Another barrier to e-books is the price. A lot of people seem to be put off by paying £4 for something that is, in essence, a Word document on a screen of their choice. It does of course vary between e-publishers, but for the most part the reduced production costs aren't really reflected in the pricing.
Always thought a distribution network like Steam would help the piracy worries, too...
And I'll add my voice to those who prefer reading a "real" book, so to speak. I've even been known to print-out my editing work or even people's short stories if they're just too long to get via the screen: but I've been going without paper for so long now that I'm actually very used to reading straight from a window.
The Sony PRS-500 Reader is an e-book reader for the U.S. market. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation, that has 166 dpi resolution, four levels of grayscale, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain the image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation. The reader uses an iTunes Store-like interface to purchase books from Sony's Connect eBook store. It also can display Adobe PDFs, personal documents, blogs, RSS newsfeeds, JPEGs, and Sony's proprietary BBeB ("BroadBand eBook") format.
It's not perfect - the contrast could be better and 166 dpi is kind of fuzzy for reading - but it seems to do most of what people are looking for.
PDAs and ebook readers are expensive, books aren't so much.
That's not really a fair comparison. Paperback books are usually cheap, but one wouldn't be buying a PDA per book, so the cost of the viewing device is a one-time thing. But you are correct. iPods and PDAs are quite expensive, and are not a good way to read books. I would rather have a dedicated viewer or larger tablet device. Many books are much more expensive than paperbacks as well.
If we assume that the initial purchase cost of a PDA or reader will set people back a couple hundred dollars, then say that a savvy buyer could have a 20 book lead (or way more, if she sticks to clearance and used books). Add to that the fact that (most) ebooks aren't free and it will take lots and lots and lots of maybe slightly less expensive ebook purchases before the costs even out. And what's the fun of owning all those books if you can't display them proudly on your bookshelf?
Another barrier to e-books is the price. A lot of people seem to be put off by paying £4 for something that is, in essence, a Word document on a screen of their choice. It does of course vary between e-publishers, but for the most part the reduced production costs aren't really reflected in the pricing.
I reckon most of the cost comes from a need to pay the author and editor and all the other people involved in the publishing process. You do want to get paid one of these days, don't you? :P
And I'll add my voice to those who prefer reading a "real" book, so to speak. I've even been known to print-out my editing work or even people's short stories if they're just too long to get via the screen: but I've been going without paper for so long now that I'm actually very used to reading straight from a window.
I've printed off entire ebooks and stuck them in binders rather than read them off a screen.
They drop a little more in price and this will definitely make its way into my Engineering library.
Hell... that'd replace my entire engineering library.
Che Guevara on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited September 2007
The Sony Reader supports .txt, .pdf, .rtf, and other non-DRM formats as well as the DRM standard that most eBook publishers use.
I mean - I've never used the thing, and I'm not really a big fan of Sony in general, so don't think I'm shilling this thing. It looks interesting though.
The Sony Reader supports .txt, .pdf, .rtf, and other non-DRM formats as well as the DRM standard that most eBook publishers use.
I mean - I've never used the thing, and I'm not really a big fan of Sony in general, so don't think I'm shilling this thing. It looks interesting though.
Definitely.
I think these would be an awesome upgrade to create paperless classrooms if they only dropped in price. There's even room to doodle on the pages without ever ruining the book.
Turns out the iLiad supports DRM formats now too...
The last post has me thinking.. just because we have iPods doesn't mean people stopped buying CDs. But iPods still sell like mad. So what if books start coming with codes so if you'd like you can download a digital version for on the go?
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited September 2007
My 2 cents. As far as textbooks and manuals and such. Id deffinitly go with an E-reader or that sony thing. I doubt the textbook publishers would go along with it. But how nice would it be to update chapter twelve page 97 without having to re-print the textbook. It would be a boon to the schools around the world.
As far as General Literature? Until a reader can keep a charge near indeffinitly or charge from contact with the human body or some such, books win. Portable, lightweight, Id say that the majority of people understand how to operate a book, at least in the US. Plus in the case of ANY emergency, you never have to worry about recharging your books. Most things that ruin books will ruin electronics faster. And when the reader is broke, the entire book or books is/are unusable. Versus missing pages, maybe some smudged ink, etc etc when a real book sustains damage.
And what's the fun of owning all those books if you can't display them proudly on your bookshelf?
You get to read them?
Yeah. It's not like I'd ever want to carry a bookshelf around on my back...
But a whole library in your pocket is pretty damned useful.
You know... that's a thought. There are some disadvantages to having over half of your living room wall space devoted to bookshelves. Like you don't have any room for pictures and other decorative stuff. Also, they're a pain when moving day comes along.
Those readers are looking pretty promising, although I think the technology needs a bit more time to mature. The two problems I still see are (1) can I still lend a book to my friend, or borrow one from them? If not, the prices on e-books are going to have to drop a bit (they should be able to make it up on volume) and (2) I'm notoriously hard on electronics -- prolonged exposure to my presence tends to cause them to behave erratically. Having my e-book reader go on the fritz would be pretty much not-fun.
