, (and if you hunt on the net, you can easily find one of the "old" freeware versions that is perfectly adequate, some might even say better, compared to the current version).
The hardware is actually surprisingly attractive. The body itself has a nice brushed metal feel to it now, not unlike a MacBook Pro. Buttons were a silver plastic I believe. The device is also really thin, which was a nice change over the first Reader I saw, as that one was a little on the chunky side.
This being a store demo unit, I did not get to try out the Sony Connect store. This being Sony though, I'm not surprised if the experience had a tendency to suck. The Sony Connect music store's already been shut down, if you were curious how that effort was going in general.
Read the Ars review if you want a more real-life experience though. Personally, I'd like the Sony Reader hardware and exterior combined with the Amazon software and EVDO connection as an ideal ebook reader.
Content. As long as you don't mind paying Amazon or Sony for virtually every book, and are willing to risk investing in books you might not be able to access in five years, either works.
Having just gone through this process, allow me to pass on what I learned about the process.
.5-2 second refresh time. LCDs can have color while eink hasn't gotten that far.
1) Know what you are getting into.
Ebooks have some great advantages. However:
* DRM is common
* books are pricey
* selection is very limited
If you're still interested, continue.
2) LCD vs Eink
I read a lot on my Palm. Now that I have an eink reader, I'm not going back, I never thought LCD was "hard" to read on until I read on something else. However, eink means $$$ and few choices, while there's a number of established as well as new LCD devices for much, much less. LCDs can also scroll, while the eink has a
Your question implies you've picked, so we'll continue on, but others are recommended to visit a Borders and take a peek at a demo Sony Reader - the viziplex screen is pretty much the same for all the major eink readers.
3) Pros and Cons
There are basically 4 readers to choose from here (ignoring the fringe players):
Bookeen
Sony
Kindle
Iliad
Iliad has some real perks, but I wanted a reader not a computer, and certainly not $700 worth.
Bookeen has some nice features, but after my painful Zaurus experience, I wanted to stick to something intended for my language and a little more commercial support. When I bought my reader, the Cybook was still finishing off the rough spots. It may now be worthy of consideration, as it has a much wider selection of formats than the Sony Reader.
Kindle - though it wasn't out when I got my reader, it came out shortly afterward. Major Pros are wireless access to snag books, improved book selection (still limited), and much better prices on books. Major Con is the highly restrictive DRM. That latter is what kept me content with my Sony.
Sony - My eventual choice. It takes props as one of the only technology choices I didn't quickly regret. It has its limitations, most notably the crappy book selection, even crappier prices, and the eink refresh time. But it does what it tries to do reliably well.
Here are the things about the Sony reader that the review may not cover (505 only, not always true for 500)
It's a USB Mass storage device - so you can install books from any computer. What's more, it takes SD cards (and memory sticks, but I haven't mucked with that), and when the card is in the reader and the reader is connected to the computer, the card also appears as a drive on the USB device. I've been able to use my Reader on multiple computers, Windows and Linux, with no issue. There is no need to use the Sony software except to download from their crappy bookstore.
You may see talk of a credit at the bookstore - that's for "Sony Classics" only, i.e. books you can grab off of Gutenburg for free. I recommend you turn to mobileread.com for your ebook needs and wait for Amazon et al to get a clue like they have (started) with Mp3s. Either way, don't factor the $100 credit into your comparison.
The Sony Reader can handle LRF (it's propriety but not necessarily DRM'ed format) well, offering hyperlinking and 3 levels of magnification along with landscape/portrait modes. It can also handle TXT (I believe the zoom offerings are the same). PDF is also handled, but (1) Not "Digital Editions" (Adobe's DRMed books) and (2) It only offers 2 "sizes". Most PDF books come across as very small even when I have it zoomed and landscape. RTF doesn't resize in my experience, but it works well enough. Notably HTML, Mobi, Palmdoc, Word doc, and Openoffice formats aren't supported.
Installing a book can be done with their crappy wanna-be Itunes like software...or you can drag and drop via USB and ignore that. I recommend the latter.
The charge for me, reading a couple of hours each day, is a little less than a week. It charges off of USB no problem, standard mini connector. Your current position in books is lost if it goes dry, but nothing else, including hard boo
Why limit yourself to Kindle and Sony only? Have a look at E-book Reader Matrix at MobileRead Wiki to see what e-ink devices are currently available. I personally like Cybook Bookeen.
As I type on my new XO (just got it through the G1G1 program) in Black and white mode, I can attest to the screen's clarity. It is like reading a newspaper, and the refresh rate is far superior to both the sony/amazon readers. Sure, its "not a reader", it's bigger than the other readers and its only available for order for another two weeks. However, with the upcoming sw update it will have close to a day's worth of battery in reading mode. It is also about the same price as the readers, and it is a laptop w/ built in wifi. Show me a current ebook reader that you can go to a website and download your book/pdf/news story.
If you want a fast refresh, laptop capability and wifi enabled, go with the OLPC. And, did I mention you could accidentally drop it and spill you coffee on it and it will still work?
Get an Iliad or CyBook. They use the same display technology, they can read standard web content, feeds, RSS, and other formats. They also run Linux.
In contrast to those companies, both Amazon and Sony are trying to control the eBook market rather than producing a universal reader.
I would consider any ebook reader which doesn't have support for DJVU basically a toy at this point. Anyone who's tried reading technical oriented ebooks will know what I'm talking about.
