E-Book reader roundup: Will Kindle catch fire?
Have you used an e-book reader? What do you think of College Prowler CEO Luke Skurman's reviews of them?
From Ron Goldstein You didn't point out in your review that NEITHER the Sony or the Kindle can be used outside the USA- neither lets you download titles from outside the US.
Ron Goldstein, PhD
The Mina & Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences
Bar-Ilan University
From Ava Godfrey, Mountain View, CA Actually a regular cell phone makes a great eReader. I soon forgot the small screen size and was 'in' the story. The portability is a huge advantage over paper books or dedicated eReaders, I have to carry my phone everywhere anyway – not it's full of books also.
I get free books packaged up for cell phones from http://www.booksinmyphone.com They give away hundreds of public domain and creative commons titles. If your phone is internet connected you can browse for books and install direct to the phone from the mobile version of their site, otherwise download and install via a PC.
From v. sandiford, woburn, ma I received the Kindle as a gift on Dec. 18, 2007. I HATED it at first because I LOVE books. Now, I think it's great if you read the New York Times bestsellers, but for historical books or anything a bit older — the books are just not available. Of the TEN books I've purchased since Dec. 18th, only ONE was available for kindle.
I like being able to look up things online from anywhere — check book prices at the bookstore vs. amazon prices, for example — but for actually reading, the books I want are just not available.
That said, the pages are readable. I can read them without my glasses — I made the font the next to largest size — makes for lots of page turning, but easy to see. Pages are not much delayed (maybe one second?). You have to get used to the location of the "turn page" side bar, it is in a very inconvenient place.
Otherwise, it's a very good e-book device. I prefer real books, this is a gadget. An expensive, but fun, gadget that works for some applications and not for others.
From Jeff, Chatham, NJ I bought an Asus EEEPc. I have tons of technical pdfs as well as text files for which I needed a convenient reading method. A regular laptop is too big and has too much of a startup time. All the existing dedicated ebook readers have problems like the annoying page turning flash, inability to display technical pdfs correctly (or at all because of the many propietary formats!), enormous wait times to turn pages (when the pages have complex information), high cost, etc. The Asus is a full PC so it has no problems reading any of the major formats, it's extremely portable (size of a large paperback and only 2 pounds), the screen is large enough to read technical documents (much better than a PDA or iPhone), plus it comes with wireless web capabilities (which work very easily and very well) so I can download as many new books as I want. Plus it's Linux-based so bootup and shutdown are extremely fast and the box almost never gets hung up or crashes.
PLUS…it's actually LESS in price than many of the other ebook readers reviewed here. You get a reliable reader PLUS a full PC for less than these dedicated readers each with many problems.
From Craig, Jacksonville FL I use the Sony reader and I must admit it is amazing. I generally stay away from Sony products because that tend to be DRM'd and proprietary, but this device is really open. It has an SD card slot as well as a Sony memory stick slot. I have converted most of the ebooks I had for palm for the reader using free software on the web and now this is my preferred way of reading. What I love ablout e-ink technology is that this is very close to reading from a physical book, no eye fatigue! I get to carry 100 books with me and read anywhere, anytime. I looked at the kindle, but price!? and the fact that I can't load what I wnat onto it any time from any computer was a big turn off. On the Sony I can put what I wnat on the device because the computer sees it as just another USB storage device.
From Jenn Albany, NY I played with the Kindle at a Borders store and found having only part of the page on the screen annoying. I found the device not worth the money. I would love to find a way to carry all my books with me all at once, but until it's as pretty, sophisticated and realistic as a paper book, I'll stick with the original.
From Brad, Columbus, OH I am an avid book reader – I just sold myself down to 3 floor-to-ceiling shelves from 6 to create more space in my house. I love to hold books, the paper, etc.
But I was given a Kindle for Christmas and have to say I'm pretty hooked. I love it that I can take a library with me everywhere I go – I even like the screensavers with literary references that pop up after it's been sitting a while.
Other readers are right that it is a bit delayed in turning pages, but I generally am not bothered by this. I understand it's not yet perfected.
One great thing about this one vs. other readers (from what I hear about other readers) is that once you buy the book, it's yours. It is stored on the device, not an account. So it is just like a normal book that way (unless you lose it :) ).
I wouldn't recommend it for features like web browsing (except shopping for more books). That's not its strong suite.
Write if you're looking into this and have questions!
