Are e-ink readers useful, or just a fun gadget? - Page 3

slayda · 11-29-2006, 09:49 AM

Bottom line is those who are readers will read; whether scrolls, pbooks, ebooks or whatever. Nonreaders won't read regardless of media.

No, Sony's reader will not be the ultimate mechanism on which to read, just like my slide ruler (archaic calculating device for you youngsters) was not the ultimate calculating device. But I could not have gotten by without it at the time. I feel the same way about the Sony reader (and about my Palm TX) - I couldn't get along without it at this time. In ten years or thirty years, I may look back & wonder why. Maybe I'll have a direct mental link to a World Central Computer that will make any form of in-my-hand book obsolete.

In the meantime, I love my Sony reader --- but still want improvements.

VillageReader · 11-29-2006, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slayda

Bottom line is those who are readers will read; whether scrolls, pbooks, ebooks or whatever.

You forgot to mention the back and side panels of a cereal box

NatCh · 11-29-2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Now there is a macro by Stingo elsewhere (can't find it at the moment) that makes that a snap in Word.

Here you go:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8793

bowerbird · 11-29-2006, 06:10 PM

sorry folks, i'm an idiot.

i was confused, and posted
the wrong thing on this page.

i've now removed it from here,
and will post it where it belongs.

but while i'm here, i'll say that
i agree _totally_ with the position
that we need to think more broadly
thank books alone, in order to get
the critical mass that can make
_e-publications_ of all stripes fly...

-bowerbird

BettyE · 11-29-2006, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VillageReader

You forgot to mention the back and side panels of a cereal box

ROFL -

Village Reader - I use to have a teacher that used to say a real reader would read cereal boxes.

(At that time, I was also reading ketchup labels.)

Betty

tsgreer · 11-30-2006, 05:56 PM

All I can say is that you all work way harder than I do. I admire that! The thought of loading up documents and other work-related stuff on my Sony Reader so I can take it home, actually sickens me! Teasing, no offense meant! I guess I am way more lazy than you guys/gals.

I love to read novels and short-stories on my device. I love the fact that it is a "gadget," as well and being a sci-fi fan, it is just seems cool for me to be able to do this. And to tell the truth, I read more as a result of this sorta ebook revolution.

It's hard to explain. I read massive amounts of fiction when I was a teenager (I'm 37 now) but somehow, as I got older, life got busier and I really didn't buy paperbacks any more. Then, because of the cool factor, I wanted to try out the ebook situation. First using various PDA's for a while, then an eBookwise and now a Sony Reader.

So it was the cool gadget part that got me interested, but the actual content of what I was reading that made me stick with it. I had forgotten just how much I really LOVE a well written novel--it just takes me away and lets me escape.

Now of course, I can do that with a paperback, but honestly, I can "try" out a lot more titles via ebook technology than I would in Barnes and Noble. I have read books that I would never have thought to buy and now I feel sorta stupid that I missed out on so much good fiction throughout my life.

I mean, I would never have bought a book like Edgar Rice Burroughs "The Land that Time Forgot" because it would seem so old-fashioned. But I just "tried" it because of the free text on Gutenberg, and I really, really enjoyed it. I am a child of the '80 so I was reading Star Wars, Star Trek, things of that nature when I was younger--none of this "classic" nonsense! Boy did I miss out on a lot of good stuff

Now, as an adult, I still like that stuff, but because of sites like Gutenberg and Manybooks, I have experimented a lot more--Burroughs, Poe, Dickens, Wells, etc. Of course, this probably says more about my lack of culture as a result of growing up in a small farming community in the middle of nowhere! I never read the classics even when I was in high school.

And the cool factor allowed me to test out some new reading, and I'm hooked again. On a really laughable note, when I confessed to my co-workers that I had only recently read the book "A Catcher in The Rye," and never even really knew what it was about until I read the ebook, they looked at me like I was an alien for not knowing anything about such a well-known book (here in the USA anyway).

So for me it's a combination of usefulness and geekiness. I am only a mid-level geek though, I don't mind messing around for an hour or so, trying new formats, messing with conversion, seeing what it can do. But when you guys start talking about programming, hacking, taking it apart--um I get pretty lost.

Don't get me wrong though, it's because of you all that makes devices like this so cool. I mean, if the big company guys don't do it just right, you all go out there and write something or figure out some work-around. Amazing!

Sorry I rambled, but on a side note: My son is 16 and ebook reading is a way of life for him. He isn't impressed by it like I am, but he is totally comfortable with it and prefers it to other means. To him, it's more convienent to have so many books on one small device. He is totally frustrated that his school textbooks weigh down his backpack so much. And he has actually been asked to stop reading his ebook in class (they had freetime and were able to read any book they wanted) because his teacher never heard of ebooks and thought he was playing with some handheld gaming device. He even showed it to her and explained that he was reading, but she just didn't get it.

