05:18 AM by soondai in E-Book General | News

Around a year and a half ago I got my first email from Amazon promising a credit from the price-fix-6 publishers. I think it vaguely intimated I could expect it around a year and 3 months ago.

Got another back in September. Looks like the legal wrangling is finally over and the credits should appear early next year.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...arly-2014.html

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

If you've been too busy to check out MobileRead this week, check out our usual roundup:

E-Book General - News

• PocketBook CAD Reader
• YotaPhone: A Fully Functional LCD/E-Ink Phone on Sale Now!

E-Book General - Deals, Freebies, and Resources (No Self-Promotion)

• Baen January 2014 Bundle - Expires Soon - 7 books/$18

10:56 AM by faithbw in E-Book General | News

I was doing a Google search for e-ink and saw this:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/04/y...hone-hands-on/

It's not perfect (what gadget is?) but I think it's pretty cool.

It's on sale in Europe for 499 Euros. No word on when or if it'll be available in the U.S.

06:22 AM by Dulin's Books in E-Book General | News

Just stumbled upon this in my news reading

http://gigaom.com/2013/12/02/e-ink-p...ing-cad-files/

The 13.3-inch Android tablet uses the latest E Ink Fina display which has less than half the weight of a similar glass-based TFT and is less than half as thick as well. The PocketBook CAD Reader has a 1 GHz dual-core chip and runs Android 4.0.4 with 2 GB of memory and 16 GB of internal storage. It also has an 8,000 mAh battery, Wi-Fi and an integrated 3G radio as well as Wacom digitizer support.

ohh Nate has it on his front page as well http://www.the-digital-reader.com/

05:28 AM by pdurrant in E-Book General | Deals and Resources (No...

Just a reminder that if you want to buy Baen's January 2014 Bundle, seven SF/Fantasy books for $18, you only have TWO WEEKS left to buy it. The bundle will come off sale sometime on the 15th December, and the full bundle can be downloaded by those who've bought it sometime from the 16th December 2013 onwards.

The total cost of the individual books will be about $58. So if you don't already have any of the books in the bundle, that's a discount of 68%!

The books in the January 2014 bundle are:

Revolution: Book Three of the Secret World Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey, Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, and Veronica Giguere
1636: Seas of Fortune by Iver Cooper
The Forever Engine by Frank Chadwick
A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 2 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
A Rising Thunder by David Weber
Sunset of the Gods by Steve White
The Iron Breed by Andre Norton

06:00 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

Just in case you've missed anything, here is the list of our frontpage news this week.

E-Book General - News

• Nook Windows 8 app now available internationally

E-Book General - General Discussions

• Neil Gaiman on Libraries and Reading
• Survey finds that 62% of 16 to 24-year-olds prefer paper books to e-books

E-Book General - Reading Recommendations

• December Book Club Vote

09:26 AM by K. Molen in E-Book General | General Discussions

Sixteen to 24-year-olds are known as the super-connected generation, obsessed with snapping selfies or downloading the latest mobile apps, so it comes as a surprise to learn that 62% prefer print books to ebooks.

Asked about preferences for physical products versus digital content, printed books jump out as the media most desired in material form, ahead of movies (48%), newspapers and magazines (47%), CDs (32%), and video games (31%).

"It is surprising because we think of 16-24s as being attached to their smartphones and digital devices, so it does shout out," said Luke Mitchell of agency Voxburner, which researched questions about buying and using content with 1,420 young adults.

The two big reasons for preferring print are value for money and an emotional connection to physical books. On questions of ebook pricing, 28% think that ebooks should be half their current price, while just 8% say that ebook pricing is right.

The top-rated reasons for preferring physical to digital products were: "I like to hold the product" (51%), "I am not restricted to a particular device" (20%), "I can easily share it" (10%), "I like the packaging" (9%), and "I can sell it when used" (6%)...

Full article here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...printed-ebooks

09:07 AM by gmw in E-Book General | General Discussions

I looked around and can't see this already posted here:
Neil Gaiman lecture: Reading and Obligation (Video and transcript available on that link.)

Some snippents:

[...]
I worry that here in the 21st Century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a word in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to fundamentally miss the point.
[...]
I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing.

We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future.

We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we are already tired of. To do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. Use reading aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.

We have an obligation to use the language. To push ourselves: to find out what words mean and how to deploy them, to communicate clearly, to say what we mean. We must not to attempt to freeze language, or to pretend it is a dead thing that must be revered, but we should use it as a living thing, that flows, that borrows words, that allows meanings and pronunciations to change with time.
[...]

There are also some excellent words about empathy, and about the critical importance of imagination.