Brad
From Robert Keilitz, Caro, Michigan I have owned the ebookwise reader for many years, since it was manufactured by RCA and known as the REBEL. I am, in fact, currently using it to read "The Devil In the While City". I enjoy it for the convenience and storage capacity: imagine being able to take more than a dozen novels with you on vacation. I also like that I can read in the dark. No more the irate wife wondering when I'm going to turn that **** light off and go to sleep. I love going to movie theaters, and the ebook always goes in with me, for that slack time before the feature starts.
All that said, I have always come to miss the FEEL of a book and the pleasure of turning a page. I do not think there needs to be a choice made between the page and the pixel: they both have their place. Do I need an ebook reader that costs $400, just so I can connect to the internet and buy more ebooks? That I do not. It is my hope that any fever caused by the Kindle will cause more people to see the advantage of the Ebookwise reader, which will in turn inspire ebookwise.com to offer more and more current releases for sale.
Even if they do, I will still want to occasionally turn a page and close a book when I am finished reading.
From Eric Powers, Chicago, IL Doing research across several sources is an interesting challenge when constrained to a 15" LCD. I find that multiple paper books can be spread across my desk with relative ease…and flipping between pages is a breeze. The notes I write on the pages aren't susceptible to a hard drive crash either. Just like with iTunes and other digital downloads, most e-licenses prohibit transferring that license to another party.
I'm sticking to paper books!
From Bill Bannon, Willmar, MN What's the big deal? I have been reading ebooks on my Palm device for years now. It is my preferred method. At 55 years old with tri-focals I still don't mind the small screen. The backlight lets me read in the dark. I can download ebooks, PDF files and web sites with isilo. While I wouldn't mind a larger screen, I wouldn't buy a dedicated ereader just to get one.
From Rick Bowen, San Diego, CA I have been using Mobipocket on the Treo for a couple of years now. In doing so I have switched almost exclusively to reading e-books instead of paper. I find the advantages of ready on my phone far outweigh the disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that I carry a library of 5-600 hundred books with me everywhere. I never lack for anything to read when traveling or when I have a couple of minutes to kill. much better then having to carry a brief case of books when going on a business trip.
The book readers mentioned are pretty expensive and really overkill for the recreational reader. All you need is the text in an easily readable fashion. You do not need the look and feel of the original book. A bit different if you are talking text books where you need to be able to properly represent the graphs and images.
From Callie, Norman, OK I would definitely be interested in an electronic reader once the technology is perfected. It would especially be nice for college classes. However, I will always want my hard copy books that I can walk down to the park with to read recreationally also. The electronic reader would be nice on business trips or in the airport though, because you can search for what you want and buy and read it there. Especially if your flight gets delayed. I won't buy one until I am absolutely positive it is comfortable to read and doesn't strain my eyes or become illegible in sunlight and that the buttons aren't annoying. I am interested in the Kindle though.
From Ovidiu Dressler I already have over 4 years since I use my Dell Pocket PC to read e-books. You can install on it pretty much any software reader available out there. I use Mobipocket Reader, Microsoft Reader and Adobe Reader (the Windows Mobile versions). It has a wireless network card, a decent IE browser, bluetooth, it can be synchronized with your Outlook etc.. I use it also as a navigation device (TomTom Navigator) and for hiking/geocaching (Delorme Topo maps). It cost me less than $300.00 when I bought it and I still feel those were the best spent $$ since I started buying electronic gadgets. Why would someone invest $300 in a "e-book reader"?
From Jim Hamilton I actually have thEbookwise reader and it does have an expasion slot and a usb plug. I connect thru my computer. Screen is fine for reading but pics in books are a bit hard to see.
From Alex, Boston MA I am an avid e-book reader. In fact, more than 95% of books I read over last 5 years were in electronic format. The reason: having to move from place to place I found that dragging my library along is not too much fun; thus I’ve donated most of it to local library on my third relocation.
I don't have the dedicated e-book hardware yet, settling for good old Palm for my reading purposes. However, the latest Sony Reader is the closest to what I have in mind (actually, It's all good except for the lack of internet connectivity, which I can live without). Kindler is not on my shopping list at all, as it is: ugly looking, bulky, uses proprietary text format AND expensive.