No karma blown, they've never tried one so therefore ebooks/readers must suck.
Yes I like reading processed trees as much as any bibliophile, but I'd really rather carry my Nokia 770 with me. Currently there are 76 books loaded in there from all over the place, Gutenberg, the Baen Free Library, the CIA World Factbook, and more. It was really great on vacation this last Summer. All those endless train rides across Europe and there was no way I was going to pack a half a dozen paperbacks and an equal number of roadmaps for the trip.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
My preferred e-book reader is my blackberry. It pulls books in html format from my server at need. It's conveniently located on my belt whenever I feel like reading. And of course it does less important things too: like handle email and phone calls.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Fujitsu FLEPia. Sounds like it has all the features I'd be looking for: color e-ink, stylus input being the two key ones.
Not sure if it is out yet and even then you might want to wait a year or two until it is affordable, but it is the first
product in the e-reader field which made me excited.
Nobody can sell you a used e-book.
You can't sell an e-book you bought.
Beyond diminishing the value of your property (by keeping you from truly owning anything), this also means that if a publisher quits selling a particular ebook, tough luck, you have no way to get it. How much would human knowledge have withered if you could only ever get something from the original source, forever?
Books should last centuries, not merely years. Supporting this licensing idea, and losing the doctrine of first sale, is bad for human knowledge.
Kindle license: "Restrictions. You may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party, and you may not remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content. In addition, you may not, and you will not encourage, assist or authorize any other person to, bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent security features that protect the Digital Content."
Can't readily find the same document for the Sony books, but I'm sure it's similar.
is competition good, or is duplication of effort bad?
what I want in an eBook Reader ....
...
* Inexpensive - less than the cost of 10 paperback books and it needs to include 10 books with the device - less than $100
* Small - smaller than a paperback book with 100 pages
* Light weight - it should weigh about the same as a paperback scifi book
* Beautiful reading screen - I don't know how to explain this - but I know it when I see it.
* Control of font sizes - 6pt.-32pt. At least 10 different sizes.
* Open platform - support both the proprietary and open document formats. HTML/CSS, TXT, common MS-Office files, Open Office files, PDF. Minimal graphics.
* MP3 player - I suppose a case could be made for AAC and WMA protected formats, but that has nothing to do with my personally ripped CDs. This should be an option based on the extra memory to hold 200, 500, 500,000 MP3s.
* Reasonable Battery life - rechargeable in under 3 hours and it should work 4 days for reading only; standard USB cable used as a charger, not some stupid proprietary cable.
* Enough memory to hold 5-10 books; I don't need 200 books.
* Back light, but it will eat the battery, big time.
* Looks like a HD when connected to a PC, OS-X or Linux device - definitely not MTP.
* USB connect to full sized keyboard and mice
* Quiet; auto-off if the page isn't turned within a timeout period.
* 1-handed use. Handy buttons and scrolling designed by a human factors engineer, not some other type of engineer or software developer. Customization of the button use would be nice, esp for left/right handed use.
* Quick startup and back-to-bookmark; pagination shouldn't impact my reading. Do it in the background.
* Auto-sync documents with a folder on a computer
* Password protected.
Ok, those are the basics, but I'd like a little more
* cell phone - GSM or CDMA; I should bring my own cell plan
* Email / Contact manager; think CrackBerry with all that it provides
* wifi for web browsing w/ WPA; minimal browsing
* EDGE, UMTA, EVDO, 3G or faster wireless data
* if the MP3 player is included, add a voice recorder (MP3/MP4, not WAV)
* GPS - well, why not?
Most importantly, I don't want to pay for a book twice. No checking back to a central server for post-purchase validation. No expiration of the content, books don't expire. Transfer of the ownership - or loaning it out must be allowed. No matter what, 70 years later or until the copyright expires, I should still be able to read the book. Tagging bought books with personal information embedded in the book DRM is fine - name, address, email, and credit card number. This will cause folks to be careful with each book.
Ok, so when we're all done,
* you still pay for books
* you don't need a different cell phone device
* you don't need a different music device
* you don't need a special charger, any USB charger will work
After writing all this down, it seems converting a BlackBerry into an eBook reader would be easier than adding email, calendar, and internet connectivity to an eBook.
Seems someone from SONY or Amazon or RIMM should ask me to work for them?
Anything from Palm IIIxe to the Palm Tungsten makes a great ebook reader. CSpotRun and the simple Windows program that converts text or HTML to .pdb rounds out the product so you have seamless access to all of the Project Gutenberg books and many others on the Internet. No DRM, small size, good legibility, and workable technology make the Palm still the best (IMHO) ebook reader. Any reader that requires DRM for its books is unacceptable from the start.
Ya know, it's a shame that people don't realize how basically useful the Palm is. I just hope mine last a good long time because I suspect it will be a long time before anything approaches their utility.
Almost no one that's replied here has actually used a the Kindle or Sony. People assume they just wouldn't like it. That's odd, considering that most of the people here spend all day glued to a screen! I think that someone needs to defend an ebook reader in general and the Kindle in specific: - Carry a large selection of books in a small space - Get new books at any time, in seconds (the Kindle) - Get a large selection of newspapers/magazines for less money and clutter (the Kindle) The current generation isn't perfect, but it's easy to see how improvements in the screen, design, and cost will make it a ubiquitous device one day. If you like to read and want easy access to a huge selection of written materials, both of these devices are excellent. They may have minor flaws, but they're minor for the average person.
