Silliness Surreal.... Have you heard of a thing called a book

=X= · 10-16-2008, 06:59 PM

Hey folks,
Yesterday I went to my local coffee house. While sipping my coffee and reading from my PRS-505, I noticed it for the first time as part of their decor. Sitting on a self dusty and rustic was something they called a BOOK. It was made of this thing called paper, the fonts where embedded on the on the paper, no down from some sort of crude alchemy was involved.

I sat there turning the fragile pages one by one, losing myself in the ancient lore. Yet I was brought back to reality by the awkward page turning and the uncomfortable weight of this thing called a book.

After the experience I was left to wonder. Is this really HOW people use to read? How awkward! --how did they do it to read more than one book. Did they really have tote around multiple books? There was no online dictionary, not way to annotate?! Wow times where sure different

___

ShortNCuddlyAm · 10-16-2008, 07:17 PM

I think they did have a way to annotate, but I'm not sure how. I've come across a couple of these as well, and in one, there were notes and comments in the margins, in a completely different font to the main text; in some places there were two or three different fonts with varying degrees of legibility and boldness. It was actually very annoying as I couldn't see how to easily get to a clean version of the text, and in some places it had gone all the way through and affected the legibility of the text on the other side.

RWood · 10-16-2008, 11:51 PM

I saw one, once. It was a long time ago and it had a colored area over some of the words that made them all fuzzy. It also smelled.

HappyMartin · 10-17-2008, 02:56 AM

My word. Did it have a keyboard?

Slite · 10-17-2008, 03:30 AM

Oh yeah, I've came across one of those as well, and it was indeed annotated, in a very weird way. It had these smaller, brightly colored pieces of paper stuck to different "pages" (i think they were called) of the book. And on the smaller paperthingys who attached to the pages of the book by a strip of sticky residue people had scribbled their notes, but there seemed to be no way of erasing or changing them.

Very odd indeed....

GingerTez · 10-17-2008, 03:33 AM

Hmm, I think that's very odd too. I'm sure there must have been a bit of a user problem though...

Are you sure you didn't miss a switch or button that would make it more flexible. I can understand wanting to "freeze" the contents so that nobody else can change them but there must be some way of write-enabling the contents. Even in the olden days this must have been a requirement. Perhaps it was just out of charge - was there any obvious place to insert a charging device?

Cheers,
Terry.

Dylrob · 10-17-2008, 05:13 AM

I'm afraid I haven't. Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?

ShortNCuddlyAm · 10-17-2008, 11:09 AM

I couldn't see anywhere obvious to plug a charger into the ones I saw, although it's possible it had broken off as on at least one of them, if you open it flat there was a hollow between the covers and the contents, which might once have held a rechargable battery I suppose.

Dylrob, it could've been a dream, but for all of us to dream the same thing...? That's scary

DixieGal · 10-17-2008, 11:17 AM

Perhaps I can answer some of your questions. I actually own some of those Books. I display them on a wall of shelves beside another archaic reference called a Map.

You see, from what I have been able to discern, they certainly must have had a functional purpose at some time in the past. However, as you know, minerals creep in and replace the original materials. What you have discovered are, in fact, fossilized remains of primitive e-readers, with petrified screens bound together.

RWood · 10-17-2008, 12:52 PM

Thanks Dixie, that explains a lot. The one I saw had something called a "dust cover" covered with a frame from a video (it would not play and I could find no place to press to activate the video so it may have been out of power.

radioflyertoo · 10-17-2008, 01:15 PM

RWood - I think that video is really a picture. To check I went to this ancient and decrepid place called a Library which had a heavy device of many parts called an Encylopedia and within this device, which by the way required you to turn it manually since it seemed to be broken, was a discription of a Picture. Picture - a still image printed on media with ink. I went no farther since this device had primitive search function that didn't seem to operate properly. This "Library" also had many many "books" but none functioned as expected.

=X= · 10-17-2008, 01:35 PM

Dream probably not, though my mind was hazy. Most likely from the fumes of these fossilized readers.

No, there was no keyboard; no keypress of any sort.

=X=

pshrynk · 10-17-2008, 03:33 PM

I think they stop working when the batteries die and since they are made by Sony or Apple, you can't replace them. You're kind of stuck there.

digitalzen · 10-17-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

Hey folks,
Yesterday I went to my local coffee house. While sipping my coffee and reading from my PRS-505, I noticed it for the first time as part of their decor. Sitting on a self dusty and rustic was something they called a BOOK. It was made of this thing called paper, the fonts where embedded on the on the paper, no down from some sort of crude alchemy was involved.

I sat there turning the fragile pages one by one, losing myself in the ancient lore. Yet I was brought back to reality by the awkward page turning and the uncomfortable weight of this thing called a book.

After the experience I was left to wonder. Is this really HOW people use to read? How awkward! --how did they do it to read more than one book. Did they really have tote around multiple books? There was no online dictionary, not way to annotate?! Wow times where sure different

___

I recently graduated from university and I really hope they start to use ebooks soon. there seem to be so many advantages, namely the annotations--a must for college classes. plus, i would not have had to endure the wrath of my senior thesis adviser, admonishing me for dog earing my paper books. this would also reduce costs so much!

Steven Lyle Jordan · 10-17-2008, 04:57 PM

I remember one of those "books." As I recall, they could be particularly hard on the eyes. I saw one once, where the text on the leaves was printed from some vegetable-based solution, but it had not been done very well. The markings alternated from strong to faint, and often from reasonable clear to blurry and irregular. You could not adjust the brightness, contrast or focus at all. And if you held it under the wrong light, you couldn't make out the text on one side against the text on the other side (and why anyone would imprint text on two sides of a see-through display is still beyond me).