You know... that's a thought. There are some disadvantages to having over half of your living room wall space devoted to bookshelves. Like you don't have any room for pictures and other decorative stuff. Also, they're a pain when moving day comes along.
Another barrier to e-books is the price. A lot of people seem to be put off by paying £4 for something that is, in essence, a Word document on a screen of their choice. It does of course vary between e-publishers, but for the most part the reduced production costs aren't really reflected in the pricing.
I reckon most of the cost comes from a need to pay the author and editor and all the other people involved in the publishing process. You do want to get paid one of these days, don't you? :P
Obviously true, but as I bolded, think of the number of steps removed from the process with an ebook. Hell, theoretically you could sell your book right now... piracy woes aside :P
Plus I imagine a lot of the excess money isn't going to the author and their editor anyway.
And what's the fun of owning all those books if you can't display them proudly on your bookshelf?
You get to read them?
Yeah. It's not like I'd ever want to carry a bookshelf around on my back...
But a whole library in your pocket is pretty damned useful.
You know... that's a thought. There are some disadvantages to having over half of your living room wall space devoted to bookshelves. Like you don't have any room for pictures and other decorative stuff. Also, they're a pain when moving day comes along.
I just like the look of full bookshelves. Somebody else noted as well that a bookshelf lets you present what you have and what you like to other people easily and immediately. And, honestly, I don't see that much use for a pocket library. I only ever need to have one book on hand at a time while I'm on typical short trips. And if I'm on a longer trip it's no big deal to carry two or even three paperbacks in a backpack, suitcase, or messenger bag. I'm never going to decide halfway through a book that I want to read something else; that's just not how I work things. Maybe other people are different in that respect, I don't know. On the other hand, my bookshelf presents immediately the greater part of my personal library when I do want to browse; I don't have to wear out my thumb scrolling though lists.
Obviously true, but as I bolded, think of the number of steps removed from the process with an ebook. Hell, theoretically you could sell your book right now... piracy woes aside :P
Plus I imagine a lot of the excess money isn't going to the author and their editor anyway.
I was thinking more of the members of the corporate apparatus in a publishing house like accountants, lawyers, administrators, and various flavours of assistants. It seems to me that unless you aim to self-publish or publish through a regional or highly specialist publishing house, there's really noavoiding that kind of thing, ebook or not.
I have no attention span on a monitor. I can read 100, 150 pages at a time in a good book in one sitting fine, but three paragraphs on a monitor and I'm "Fuck that, tl;dr"
Obviously true, but as I bolded, think of the number of steps removed from the process with an ebook. Hell, theoretically you could sell your book right now... piracy woes aside :P
Plus I imagine a lot of the excess money isn't going to the author and their editor anyway.
I was thinking more of the members of the corporate apparatus in a publishing house like accountants, lawyers, administrators, and various flavours of assistants. It seems to me that unless you aim to self-publish or publish through a regional or highly specialist publishing house, there's really noavoiding that kind of thing, ebook or not.
Ah? Well you're right there. Still, the removal of the need to print frees up a surprising lot of resources. Then again I guess all that results in is the publisher's other underpaid departments expecting a fairer proposal
I have no attention span on a monitor. I can read 100, 150 pages at a time in a good book in one sitting fine, but three paragraphs on a monitor and I'm "Fuck that, tl;dr"
I'm not sure why that is.
For a lot of people, it's the subconscious realization that they're basically looking at a lightbulb with words on it.
You know... that's a thought. There are some disadvantages to having over half of your living room wall space devoted to bookshelves. Like you don't have any room for pictures and other decorative stuff. Also, they're a pain when moving day comes along.
You say disadvantage, I say lifelong goal. ;-)
You aren't in a military family, are you? We move every 3-5 years. Then it takes me up to 2 years to get everything back on the shelves the way I like it, just in time to move again.
Carrying my entire library on a single plug-in electronic device would make things much easier.
Edcrab: probably closer than you think... a typical paperback costs $7 or so these days. Do you really think more than $3 of that is spent in the physical production, shipping etc.?
I'm kinda torn, actually... I like to browse, especially when looking for something new -- flip through, read a paragraph here, a sentence there. I suppose they could develop a way to do that with an e-book without allowing you to read the whole thing on-line.
I'm not in a military family, but I have moved a lot since moving out of my parent's house 11 years ago (about once per year or so). I hate moving my heavy books, but I wouldn't part with them for the world. Sometimes I feel like getting up and hugging my bookcases. Which is probably weird. But I'm cool with that.
I'm pretty much planing on buying one of those one lap to per child dealies, just as soon as I can. Solely to be used for the high resolution reflective display(assuming it doesn't suck) for reading black and white stuff. Like, text or manga.
They are supposed to be reasonably easy to work on, so I'll probably put some effort into making it lighter and smaller.
my eyes hurt after staring at a screen at work all damn day. Reflective ones are supposed to be a lot easier on your eyes.