I opt for neither as I use my PSP for ereading at this time. I will think to purchase an ebook reader after a few generations when the technology is better and cheaper. It's 1.5 gen tech at this time and to expensive. Just my 2 yen.
(Score:-5, Offtopic and maybe Redundant) The screen you're reading right now is your best ebook.
Great battery life (6 hrs), plays music, movies, gecko-based web browser, email, IM, *and* it still fits in your pocket. OS2008 seriously improved the PDF viewer, and is now tops for PDF ebooks. FBreader is available and works like a charm.
:)
Can't support DRM ebooks though, but that's a feature not a bug.
-- Cerebus
Palm tungsten E
No limit on what you can import to it, battery life is not really an issue as you can recharge it through USB.
Before this i used a handspring visor which was only better because of the larger screen.
I've read about 200 books on this thing. Nothing beats reading on the bus, then taking a cab and opening the book exactly where you left it at.
I'm looking for a reader that supports cyrillic fonts. Is there such a thing? Does anyone know anything about it?
Still the number 1 book-reader, IMHO.
Pity about the obscure format, and the dying hardware...but there is the Einstein emulator, but that kind of defeats the whole Newton experience.
Actually the publishers are digging their own grave.
By creating a goldmine of DRM locked content, they create an incentive for hackers to crack the DRM schemes, and hence unlock all that content.
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
Why? Bigger screen (possible to read 8.5 x 11 pdfs without zooming), more memory (12G CF cards supported), built in graphic pad for annotating things you're reading. Runs Linux!! Easy to ssh to it. You can build custom applications for it for your favorite content. Its got Wifi so you can fetch things over the web (you could even write code to have it phone home to your home server and upload the current news if you so chose) Oh and did I mention OPEN SOURCE? As in not closed, as in you don't have to pay yourself $0.10 to read your own email on your e-reader? -DrC
I have one and it's great!! I've got 950 books on there and I'm trying to break a thousand. Not a single ebook was bought from Sony or Amazon and none of them have drm! If you are a bibliophile, the Sony Reader is the best. I haven't tried the Kindle, but why would I want to? The Sony is much slicker and I have no need to "instant buy" hardware.
-- Its survival of the fittest...and we got the fucking guns!!!
Seriously, ebay one for relatively cheap. .pdf & .lit & a bajillion other formats.. .lit's
The wife found me an old 3630 with compactflash expansion slot... plus wifi card, plus modem for dirt cheap
can handle
tho honestly, inspite of my avoidance of microsoft products, I prefer the responsiveness of their Reader so pretty much solely read
(plus it does games, notes, email, web, voice notes, calendar, mp3s, video etc... etc.. )
its just like any of the newer pda/smartphone offerings, just a slower cpu, a bit less on board storage, a bit thicker, a bit heavier...
but its still smaller than the average paperback, runs on pocketpc2002 which is older and clumsier,
and immensely cheaper than the current pda offering, and funny enough, the screen is LARGER.
i just shuffle file back and forth using the cf card an a separate reader.
kinda of OS independent in that way.
but here's the main thing....
it's back lit.
I can read without having another light on to bother the wife.
it has saved our marriage and made me a better husband.
(bad husbands' insomnia affects wife.. mine? not so much now)
so it spends its life as my ebook reader.
content? meh. I agree with all the comments about drm and the cost of an ebook being to hogh compared to dead tree editions.
project gutenburg and gift cards are my saving graces.
can you read them during takeoff and landing?
I travel a lot, and have a couple of RCA ebooks, which I love. The only disadvantage to them is that you can't use them during takeoff and landing. I'm wondering if maybe the fact that the eInk-based readers aren't actually on except briefly to change pages are enough to convince flight attendants to let me read. Obviously, your average flight attendant will have a hard time with this concept, but I wonder if anyone's had any success with it?
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
I recommend Microsoft Reader on PocketPC. Easy to find books for, built-in dictionary lookup (I find it useful particularly for books written pre-1950 or so) unlimited bookmarks and very cheap if you can find a decent second-hand one. (Personally, I use a Dell Axim x50 I got for ~AU$200). Also, you can get a plugin for Microsoft Word to convert Word docs to Microsoft Reader Format (.lit).
That's what I use and it has basically replaced paper books for me.
Only if you can tell me what the best cellular phone is for my use: Apple's iPhone, LG's Prada II, and if not those two, then what? ;-)
/no /no
... ad nauseum
The only answer that is correct and is deserving of such an open ended question is:
"Whatever fulfills YOUR needs and wants, whatever they are since you didn't list any."
There are no details supplied in the question to even begin to gauge the intended use to give a proper answer without ASSUMING EVERYTHING. There's absolutely no guidance other than Amazon's Kindle, Sony's Reader, or other... Or OTHER!?! that *really* narrows it down.
What are some of the requirements of the user?
Does it need to be: Useable in Direct Sunlight: yes / no?
Display a miniminum amount of text per page, for example, no less than a paperback novel with the same text size? DRM eBooks: okay / not okay?
If DRM eBooks are okay, is idiot proof purchase of DRM eBooks: needed / not needed?
Proprietary OS: okay / not okay?
Is Required Linking to a Computer to Transfer eBooks over to the device: acceptable / not acceptable?
