E books / Kindle / Sony Reader

[Kylie]

I'm getting more and more tempted by e-readers. They're coming down in price so quickly now. I'm just waiting for one with all the right features for me (I'm not even sure exactly what I want, but I'll know when I see it!)

[100th Idiot]

I have been using a Sony eReader for over 18 months now and love it. I travel a lot so having a small slim device with my books on it works very well for me and it saves a lot of bookshelf space.

 

I buy the eBooks from Waterstones.

 

Kindle's proprietary format really puts me off. Once you have started investing in these books you will always have to buy Kindle hardware. I do not want to be locked into that. At least if I need a new reader and don't like the current Sony range there is plenty of choice that will read the ePub format.

 

Sony pocket reader is now £99. Probably less on eBay.

[TashaG]

I'm still in the indecided camp with the whole ereader thing! What I really want is to be able to hire one for a couple of weeks before shelling out for my own! Don't think it would stop me buying books, especially with my addiction to charity shops, but it could be really useful for commuting to work!

[chesilbeach]

I'm the same Tasha. I went to try out an iPad the other day, and it was much smaller than I was expecting, and looks a little more portable than I'd imagined, and the iBook app was absolutely beautiful. It would definitely be a boon for holidays, and as we live in a small house, reducing the physical books I buy would be helpful. I think I'd be inclined to be more selective in the books I bought, and try and buy the more transient reads (the ones I read once then go straight to the charity shop) in an ebook format.

[TashaG]

I can definitely see where you are coming from Chesilbeach! I have quite a large number of books but many of them are not ones that I would read again and so just take up a lot of room (but I can't seem to part with them).

 

I guess with an ereader you could still have them but without them taking up so much room! I would still buy books though, but as you say be more selective! Perhaps buy particularly nice copies, special editions etc, wait for box sets come out! I particularly love the new covers on the F Scott Fitzgerald annivesary editions being published by penguin.

 

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/august/penguin-classics-scott-fitzgerald-bickford-smith

 

I have been to a number of book signings recently but can't bring myself to read the signed copies, so try to get them from the library or in a charity shop so that they don't cost me so much money. The problem with the library is that they don't always have a lot of copies or they are all out. Charity shops, whilst an excellent source of books, can't be guaranteed to have what you want and I am rather impatient. The ereader would seem to solve this particular issue. Hmmmmmmm, what to do!?!

[100th Idiot]

If you read a lot then I would not think the iPad is the right device for you. The screen technology is the same as a PC - backlit LCD. It is quite tiring on the eyes after a while. Dedicated eReaders (Sony, Kindle etc.) use a different display that physically moves coloured particles (think electronic Etch-a-Sketch) {not quite the same but a close enough analogy). The page is lit with natural light reflecting off the surface just like a paper book and is much better for long hours of reading.

 

The iPad is a multimedia consumption device of which eBooks are one form.

[Karsa Orlong]

I buy the eBooks from Waterstones.

I'm not quite sure what Waterstones are trying to achieve with their eBook prices at the moment. W H Smiths are generally cheaper. For instance, Waterstones still want £5.49 each for Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, whereas Smiths are knocking them out for £2.72 each. Waterstones want £13.99 for Justin Cronin's The Passage, Smiths have it for £10. It's putting me off buying from Waterstones at the moment.

 

Edit: D'oh, just saw you'd already replied to my post in the other thread

Edited August 22, 2010 by Karsa Orlong

[Ophelia]

Apologies if anyone has already posted about this but some libraries are offering free downloads on e-books and audiobooks. There is the same time limit on borrowing as for 'real' books but worth bearing in mind if you don't wish to keep the e-book.

[Booknutt]

Thanks, Ophelia! That's a great tip about trying the Library first for e-books. I'm a big believer in using our Public Libraries. Apart from anything else, it saves a fortune if I'm trying out a new author. If I like 'em, I can then buy-to-keep, instead of commiting myself and finding out the horrible truth, later ...

 

I'm dithering strongly about getting an Amazon Kindle, currently, though I agree with the comments here that, certainly for some old favourites, there's nothing like having a "proper" book (and preferably hardback) in my hands. I'd never, for instance, read my Jane Austen's on Kindle, or similar - it'd be a complete insult to the lady authoress! Ditto my favourite Charles Dickens novels, and a few other favourites.

 

I have to admit though that an e-reader would be a boon for me in other ways for I live in a teeny flat, and my Barbara Erskine collection alone takes up a considerable portion of my limited storage space. I've noticed that most (if not all) of her books are in the Kindle store.