I'm kinda torn, actually... I like to browse, especially when looking for something new -- flip through, read a paragraph here, a sentence there. I suppose they could develop a way to do that with an e-book without allowing you to read the whole thing on-line.
You could do that with SeaDragon. You can view the entire book at once as a single image, or you can zoom forever. on an ebook.
Gorgeeen on
No god damnit! The sheriff is a nig*Church Bells*r!!
I've kept my comic collection on disk for almost ten years now - I buy new stuff, scan it, and toss/give away the paper copy. I've started to do this with my books for one of the reasons stated above - it's very helpful to not have to move 20 or 30 boxes of books.
Sort of off-topic now, but where the heck did all this buzz about the iphone as an ebook reader start? Full sized screens with better resolution (VGA) have been around on PDAs (and more recently dedicated ebook readers) for years. Not to mention that flicking is flicking around to navigate is tedious enough even for long webpages (like these forums), think about trying it for the hundreds of pages an ebook would have.
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Always thought a distribution network like Steam would help the piracy worries, too...
And I'll add my voice to those who prefer reading a "real" book, so to speak. I've even been known to print-out my editing work or even people's short stories if they're just too long to get via the screen: but I've been going without paper for so long now that I'm actually very used to reading straight from a window.
It's not perfect - the contrast could be better and 166 dpi is kind of fuzzy for reading - but it seems to do most of what people are looking for.
I reckon most of the cost comes from a need to pay the author and editor and all the other people involved in the publishing process. You do want to get paid one of these days, don't you? :P
I've printed off entire ebooks and stuck them in binders rather than read them off a screen.
They drop a little more in price and this will definitely make its way into my Engineering library.
Hell... that'd replace my entire engineering library.
I mean - I've never used the thing, and I'm not really a big fan of Sony in general, so don't think I'm shilling this thing. It looks interesting though.
Definitely.
I think these would be an awesome upgrade to create paperless classrooms if they only dropped in price. There's even room to doodle on the pages without ever ruining the book.
Turns out the iLiad supports DRM formats now too...
Yeah. It's not like I'd ever want to carry a bookshelf around on my back...
But a whole library in your pocket is pretty damned useful.
As far as General Literature? Until a reader can keep a charge near indeffinitly or charge from contact with the human body or some such, books win. Portable, lightweight, Id say that the majority of people understand how to operate a book, at least in the US. Plus in the case of ANY emergency, you never have to worry about recharging your books. Most things that ruin books will ruin electronics faster. And when the reader is broke, the entire book or books is/are unusable. Versus missing pages, maybe some smudged ink, etc etc when a real book sustains damage.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
You know... that's a thought. There are some disadvantages to having over half of your living room wall space devoted to bookshelves. Like you don't have any room for pictures and other decorative stuff. Also, they're a pain when moving day comes along.
Those readers are looking pretty promising, although I think the technology needs a bit more time to mature. The two problems I still see are (1) can I still lend a book to my friend, or borrow one from them? If not, the prices on e-books are going to have to drop a bit (they should be able to make it up on volume) and (2) I'm notoriously hard on electronics -- prolonged exposure to my presence tends to cause them to behave erratically. Having my e-book reader go on the fritz would be pretty much not-fun.
Obviously true, but as I bolded, think of the number of steps removed from the process with an ebook. Hell, theoretically you could sell your book right now... piracy woes aside :P
Plus I imagine a lot of the excess money isn't going to the author and their editor anyway.
I was thinking more of the members of the corporate apparatus in a publishing house like accountants, lawyers, administrators, and various flavours of assistants. It seems to me that unless you aim to self-publish or publish through a regional or highly specialist publishing house, there's really noavoiding that kind of thing, ebook or not.
I'm not sure why that is.
Ah? Well you're right there. Still, the removal of the need to print frees up a surprising lot of resources. Then again I guess all that results in is the publisher's other underpaid departments expecting a fairer proposal
For a lot of people, it's the subconscious realization that they're basically looking at a lightbulb with words on it.
You aren't in a military family, are you? We move every 3-5 years. Then it takes me up to 2 years to get everything back on the shelves the way I like it, just in time to move again.
Carrying my entire library on a single plug-in electronic device would make things much easier.
Edcrab: probably closer than you think... a typical paperback costs $7 or so these days. Do you really think more than $3 of that is spent in the physical production, shipping etc.?
I'm kinda torn, actually... I like to browse, especially when looking for something new -- flip through, read a paragraph here, a sentence there. I suppose they could develop a way to do that with an e-book without allowing you to read the whole thing on-line.
They are supposed to be reasonably easy to work on, so I'll probably put some effort into making it lighter and smaller.
my eyes hurt after staring at a screen at work all damn day. Reflective ones are supposed to be a lot easier on your eyes.
You could do that with SeaDragon. You can view the entire book at once as a single image, or you can zoom forever. on an ebook.