If acceptable, what type of computers does it need to work with?
Is Required Linking to a Computer to BUY eBooks: acceptable / not acceptable?
Minimum Time Between Recharges?
Does the device need the capability to use commonly available batteries? yes
Portability? Does it have to smaller/lighter than a certain requirement?
Ruggedness? Does it have to splash proof/water proof? Does it need to survive being tossed in a backpack?
Price Range? For Hardware:, for subscriptions?, for ebooks?
eBook Formats Required to be supported?
Any existing eBooks needed to be transferred?
Does the eBook reader need to be able to:
Browse the web? yes / no
Play MP3's yes / no
Play Ogg's yes / no
Allow you to phone your friends and family yes
It's like asking the following:
What's the best OS? Mac OS or Windows Vista or any other? But I won't tell you what I intend to use the computer for, how much I'd like to spend, or what computer it needs to run on.
What's the best Car? Honda Civic, BMW 335i, or any other? But I won't tell you if I can drive a stick shift or not, or what I intend to do/haul with the car, or what fuel economy rating is necessary.
There's just not enough information in the question to give a valid answer without more clarification from the person asking the question. One can only guess as what the limitations of the intended user may be.
There's a good review of the Kindle by Steve Gibson of GRC.com and Security now titled "Why and how the Kindle changes everything". One thing to note is that he believes in the success of ebooks in general which is a good thing for someone reviewing an ebook reader. He basically gives the Kindle a big thumbs up but mentions the typical issues of a first generation device.
You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
Lookup tables? That's new-fangled pizzazz! Real engineers grab a pencil, bash out the calcs by hand, eyeball a safety factor, and go for a beer.
-- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
NAEB is a group trying to put together a buying club for the Bookeen by Cybook.
It looks as though they will have their act together by the end of this week.
Bookeen has by far the widest range of native formats. Using a buying club gives you a discount.
Looks good to me.
At this year's American Society for Information Science and Technology, I saw a presentation on the evolving use of libraries and the internet. The statistics that stuck with me were that the percentage of people who use both libraries and the internet for information needs has been unchanged over the last several years. Of course, internet usage is ever increasing and library usage has been declining. The implication is that the folks who have abandonded the library entirely for the internet never were fond of the library to begin with.
What does this have to do with eBook readers?
I'm shooting from the hip here, but aren't these readers perfect only for people who love to read, but dislike going to the lilbrary or bookstore? I could be wrong, but that's a real niche! I mean, who are the people who aren't *already* satisfied with real books and magazines, but really want to read more? Seriously, who are these people?
(Which reminds me of the Segway-- How many people are unable or unwilling to walk, but can still stand up and need to use the sidewalk?)
As a reseller for Bookeen I recommend the Cybook. http://www.bookeen.com/overview/ebook-overview.aspx
As for reviews here is a link to the MobileRead Forum. http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=136
If you have a Palm or Pocket PC PDA with a decent screen you already have a better and cheaper eBook reader than any of the gadgets known as eBook readers. The screen is smaller, yes, but for most devices the capacity is larger, the PDA is smaller, and you have a better variety of eBook software available.
I was actually shopping for an ebook reader online before I saw this hit Slashdot.
.chm and other formats so it may be worth the risk.
I'm looking for an e-ink reader that supports the most open & DRM's formats and/or has the best potential for being supported/upgraded/hacked to extend current capabilities. Truly usable PDF support for PDFs from random sources would also be a plus (esp. Google Book Search PDFs)
THe Sony hardware looks great but I don't trust them to broaden the number of formats supported
I'm leaning towards the Cybook Gen 3 but it's new and the company seems a bit overwhelmed. However, they've promised software upgrades with
Then there also the Jinke Hanlin readers which might have good potential but seem to be hard to find. Anyone have one?
cspotrun It's been my reader for right at 9 years now, even with the new built-in reader in PalmOS.
I helped write some of the features of the great Books app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. As a long time ebook reader myself i have used Palm devices, a Zaurus, and had the chance to spend some time with the Sony, and an iLiad. I really like the larger screen and the eink concepts of the "made for ebook reading" devices. However, the reason I own an iPhone, and have used Palm, and Handspring devices in the past for my ebook needs is to eliminate as many devices I have to carry with me. For my needs, I read very regularly, but also I find myself waiting at airports, or just for my wife while trying on cloths in the store. Having a number of book choices with me anywhere I go is a huge plus. As much as I love the larger screens until I can fit it in my pocket... That being said, the iLiad is pricy, but the tablet abilities are pretty cool, and that is the only other device I am tempted to really purchase. As for content, well you can only get so far with CC content. DRM is an unfortunate issue, and I truly with I could buy non drm'ed ebook content. Since I can't sometimes I have to stretch the "fair use" idea and buy the book in the book store. How it ends up on my electronic device is magic I will never understand...
One could very well have made the same argument against digital music for most of the last decade. I doubt anyone on slashdot would argue that the DRM craze was great for consumer rights, but it was the only way that the music industry was comfortable with the idea of that form of distribution.
Look at where we are now. You can buy music in mp3 format at amazon, other players are taking notice. Consumers didn't all just roll over and accept it. I believe the same could happen with ebooks, given the same resistance by consumers to be artificially limited and the eventual realization by publishers that they'll turn a profit just fine.