It's the attitude of people like her--can't be bothered to listen, scared of paperbooks dying, etc-- that make it difficult for ebooks to become standard. So it will be very interesting to see how much change the upcoming generation well make, because they have low tolerance for people who are afraid of technology. Not sure if that is good or scary, but it's the reality.

11-29-2006, 06:10 PM	#34
bowerbird Banned Posts: 269 Karma: -273 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: los angeles	sorry folks, i'm an idiot. i was confused, and posted the wrong thing on this page. i've now removed it from here, and will post it where it belongs. but while i'm here, i'll say that i agree _totally_ with the position that we need to think more broadly thank books alone, in order to get the critical mass that can make _e-publications_ of all stripes fly... -bowerbird Last edited by bowerbird; 11-30-2006 at 02:52 AM. Reason: i'm an idiot.

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11-29-2006, 09:49 AM	#31
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	Bottom line is those who are readers will read; whether scrolls, pbooks, ebooks or whatever. Nonreaders won't read regardless of media. No, Sony's reader will not be the ultimate mechanism on which to read, just like my slide ruler (archaic calculating device for you youngsters) was not the ultimate calculating device. But I could not have gotten by without it at the time. I feel the same way about the Sony reader (and about my Palm TX) - I couldn't get along without it at this time. In ten years or thirty years, I may look back & wonder why. Maybe I'll have a direct mental link to a World Central Computer that will make any form of in-my-hand book obsolete. In the meantime, I love my Sony reader --- but still want improvements.

11-30-2006, 05:56 PM	#36
tsgreer Lovin' the e-book life... Posts: 633 Karma: 2509 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Device: Ebookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle, BeBook (with OpenInkpot)	All I can say is that you all work way harder than I do. I admire that! The thought of loading up documents and other work-related stuff on my Sony Reader so I can take it home, actually sickens me! Teasing, no offense meant! I guess I am way more lazy than you guys/gals. I love to read novels and short-stories on my device. I love the fact that it is a "gadget," as well and being a sci-fi fan, it is just seems cool for me to be able to do this. And to tell the truth, I read more as a result of this sorta ebook revolution. It's hard to explain. I read massive amounts of fiction when I was a teenager (I'm 37 now) but somehow, as I got older, life got busier and I really didn't buy paperbacks any more. Then, because of the cool factor, I wanted to try out the ebook situation. First using various PDA's for a while, then an eBookwise and now a Sony Reader. So it was the cool gadget part that got me interested, but the actual content of what I was reading that made me stick with it. I had forgotten just how much I really LOVE a well written novel--it just takes me away and lets me escape. Now of course, I can do that with a paperback, but honestly, I can "try" out a lot more titles via ebook technology than I would in Barnes and Noble. I have read books that I would never have thought to buy and now I feel sorta stupid that I missed out on so much good fiction throughout my life. I mean, I would never have bought a book like Edgar Rice Burroughs "The Land that Time Forgot" because it would seem so old-fashioned. But I just "tried" it because of the free text on Gutenberg, and I really, really enjoyed it. I am a child of the '80 so I was reading Star Wars, Star Trek, things of that nature when I was younger--none of this "classic" nonsense! Boy did I miss out on a lot of good stuff Now, as an adult, I still like that stuff, but because of sites like Gutenberg and Manybooks, I have experimented a lot more--Burroughs, Poe, Dickens, Wells, etc. Of course, this probably says more about my lack of culture as a result of growing up in a small farming community in the middle of nowhere! I never read the classics even when I was in high school. And the cool factor allowed me to test out some new reading, and I'm hooked again. On a really laughable note, when I confessed to my co-workers that I had only recently read the book "A Catcher in The Rye," and never even really knew what it was about until I read the ebook, they looked at me like I was an alien for not knowing anything about such a well-known book (here in the USA anyway). So for me it's a combination of usefulness and geekiness. I am only a mid-level geek though, I don't mind messing around for an hour or so, trying new formats, messing with conversion, seeing what it can do. But when you guys start talking about programming, hacking, taking it apart--um I get pretty lost. Don't get me wrong though, it's because of you all that makes devices like this so cool. I mean, if the big company guys don't do it just right, you all go out there and write something or figure out some work-around. Amazing! Sorry I rambled, but on a side note: My son is 16 and ebook reading is a way of life for him. He isn't impressed by it like I am, but he is totally comfortable with it and prefers it to other means. To him, it's more convienent to have so many books on one small device. He is totally frustrated that his school textbooks weigh down his backpack so much. And he has actually been asked to stop reading his ebook in class (they had freetime and were able to read any book they wanted) because his teacher never heard of ebooks and thought he was playing with some handheld gaming device. He even showed it to her and explained that he was reading, but she just didn't get it. It's the attitude of people like her--can't be bothered to listen, scared of paperbooks dying, etc-- that make it difficult for ebooks to become standard. So it will be very interesting to see how much change the upcoming generation well make, because they have low tolerance for people who are afraid of technology. Not sure if that is good or scary, but it's the reality.