10-16-2008, 06:59 PM	#1
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Surreal.... Have you heard of a thing called a book Hey folks, Yesterday I went to my local coffee house. While sipping my coffee and reading from my PRS-505, I noticed it for the first time as part of their decor. Sitting on a self dusty and rustic was something they called a BOOK. It was made of this thing called paper, the fonts where embedded on the on the paper, no down from some sort of crude alchemy was involved. I sat there turning the fragile pages one by one, losing myself in the ancient lore. Yet I was brought back to reality by the awkward page turning and the uncomfortable weight of this thing called a book. After the experience I was left to wonder. Is this really HOW people use to read? How awkward! --how did they do it to read more than one book. Did they really have tote around multiple books? There was no online dictionary, not way to annotate?! Wow times where sure different ___

10-17-2008, 03:30 AM	#5
Slite Icanhasdonuts? Posts: 2,837 Karma: 532407 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Mölnbo, Sweden Device: Kobo Aura 2nd edition, Kobo Clara HD	Oh yeah, I've came across one of those as well, and it was indeed annotated, in a very weird way. It had these smaller, brightly colored pieces of paper stuck to different "pages" (i think they were called) of the book. And on the smaller paperthingys who attached to the pages of the book by a strip of sticky residue people had scribbled their notes, but there seemed to be no way of erasing or changing them. Very odd indeed.... Last edited by Slite; 10-17-2008 at 03:34 AM.

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10-16-2008, 07:17 PM	#2
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	I think they did have a way to annotate, but I'm not sure how. I've come across a couple of these as well, and in one, there were notes and comments in the margins, in a completely different font to the main text; in some places there were two or three different fonts with varying degrees of legibility and boldness. It was actually very annoying as I couldn't see how to easily get to a clean version of the text, and in some places it had gone all the way through and affected the legibility of the text on the other side.

10-16-2008, 11:51 PM	#3
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	I saw one, once. It was a long time ago and it had a colored area over some of the words that made them all fuzzy. It also smelled.

10-17-2008, 02:56 AM	#4
HappyMartin Martin Kristiansen Posts: 1,546 Karma: 8480958 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Johannesburg Device: Kindle International Ipad 2	My word. Did it have a keyboard?

10-17-2008, 03:33 AM	#6
GingerTez Stroppy Ginger Scotsman Posts: 62 Karma: 284 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Altrincham, UK Device: Sony PRS-505	Hmm, I think that's very odd too. I'm sure there must have been a bit of a user problem though... Are you sure you didn't miss a switch or button that would make it more flexible. I can understand wanting to "freeze" the contents so that nobody else can change them but there must be some way of write-enabling the contents. Even in the olden days this must have been a requirement. Perhaps it was just out of charge - was there any obvious place to insert a charging device? Cheers, Terry.

10-17-2008, 05:13 AM	#7
Dylrob Murderous Mustela Posts: 10,224 Karma: 47842158 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The other land of schnitzel and beer Device: iPad M1 Pro, Kindle Paperwhite	I'm afraid I haven't. Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?

10-17-2008, 11:09 AM	#8
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	I couldn't see anywhere obvious to plug a charger into the ones I saw, although it's possible it had broken off as on at least one of them, if you open it flat there was a hollow between the covers and the contents, which might once have held a rechargable battery I suppose. Dylrob, it could've been a dream, but for all of us to dream the same thing...? That's scary

10-17-2008, 11:17 AM	#9
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	Perhaps I can answer some of your questions. I actually own some of those Books. I display them on a wall of shelves beside another archaic reference called a Map. You see, from what I have been able to discern, they certainly must have had a functional purpose at some time in the past. However, as you know, minerals creep in and replace the original materials. What you have discovered are, in fact, fossilized remains of primitive e-readers, with petrified screens bound together.

10-17-2008, 12:52 PM	#10
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Thanks Dixie, that explains a lot. The one I saw had something called a "dust cover" covered with a frame from a video (it would not play and I could find no place to press to activate the video so it may have been out of power.

10-17-2008, 01:15 PM	#11
radioflyertoo Hog Rider Posts: 266 Karma: 1581 Join Date: May 2008 Location: eastern PA. Device: HTC 7501	RWood - I think that video is really a picture. To check I went to this ancient and decrepid place called a Library which had a heavy device of many parts called an Encylopedia and within this device, which by the way required you to turn it manually since it seemed to be broken, was a discription of a Picture. Picture - a still image printed on media with ink. I went no farther since this device had primitive search function that didn't seem to operate properly. This "Library" also had many many "books" but none functioned as expected.

10-17-2008, 01:35 PM	#12
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Dream probably not, though my mind was hazy. Most likely from the fumes of these fossilized readers. No, there was no keyboard; no keypress of any sort. =X=

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10-17-2008, 03:33 PM	#13
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	I think they stop working when the batteries die and since they are made by Sony or Apple, you can't replace them. You're kind of stuck there.

10-17-2008, 04:57 PM	#15
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	I remember one of those "books." As I recall, they could be particularly hard on the eyes. I saw one once, where the text on the leaves was printed from some vegetable-based solution, but it had not been done very well. The markings alternated from strong to faint, and often from reasonable clear to blurry and irregular. You could not adjust the brightness, contrast or focus at all. And if you held it under the wrong light, you couldn't make out the text on one side against the text on the other side (and why anyone would imprint text on two sides of a see-through display is still beyond me).