This is a very simple question of ethics, and it fails the Kantian "can I universalize this choice" test. Buying a DRM-infested ebook reader simply isn't an ethical choice.
Agreed, DRMed readers are bad. Luckily there are a few that allow you to use txt, rtf, pdf, html and lit. I'd bet money that those DRM laden readers will flop just as badly as those horrid Sony Net Walkman, wannabe, not really, kinda, sorta, pseudo mp3 players from early 2000.
I'll believe in corporations having personhood when Texas executes one... - advocate_one
It's not comfortable lying on your side in bed holding a laptop. And then the battery's die on the train.
Yay me!
I started reading ebooks with the 770, and have progressed to the 800 - greater potential storage. I also own the Sony original US reader. I find the Nokia great - FBreader allows just about any document to be read (if not native, ABC lit converter will change it to a compatible format). I've read hundreds of books on these Nokia devices, and have never been dissatisfied. People have seen me using it, have queried me on the device, and have ultimately bought one on more than a few occasions. It will fit in a pocket, and does so many other things (LINUX). If you really don't want to waste money on a kindle or Sony, try the Nokia. You can get them for a steal, too! PS. I have no vested interest in the company...Just finished "Golden compass," "Subtle Knife," and "Kitchen Confidential." With the backlit screen, you can read in low ambient light... Cheers!
I have been reading on my cell phone, http://www.booksinmyphone.com/ has a nice reader and a good selection of packaged up public domain and CC books. I think phones have a lot of potential. Their screens can get a little bigger while still being pocket-able (essential?). I don't really understand why the manufacturers don't include eReader software on the phones.
They both use DRM which means when it breaks, you lose your investment in those books. The only reader you should buy is one that uses only standard files like pdf to store it's content so you can read it again in a few years with a new reader.
Theoretically though, in time, the e-books should be much cheaper than the equivalent books.
Just like CDs got way cheaper than records and cassette tapes?
You miss the entire point.
I can read large documents without deforesting whole forests.
Also - I read about 300 - 400 pages a day - to relax... and thats ignoring references. If I travel - I end up with a bag of reading material alone (or spending fortunes at airports). This will save huge amounts of money and ensure I always have enough stuff to read... plus will be great for reading thesis or technical docs.
If you dont read much - paper based books are probably better. If you do read a lot - these are becoming significant !
The truth of the matter is that I don't read anymore... at least not for fun. I read for work, I read news on the internet, but I haven't read a book for fun for a couple of years.
...that is, if i still read books...
but assuming I still read lots of books, the thing that could convince me to buy an ebook reader is that it puts the new-book-research and the new-book-buying in one place with instant gratification.
I'm no Amazon fanboi, but in the past when I've wanted to see if a book is any good I would jump to amazon and check it out. I think this is really where Amazon has done good is their original bread and butter, book reviews. I can read what people have said about the book, seen what other books they've liked, look up books I've liked and what other books fans of said book like... it's the equivalent of "tomshardware" for buying electronics. It's the best reference I've found to research books on the internet.
I've found that when I go into a book store now-a-days andlook for a book to read, I wish I had that information available instead of trying to judge the book by the cover so simply a reading a page or two.
Frankly, if I could get that information, AND read the first chapter, and THEN decide that I want to buy the book, then I'd happily pay a little bit extra for the book.
I mean seriously... it's $8-$10 for how many hours of enjoyment? Who cares about an extra buck or two.
I don't like the DRM, I tend to prefer the idea of reading a real book over a computer screen (even an e-ink one), but the convenience of researching, trying, and buying a new book could potentially sell me over.
d
all language nazi's will burne in heil!
I haven't used any of these Chinese clones. But, I would be interested to read any reviews of readers (and market prices) such as the following:
http://www.made-in-china.com/china-products/productviewpqCmfoYSYxWh/Ebook-Reader-S6-.html
http://www.made-in-china.com/china-products/productviewCMqmpwHvXQcn/V2-E-Book-Reader.html
http://www.made-in-china.com/china-products/productviewgbBJwFNcSmkK/Starebook.html
Last year I was backpacking in China and I was in Tianjin so I went by their offices and bought a v2. Which was very beta and they didn't want to sell me. As it turned out it was really flakey but they let me switch to a v8. The v8 has been absolutely fantastic. It could be improved in some ways but if you can actually get your hands on one I highly recommend it. Now I'm waiting on a XO laptop and time will tell if I will switch for my backpacking needs.
"Print is dead."
book publishing is not ruled by the same kind of tight knit cartel that rules music and movie production...it never will be. This means that the ability to cheaply publish books that reach a HUGE number of people for little or no money will happen. As it stand right now i can publish a text file using open office for ZERO dollars. I can offer it for download free( or for a fee) on a web site for next to nothing( text files using very little bandwidth) however few people will read something of any length published electronicly...a better reading device makes this a much more viable option. barnes and noble( among others) has been trying to get the feds to allow them a generic license to print books that are out of print for a set fee for some time...legislation (somewhat like CAARP) could be passed easily to allow this for ebooks.
The only way to bust a doper--is when you yourself become a smoker!
Reduce the size by half and arrange the pages side-by-side and print duplex. It doesn't take much paper, the batteries never run out, and it is more portable (in the case of up to a few books).
If you live in the West, ask your local library what book binding equipment they have. Often, libraries bind books since the covers wear down over the years. If you can get your book bound, the result is, well, like a library book! Some countries even have shops that will do this for you for a few US dollars per book. Here in Thailand, getting eBooks printed is one of my favorite activities.
