Slashdot Mirror
The eBook Backlash
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that people who read ebooks on tablets like the iPad are beginning to realize that while a book in print is straightforward and immersive, a tablet is more like a 21st-century cacophony than a traditional solitary activity offering a menu of distractions that can fragment the reading experience, or stop it in its tracks. 'The tablet is like a temptress,' says James McQuivey. 'It's constantly saying, "You could be on YouTube now." Or it's sending constant alerts that pop up, saying you just got an e-mail. Reading itself is trying to compete.' There are also signs that publishers are cooling on tablets for e-reading. A recent survey by Forrester Research showed that 31 percent of publishers believed iPads and similar tablets were the ideal e-reading platform; one year ago, 46 percent thought so. Then there's Jonathan Franzen, regarded as one of America's greatest living novelists, who says consumers have been conned into thinking they need the latest technology and that e-books can never have the magic of the printed page. 'I think, for serious readers, a sense of permanence has always been part of the experience. Everything else in your life is fluid, but here is this text that doesn't change.'"
We'll probably eventually get decent colour out of e-ink, although I doubt the refresh rate will ever be fast enough for real-time motion. The whole "physically moving around ink capsules" probably would prevent that sort of thing. And you know what? That's fine. I don't need fast refresh rates on my e-reader, just fast enough to make page turns workable. The current speeds are good enough, although I wouldn't complain if they got bumped up anyhow.
I'm much happier reading on my Kindle 3 than a "real" book, particularly when comparing to a hardcover. My kindle is a fraction the weight and size of a hardcover. I can slip my kindle into a pocket or backpack, while a good sized hardcover is not nearly as portable. My kindle is also far easier to read in bed than a hardcover.
The advantages are less when comparing to paperbacks, but there are still size advantages there, not to mention durability; a lot of my older paperbacks are pretty worn out from re-reading, while an eBook (particularly a DRM-free one from Baen) will never wear out.
Depends on the publisher. Macmillan? Yeah. I paid $16 for the latest eBook in a series by a popular scifi author. Baen? No. They never charge more than $6 for a brand new book, and settle down to $4 or $0 in the long run.
Mod up. This is primarily why I got the Nook Simple Touch. (That, plus it can be rooted, reads epub, and there are already lots of easy ways to buy from Amazon.) Dedicated single-purpose devices, so long as they are inexpensive enough, tend to have the advantage over multi-purpose devices. I have an iPad, and they're two totally different animals. I only read pdfs on the ipad.
I'm writing this from my tablet as we speak, but personally I don't get why 'distractions' are such an issue. I'm quite content to simply read an ebook and I have enough discipline to avoid distractions if I want. Usually however simple distractions like an IM from a friend are equally distracting on my tablet and for a real book. I may opt to answer a message or not on either, but those simple distractions are not really bothersome to me either way.
On the other hand a tablet makes a very nice computing device for other things I may want or need to do and not just for reading books. The fact that I don't need to own multiple computing devices that can only handle a single function is very important to me.
we are all invisible unless we choose otherwise
Completely agree on the text. After reading a few books on my iPhone, reading on the Kindle is like reading a normal book page. I can go for hours without any eye strain. One thing that sold me on the Kindle was the "Free Sample" you can get with most books. Could be anything from 10 to 100 pages of a book, but especially in the dodgy-writing realm of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, it's key to be able to sample the writing before buying. Bookstores let you do that, and the Kindle does as well. There are also authors giving away free books which opens up a whole other world.
Chris