 

I'll never give up "proper" books, whatever I decide - for a living room without a few books is an empty place, isn't it, folks?

[Karsa Orlong]

I'll never give up "proper" books, whatever I decide - for a living room without a few books is an empty place, isn't it, folks?

Yeah, eBooks will never replace them, for me. Like you, my problem is shelf space. I'm using my ereader for books/authors I'm not sure about (or don't want to collect). I certainly can't imagine replacing my Steven Erikson collections with ePub editions

[100th Idiot]

I have a theory that paper books will go the way of vinyl records. It is kind of inevitable. As the cost of eReaders drops to the £20 to £50 range most books will be distributed electronically. Especially as fuel costs continue to rise increasing the costs of physical distribution. So physical books will decline in popularity but like vinyl they will come back as collectors items for aficionados.

 

It is therefore time to start building up your collection of quality hard back books before the prices start to increase further. Time to hit those second hand shops and get singed copies.

[Ophelia]

 

a living room without a few books is an empty place, isn't it, folks?

 

 

It certainly is, Booknutt!

[sayrha]

I really cannot bring myself to convert to an ebook. I love paper books far too much to give them up.

[AbielleRose]

Today at work my boss gave me one of the Barnes and Noble Nooks to test out for the weekend. I am loving it much more than I ever thought I would and am pretty sure that I'll be purchasing one of my own pretty soon

[Booknutt]

I have to say I hope you're wrong 100th Idiot (you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself, dear! ) and traditional books will always have a place among us.

 

I'm a Star Trek "Enterprise" fan, and love the way actual books (hardbacks, too) still have a place in the recreational of the crew.

 

I'm currently reading Victoria Holt novels, many of which are out of print now but I'm requesting them from my public Library, where such "golden oldies" are preserved in their Central Stores. It's lovely to have a hardback book in my hands with such a better quality of paper than the ones we're used to nowadays.

 

Something the "more mature reader" like me took for granted, back then - but a big part of the pleasure of the hobby!

 

Yes, I agree - get collecting, people!

Edited September 23, 2010 by Booknutt

[Karsa Orlong]

I'm a Star Trek "Enterprise" fan

So you're the one!

[BookJumper]

Sony Readers are now grabbagle for under £100 quid, and I nearly caved. Why only nearly? Well.

 

Because no one thinks of making available ebooks of scholarly editions of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I'm not fussed - RSC, Arden, Oxford, *insert name of reputable body of criticism here*, they'd all do, except none of them are available in electronic format. It's only one of the most videly read, analysed, adapted and generally consumed in some shape or other books in the entire history of books, its annotated editions counting between 500 and 2,000+ A4 pages... so why oh why oh why is it so difficult to grasp that making those lofty but hefty tomes available in such a back-friendly way would ensure that every student, everywhere, ever would buy one of these gizmos?

 

As it is, I'm keeping the money.

 

/rant over.

[Booknutt]

So you're the one!

 

 

Yeah, Karsa - it's lonely here!

[Booknutt]

Sony Readers are now grabbagle for under £100 quid, and I nearly caved. Why only nearly? Well.

 

Because no one thinks of making available ebooks of scholarly editions of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. I'm not fussed - RSC, Arden, Oxford, *insert name of reputable body of criticism here*, they'd all do, except none of them are available in electronic format. It's only one of the most videly read, analysed, adapted and generally consumed in some shape or other books in the entire history of books, its annotated editions counting between 500 and 2,000+ A4 pages... so why oh why oh why is it so difficult to grasp that making those lofty but hefty tomes available in such a back-friendly way would ensure that every student, everywhere, ever would buy one of these gizmos?

 

As it is, I'm keeping the money.

 

Knowing the literature-industry as we do, Bookjumper ... there must be a financial reason behind that! There are quite a lot of classic novels available on e-book, but I suppose "they" are jealously guarding such true (at length)classics as Shakespeare for a bit longer, till the demand increases ... then - they'll produce it all - at an eye-watering price!

 

Such a shame that commercialism has to affect our entertainment and learning, isn't it?

 

/rant over.

[chesilbeach]

I've done it. I've gone over to the dark side. I've bought an iPad and I'm completed converted to eBooks.