(Shameless plug!) Recently, to teach myself Rails, I made a site (from 100% free software) offering convenient eBook printing and delivery: Siam eBook Printers. We discount books about open source too. It doesn't make much money, but it was possibly the most fun project I've ever done. Contact me if you want to know how it works!
Take a look, it's the Kindle compared to other readers...loses to every one...
http://comparati.com/comparisons/Amazon+Kindle
You can pick up a second hand zire 31 for 20 euro's on ebay. It displays pictures, pdf, html, doc, rtf etc.
It doubles as an mp3 player, PDA and flashlight. It is my one year old's favorite toy as well
Just out of curiosity, why would anyone really need such an expensive device for reading books? What's the real purpose behind being able to carry one hundred books around, especially when they don't even really fit in your pocket? I don't really know anyone who would carry more than three non-textbook books around with them at once to read (except on vacations, and even then it isn't much of a space saver), and is it really worth the five hundred dollar device to do it? It's not like an MP3 player where you'll skip around songs that average at five minutes. We're talking entire books. Not to mention you could get a far more functional PDA and carry a decent amount of books with you, while fully lit, for much cheaper.
Sounds like you had my experience, only mine was having to sell the majority (a lot out of print). I would have dearly loved to have an eReader comparable to the one in ST:NG. Guess mine is a live an learn, but I do think most have a point about the used-book market. So either eBooks are sold on chips much like music is on CD and movies DVD. The used market and the loaning a book argument are satisfied without losing the eReader advantages.
Does anyone know of any readers with any sort of external device or capability to turn pages? I'm considering getting one of these to keep track of all my sheet music, and it would be great to program some sort of foot switch or remote to change the page.
AHH... This makes sense. I'm sorry, I should have said right from the get go: I have no intentions of ever reading or abiding by any license for an eBook put forth by Amazon or Sony. Rather I will continue to buy used books and I will happily download any digital content I find. I can't say that I have the vindictive anger at book publishers that I have for music and film publishers... it's not like I have quit buying their products entirely as I have with the music & film publishers. I like books and I, given a fair price, would buy them regardless of a digital version existing or coming with it. However I don't feel compelled to comply with such things that I find repugnant (like the Kindle agreement I just read) and I suppose given enough of that I may quit doing so much business with them.
Currently I do spend a lot of money with Amazon especially buying new reference books in my field, often at between $150 & 200 per book or books in English (which, from Amazon.de, come at a premium). Given those prices, they should come with a digital version. Unfortunately I'm sure the reference or specialty books will be the last sorts of book coming to the eBook format. Actually come to think of it, I think for most books if I've bought a paper copy I should have rights to read a digital copy. I have no doubt, if I pirated a book and it was very good I'd eventually windup with a paper copy on my bookshelf.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
"Don't support DRM technology."
Don't support piracy.
How the hell is this a factor? Its not like if you get an eBook you suddenly can't use a library. If you buy an eBook reader - guess what? - the thousands of books for free at the library are still there!
Not true. If the proponents of eBooks had it their way, over time normal books would be phased out.
And once no one remembers how great it was to borrow from thousands of books for a flat rate,
it becomes much easier to have libraries outlawed. Do not think I'm joking - publishers would love
to see that happen.
Other than some unrealistic ones...
I would like to be able to underline and/or highlight my ebooks. Scribble in the back pages.
But it doesn't require remembeing where I spilled coffee or spaghetti sauce.
My Palm PDA with eReader.
I can't understand all these readers without a backlight. Yes yes, the battery lasts longer, eInk is different. But what I really like about reading books on my PDA is the backlight. It means I can read without a lamp on at night, and don't have to contort my self into strange positions to get a light on th page.
I'm being serious. Can you come up with an advantage of an ebook over a paperback?
1) Books are free at the library. They're nearly free at the used book store. They're far cheaper for new books at Amazon itself.
2) Selection in books is unlimited
3) Requires no power
4) You can read it in the pool, in the bath, and not care if you drop it. At worst, you're out the price of the book.
5) Requires no electricity or batteries
6) Requires no permission to read
7) Can loan to family/friends/strangers
8) Make great gifts
9) There *is* such a thing as libraries for physical books
10) You can read it on the subway without worrying about doped-up freak starting a fight with you.
Ebooks could have the theoretical advantage of having every book available instantly. But that capability is probably 10 years away and will cost you a a significant amount of money. Might as well get a browser and connect to the interenet.
Seriously, I don't think you'll come up with one advantage that stands up to the slightest scrutiny or that isn't concocted.
I have an older monochrome Handspring Visor. The screen on these is quite large, (though admittedly smaller than the ebook readers) there are scroll buttons, it syncs via USB, and is well supported on PC, Mac and Linux. The monochrome display means you can get many, many hours of use out of a set of batteries. There's a ton of e-book software available. No DRM, so you can easily beam your books from one reader to the next. It's pocketable, and includes a hard plastic cover. I bought mine from a giant clearance display (someone probably found a pile languishing in a back corner of the stockroom) of a Wal-Mart in 2003 for $29.99, and it still looks more or less new.
I haven't even started on what you can do with Springboard modules.