From John, Statesboro, GA Perhaps the market for book readers is not the casual reader but instead is the college student. College students have to buy 5 or more books per semester and they have to read them for classes. Imagine a well designed book reader that students could use for their college classes. They are already more tech savvy that most of the population and they buy books that are very expensive (often more than $100 each) with only 50% resale value at best. Online textbooks at $25 each and a $400 reader would be economical in just 1-2 semesters.
From Tom, Layton, UT This issue is not economics, it's technology. You can throw a book across the room and it still works. You can read it in any location. Every time you turn it on, it works! Now THAT has value since I always have something to read when the power goes off.
From mark barratt, dallas texas Besides the mechanical features, the perfect E-book should have wireless download capabilities and support PDF (Open Format) files. Until then, most electronic readers will simply download the PDF and read it on their laptops.
From Avid mystery reader Patricia, Southlake, Texas Regardless of how good or bad the technology, electronic books are a bad economic value for the avid reader. Electronic copies of new books are 70 – 90% of the price of a new hardcopy, and they have zero trade in or resale value. I could buy the same book in hardcopy for half price at Half Priced Book store. Once I've read the hardcopy of the book, it still has value. I can sell my hardcopy book back to Half Price books, or I can go to http://www.paperbackswap.com and trade the book for a different one I want for free, just paying the cost of postage to mail my book.
For example, at amazon.com, I can download Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean 13 for $13.57. I can buy it used at amazon.com for $5.47 + $2.13 S&H for a total of $7.60. I trade it for book #2 at paperbackswap.com, costing me $2.13 in postage. I've now read 2 books for $9.73. I trade book #2 for book #3, again $2.13 for postage. I've read 3 books for $11.86. I trade for book #4 for a total of $13.99. I trade for book #5, for a total of $16.12. I sell book #5 to a used book store for $2.50. In both scenarios, the price is the same and both have zero resale value. The difference is I was able to read one electronic book vs 5 hardcopy books.
I LOVE http://www.paperbackswap.com.
From Scott, Fort Wayne, IN I think it is a knowledge vs. information issue. Having the book and being able to give it to someone is knowledge. You are in control and there is nothing the publishing company can do after you own the book. But the ereader is just about information. The seller of the machine is in control of the content. You do not have complete rights to the book and the company can end your service at any time.
Besides the wonderful thing about books is archaeologists have found ones dating back centuries. In 700 years no one is going to unearth this device, know how to turn it on and use it, and then gain an understanding of the culture from it.
It is only a way to give people information, but not promote knowledge like a book.
From Lance Groth, Minneapolis, MN You missed one that's worth a look – the Cybook Gen3 by Bookeen:
http://www.bookeen.com/overview/ebook-overview.aspx
It uses high-rez E-Ink, similar to Sony, and supports open, multiple formats – you're not locked in to a proprietary vendor for the books.
I used their first generation reader and liked it, although it was primitive compared to what's available now. I'm looking forward to trying the Gen3.
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Neat gadgets, but still… to me, they're no real threat to books.
For years, gadgeteers have been sounding the death knell for printed matter. My opinion is – it will never happen. Sure, we may get more information in digital form in the future, but books will likely never vanish – nor do I think they should.
One of the fundamental benefits that books have – that technological devices will never have, by their very nature – is that books are not "standards dependent". Books that were written 800 years ago are still holding their information, waiting to be gleaned by anyone with functional eyes and the ability to read.
But with electronic gadgets, forget 800 years ago – think 8 years ago. Portable information storage meant either CDroms, floppy discs, or other removable media like Zip discs. When was the last time you saw a floppy drive on a new computer? Or a Zip drive?
Given proper storage conditions, time is pretty kind to books. The technology needed to read them – our eyes – is still here. The same can't be said of countless unknown digital documents. The original recordings of Apollo 11 lunar landing have gone missing – and even if they're found, the only place with equipment to play them back – the Data Evaluation Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center, was closed in October 2006.
But looking beyond the historical perspective a bit, these devices just aren't as practical as books. Books never have dead batteries. Books can get thrown around, stepped on, or beaten up without a flinch. Books don't crash if you spill coffee on them. If someone snatches a book out of your hands, you won't be as upset as if they got your $400 gizmo.
Not to mention, all these devices lack the… I don't know… soul, if you will, of books. There's something satisfying about the feel of a book – the texture of the page, that tiny sense of suspense, or anticipation, or dread, as you turn the page. In a very real sense, with books, the medium is a part of the message. Thumbing through an old book connects you somehow with those before you who read it. I can't imagine any technology that would give you the same sensation.