 

I'm using the Apple iBooks and the Kindle app so far. For the look and feel of the apps, I prefer the iBook, but Kindle is very usable too. I bought Ghost by Robert Harris because it was one of my reading group choices this month so I thought it would be a good test as I had both the paperback borrowed from the library and it was only £2.84 for the Kindle version. Read the whole book on the iPad, with the longest session of about 90 mins, and no problems with eyestrain or headaches, which had been one of my worries. I don't have a decent reading lamp in my living room at the moment but the screen is well lit and you adjust the brightness so it's perfect in that situation. I do have to be careful choosing a table in the coffee shop though, as reflections from windows, particularly in bright sunlight can be an issue, but I was always picky anyway, as I would always try to find a table with a light directly over the table and not in shade, so this hasn't been too much of a problem.

 

I love being able to highlight, bookmark and annotate the book as I'm going along - perfect for reference when I come to review the books.

 

I love the iBooks choice of free books, most of them are classics and published by the Gutenberg project. I've downloaded loads for my Rory Gilmore book challenge for free! The iBookstore also has enhanced books, one of which is the latest Stephen Fry book and I downloaded a sample to see what it was all about. Obviously, he is a huge technology fan, and has always been an Apple user, so it was no surprise to find he'd be one of the people to be involved in these enhanced books for the digital format. In the sample of the book, there are two videos from Mr Fry, and also links to websites for reference. I can see this would be an incredible benefit to non-fiction books such as school textbooks.

 

Both apps have the most fantastic option to download a sample (usually the first few chapters or about 50 or so pages) so you can try before you buy, so I've filled my library with samples.

 

The main problem so far seems to be availability. I would prefer to have my books in iBooks, but there are limited authors on there so far, and the ones I do want to read, don't seem to have their latest book or the last couple of books available yet. There's also the issue of cost, as I often rely on the 3 for 2 offer in Waterstone's and there isn't this sort of facility on the iBookstore. Some of the books I'm interested in are the same price or just a little bit cheaper than the hardback or paperback, and I think they should be a bit cheaper. I don't know whether the books currently only out in hardback will drop in price on the ebook version when the paperbacks are published. The Kindle seems to have a greater variety but still doesn't always have the latest books from some of the authors I want to read.

 

I'm still getting used to it, but at the moment, I have to say, I'm loathe to go back and read a physical book, as I'm already so incredibly comfortable with the iPad.

[Kylie]

I am sooooo jealous! I want an iPad so badly! I'm thinking of pawning my PS3 and old laptop so I can put the money towards an iPad.

 

Are you able to load your own ebooks onto the iPad? I have loads of ebooks on my computer that I'd like to read on an iPad, in formats such as pdf, Word, txt etc. Is there a way to view them, or can you only use the epub format in the iBook app?

Edited October 16, 2010 by Kylie

[chesilbeach]

I am sooooo jealous! I want an iPad so badly! I'm thinking of pawning my PS3 and old laptop so I can put the money towards an iPad.

 

Are you able to load your own ebooks onto the iPad? I have loads of ebooks on my computer that I'd like to read on an iPad, in formats such as pdf, Word, txt etc. Is there a way to view them, or can you only use the epub format in the iBook app?

I don't have any other types of ebooks, so I'm not sure, but I think the iBooks app only supports ePub format, however, there are viewer apps for PDF and other doc formats out there, so it should be able to accommodate them.

[Kylie]

I don't have any other types of ebooks, so I'm not sure, but I think the iBooks app only supports ePub format, however, there are viewer apps for PDF and other doc formats out there, so it should be able to accommodate them.

 

OK, thanks!

[deneng]

Michelle and I have just ordered a Kindle each and are waiting their arrival.

 

Unfortunately we are not able to afford I-Pads so hopefully the Kindle will meet our needs.

 

I have a little arthritis in my thumbs and find a book quite difficult to hold come the evening, coupled with an eye condition that gets worse as the day goes on for reading, I am hoping that the Kindle will restore my bed-time reading. It will be much lighter to hold and you can enhance the text size. . It will also be easier to slip in my bag when I go out and about.

 

Anyway once I have got it and its up and running I will let you know what its like and whether it meets my expectations.

 

I will still read my proper books at home during the day. The Kindle will not be a substitute for paper books but just a help to my reading habits.

Edited October 18, 2010 by deneng

[pickle]

Do let me know as I am thinking of getting one for my mum for her birthday but I need to know how easy it is for someone with very little technical savvy...well apart from pressing all the buttons and then ringing me claiming she did nothing!!!! she once managed to get her ipod and mobile into japanese..apparently it just did it, she didn't touch anything!!