Kindle looks nice, but I think it's a book-sack that only holds books from one store. $400 is too much for that, when I can get ten really nice Jansport bags (like the cool kids at my school had) for the same money, and hold any kind of book I want in them. Sure, Kindle has some advantages, but I'm not generally a spontaneous book buyer, so maybe the Kindle isn't for me. There is one thing that would get me into (a $100 version of) Kindle: I understand that Kindle can support updates to books from publishers. If they always tell me when updates happen, and I can expect non-fiction books to update with the technology they support, I'd buy it. Right now, for example, I have some certification training books that apply only to a previous version of the certification test. I should throw them out. Kindle would be good for me here.
If you want one of those that isn't tainted by charity, build your own.
You can, you know.
I absolutely hate finger prints on LCD displays (you can't get them off of matte screens), and my colleagues know that I WILL hit them if they put their greasy fingers on my screen...
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Things in my bags when I ride the train to work:
iBook (Use it at work, can't leave it there because I cycle between three offices every week.)
Japanese Book of Mormon -- About 1.5 inches thick, not available in electronic form yet.
English "Quad" (Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine & Covenants, Bible) -- 2 1/5 inches thick.
Computer reference texts -- Java or Perl cookbook, Nutshells, Unix manuals, etc.
2 liter bottle of water, lunch, etc.
Work records.
I'd get the English scriptures in electronic form, but reading on the iBook is not fun when you're standing up. (And the battery charging circuit died some years back when I was foolish enough to carry in a spandex case. I really ought to fix that.)
Th Iliad several people have mentioned, if I could hang a 4G flash on it, looks really nice, and might even motivate me to scan in the Japanese Book of Mormon.
There is no best reader.
What is the best fruit? Apple or Orange?
It depends.
If you want to purchase (RELATIVELY) cheap books with a click of a button, if you want to have The Times ready for reading every morning, then go for Kindle.
If you want just read books, I mean *fiction* (no fancy pictures, no fancy fonts, no formulas, no A4 formated complicated pdf files), book after book after book after book and if you "get" your reading material from somewhere else than Sonny Connect store, then I very strongly recommand buying a refurbished Sony Reader PRS 500.
I personally own Sony Reader and I am very satisfied. It has the best battery life out of all e-ink readers out there, there is hack kit floating arround (check www.mobileread.com) so you can custonize it a little bit.
If you are uncomfortable with using any software from SONY, just like I am, just purchase an SD card and a SD card reader. This way you can load your reader with rtf files of your choice. Or, if you want to use Linux or Mac OSX there is software libprs500. Again check www.mobileread.com
You might also want to chech NAEB - a customized verzion of the Cybook Gen3 reader.
They are nonpolluting, carbon neutral, no power devices for quick calculation.
Not only that, they are objects d'art which visually shows the relation between numbers and function on the numbers.
Esp. the circular ones!
Calculators are just black boxes. Who knows what they're doing with your digits behind those LEDs?
Almost every reader can support cyrillic. If you can read russian, go to http://the-ebook.org/forum/index.php
Both suck because neither one is available outside the U.S.A., and both are locked up with DRM which is way to restrictive. A much better alternative is the iRex iLiad. http://www.irextechnologies.com/products/iliad
We're not there yet with the technology. I do like the idea of a portable reader though. My ideal spec for a (written word) book replacement: 1440 x 1440 grey paper resolution squeezed into 4" x 6" (narrow pixels), 40 hour reading battery, optional dim backlight, open file formats (DRM optional), USB, PC content creation software, no exclusive purchasing of content, liquid formatting and user preferences (fonts, size, margins, spacing, etc) for presentation, max weight of a small paperback, 1/2" to 3/4" thick.
Baen.com they release almost all their books in DRM free formats, have a free library to get you hooked, I mean started. The formats they publish in currently are RTF, HTML, mobi, windows reader. The fans (baen forum goers) are currently creating their own book reader based on the same tech the Bookeen uses. Luckily for me I'm into scifi and fantasy, if you're into something else, good luck finding a publisher who "gets it" like baen does.
If its stupid but it works, its not stupid.
1) They're easily searchable.
2) They're highly portable (10 or more in your pocket)
3) If you have a computer available, or the reader supports some sort of wireless you can always download new books without leaving your home (or hotel or whatever)
4) If the reader uses LCD or has a light you can read them in the dark without needing an extra light
5) Easier to read one handed (not much of a feature, but true nonetheless)
As for your list, 3 and 5 are duplicates, 10 is irrelevant as the book or eBook has nothing to do with some moron starting a fight, and 8 is also true of eBooks. As for 1 there are many places you can get eBook files for free. Project Gutenburg comes to mind, but there are others as well, and other cheaper options than Amazon as well.
Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
I bought a Sony Reader for cheap ($50) by buying rewards points from my Sony Visa card account. I did this so that I could use the Sony Reader as a portable tunebook. Guess what? My iPhone is actually better for that purpose! The multi-touch interface, with it's very handy zoom feature makes it better than my Sony Reader. I can quickly zoom in to the tune I need to refresh in my memory. Also, I can just put PDF files in my Box.net account and browse them. With the Sony Reader, I have to format the PDF especially for the Reader, since the zoom is very unwieldy. The slow refresh rate of the e-ink screen just kills interactivity. It would be fine for reading a novel, though.
My point is that the iPhone is surprisingly good as a reader!
With FBReader they make the best eBook readers available. ePaper would be nice, but the crisp and high rez LCD is still very easy on the eyes. They are just small enough to fit in a coat pocket comfortably, but large enough to have plenty of room on the screen. Document and other files can simply be copied onto the memory card or via USB cable, no ridiculous conversions necessary. (Though FBReader can't read .lit)
A DS with a supercard and the read more software isn't bad at all. I use mine to read books all the time. The battery life is exellent, it travels well, and there's plenty of games for when you want a break from reading.
As for Sony, the Sony readers will happely display PDF and txt, the Sony of 2008 is not the Sony of 2000 (amazingly, the Reader can use SD cards as well as Memory Stick).
Buying a DRMed ebook reader isn't a problem, as long as it supports un-DRMed formats as well.
eBook does not equal DRM. Sony et al. have learned from the ATRAC fiasco: although they use proprietary DRMed formats, the readers also support PDF, TXT and so on. Also, there is content available, both free and paid, in unprotected formats.
Haven't people thought about how silly it is to go to a store to buy software? I mean, it is not like you can test it or get decent information about how it works or anything at the typical big box store? Think about it!
I have 300+ ebooks on my palm T5 and 5 porngraphic movies. Can you do that with a Sonky or a Kendel? I didn't think so. The palm pilot can also be held nicely one handed.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
I love my Kindle. It's easy to read and I'm finding lots of content for it, both cheap and free. But in the last five years since I joined Audible.com I've been listening to way more books than reading. The Kindle may shift this back some, but carrying around audio books on my Nano makes it extremely easy to always to listen whenever I find a spare moment or I'm doing something physical that doesn't take much brain activity. I went from averaging a book a month with paper books, to finishing a book a week with listening. I also discovered I like listening to a wider variety of books than I was willing to read.
I can even read a book on my Kindle and listen to the Audible version at the same time. This combo reading is a great way to study books and retain more information.
Jim
I bought my Sony Reader back when it first came out, November 2006. Since mine is the first generation some things might have changed with the later second generation Reader that Sony is selling. My biggest gripes with it is that the battery life doesn't come anywhere near what they advertise, and the button layout is not very good.
The Sony Reader advertises a 7500 page turn battery life, i.e. you will get ~7500 page turns per battery charge. Obviously any manufacturer will want to "optimize" any test they do to get these numbers so they look good in advertisements, but I've found that Sony has outright lied about their battery life. From the moment I've had the Sony Reader, and even following all of the recommendations in the manual for use, I average about 700 page turns per battery charge. Less than 10 percent of what was advertised. Not to mention the battery will drain very quickly when the device is not in use, I have to charge it about every 3-4 weeks if I don't use it as the battery completely drains within that time.
The button layout is pretty poor on the device as well, the 1G model has two very small buttons on the left side for going forward or back, and a sort of circular pad like button about an inch in diameter on the bottom left that you have to press in a certain spot to get the page to go forward or back. I've read some reviews for the Kindle complaining about the big buttons on the side for page turning, but after using my Sony Reader for the past year those big buttons seem very appealing to me.
The Sony connect store was advertised as having 14,000 books at the time, and I believe I read somewhere that they're up to 20,000 items now. If you only read recently released mainstream books, or popular "classics" from authors like Dickens or Twain, then you most likely won't be disappointed with the selection. If on the other hand you prefer a much wider selection, then the Sony Connection store can be a letdown. I've had about a 50/50 chance of finding books that I wanted to buy on Sony Connect, but I don't usually get books you'd find at any mall book store, and might not find at some big Borders superstore. The Kindle store seems to be better stocked, but when I've looked through it for things I wasn't able to find on the Sony store, there were still items that weren't available for the Kindle either. Oh yeah, the Sony Connect software is a blatant, poorly done attempt to mimic iTunes that only runs on Windows, and not very well. Not to mention their search function is a joke.
Now the good. The hype about the E-Ink technology used is pretty much spot on, text is incredibly easy to read on the Sony Reader, even in bright light. It's the same as reading from an actual book, with the extra bonus of being able to make the type bigger or smaller to meet your needs. One thing it doesn't do to well is graphics, Some of the books I've bought from the Sony store have attempted to reproduce drawings or such from the original book, they don't display all that well, but are usually still recognizable. Overall though I'm impressed with how well this technology replicates reading a real book.
Overall, I'd avoid the Sony Reader. Even if they've fixed some of the issues I've experienced with the 1G model in the new 2G model, the poor selection of the Sony store, not to mention the poor implementation of the Sony store, would keep me from buying it had I known then what I know now.
Check out the illiad. just google for iliad -homer
Oh Crap, I'm an optimist.....
Remphasized that first word for you there.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
to read a few of your recent posts, and it would appear that you are somebody's troll user.
From what I know of manufacturing costs, etc., your theory is all wet.
However, I don't care. The XO pushes technology in a direction that is sorely needed.
If I had a spare million dollars, I would go contract with someone to make about four thousand in a more conservative style. If I could buy a run from the guys that the OLPC group are having manufacture them, five thousand. I know where I could sell them. At profit. To adults, not kids.
If I had a spare two million, I'd be torn between porting the code and the non-CPU design to ARM or PPC (just because I'm prejudiced) and buying a run to sell in a design targeted to the upper-class kids market. Those, I'd sell at 400% markup.
But you are a troll.
No doubt in my mind, the kindle is a little clunky. But the instant download and the prospect of digitalization of all of Amazon print is very attractive.
RM