Do I Need a Book Reader

I don't need a book reader: I need to read more books. I have a lot of unread books and I have to ask myself, "what are your waiting for?" I love books and can't go to a bookstore without buying something so now that I'm giving myself space in other parts of my life is the time to read voraciously again.

I'm one of the minority that has no issues reading e-books. I don't rely on a specialized device, however, I simply read them on my mobile. No extra device to lug around, no special formats that may or may not be around in 5 years.

If you have a Windows Mobile phone there's a great little e-book reader called µBook from http://www.gowerpoint.com/ that reads near any popular non-secured format...even from zip archive files.

Long time reader, first time poster...

I usually have a sci-fi paperback in one of my bags when I'm commuting to/from work or around town. Also, my phone can grab rss feeds for my little bits of dynamic news and current events reading if I'm losing interest in said paperback.

For longer trips, though I would rather have information available to me in digital format. Having the option of searching a reference manual for a keyword is a huge benefit and much easier than toting said reference manuals around.

I imagine ebook reader hardware is optimized for onscreen reading, portability and making the most of battery life which may be a great solution for some folks. However, I'm only interested if there is a way to receive the ebook content on my laptop, even if that means installing software to decode DRM protected content (ala itunes music, audible audio books, zinio magazines, etc). I'd much rather receive content on a device I already have than purchase and carry an additional one.

I think of cell phones. It took a while for cameras and music players to catch on, I imagine readers will be the same thing - Eventually we'll all sneer at a phone that DOESN'T come with a book reader.

Here's my take.

Electronic books are audio books for me- I put them on my ipod and listen while I'm driving, waiting, or other down time.

Can you imagine saying- I can't read that book, I forgot the batteries/recharge?

But I won't get this because the way I use books is different than the way I use audio books or electronics. Do you take your laptop into the bath with you? Do you have to turn off your book when the airplane is taking off?

Search is something I can do more quickly by hand than think of the proper search time to find a select passage that I may have a better "feel" for the content than exact words.

We also tend to read books "cover to cover". We have a sense of our progress through them, how much is left, and that we're getting something accomplished. We can skim through chapters. And usually, I am working on only one or two books at a time, not a dozen, so having something else, about the weight of a book I'd carry around anyway doesn't really save me any hassle, time, or anything else for that matter.

As someone who does a lot of research online and in libraries, sometimes you find the best stuff by going to that "section" of the library and seeing what else is there, what's next to what you thought you wanted on the shelf, and you have a small neighborhood of other interesting things on that subject. This is why we love Borders- you have electronic search, but you also have small neighborhoods of content to browse.

While online tools of lawyers such as LEXIS help you do research, the "getting up to speed" process usually involves a library and skimming a whole section of books as you try to narrow down the topic. This kind of "swimming" in information doesn't work as well electronically.

My best "mixed media" story is hanging out at the University of Pennsylvania library, and finding a series of books in the research section called the Handbook of Parenting- a five volume set of books, condensing the latest research about raising kids of all types. I coveted these books immediately, and xeroxed a bunch of chapters to take home. Each volume was over $150 to buy online- and then I found an electronic version of all 5 volumes on CD for $150. I bought the 5 volume CD immediately for my home use. Yet, I would never have known about this set, never had it come up on any of my Amazon searches before, unless I had seen the hard copies in the library.

The Kindle is ugly as heck. But its wireless non-subscription connection is interesting. And saving money over the full printed version's price is also.

Amazon shoulda hired an ex-Apple industrial designer to do the job. Too late. It will probably die an early death. (But the Zune looks better, for its second life - but still WAY weak compared to any iPod.)

Maybe Apple will design one RIGHT, at some point.

The reason I read printed materials is for the love of the experience. I was an English Lit major and there is a joy and an experience with paper that i thoroughly enjoy. That's the reason I won't buy they kindle at today's prices.

Any content that I can receive digitally, I do. The paper content is for savoring!

I have had the Sony Reader since the day it came out. I love having a portable electronic reader. Why?

First, I travel a lot. I used to lug around a stack of books with me to read on the plane and at my destination. The Sony Reader solved that problem for me. I toss it in my briefcase and all of a sudden I have removed strain from my back and found room for more useful things.

Second, I'm getting older. Not old by any means, but years of staring at the computer and reading books have started to make my eyes tire more easily. The Sony Reader lets me adjust the size of the text, especially late at night when I want a larger font to give my eyes a break.

Is the Sony Reader perfect? Not at all. I am especially intrigued by the wireless purchasing ability of the Kindle. It might even be enough to make me switch, since it appears to answer my biggest objection to the Sony Reader: that books are too easy to buy and load onto it.

I admit it isn't for everyone, and I still enjoy reading the "real thing," but electronic book readers do provide an enjoyable and useful experience.

i think *some* books should be held and cradled
but the newest technology?
a new way to do business?
reference books?
stuff that will be obsolete by the time next year comes around?
it's a waste of paper imo
easily made into a file
that can be deleted in a few months

There is just something personal about books. I have many work related books from "Wine Lovers Companion" to "Setting The Table" by Danny Meyer that are worn out with love and attention. I write notes in them, I read my favorite or most impactful sections over and over with ease because the pages seem to flop in just the right place and I don't think that can exsist with a digital replacement.
Technology is great. If my dad could be alive to see my 42" flat screen we wouldn't be watching his old 12" BW. But I wouldn't trade the original Ian Flemming books that he left me for a glossy screen with the same words.
I will admit since I am not in your field some of your topics lose me, so it is nice to agree with you and see that with all the change going on not everyone is for it.

Brian S.

Utterly uninterested in the Kindle here.

5 years from now, I want a pile of books I can read, not a pile of computer files that I may or may not be able to open using the technology of the day.

I can't see an electronic device being preferred to paper books any time soon. Sure, the inner geek thinks that would be cool, but in reality, I like my books being 'offline'.

I don't lose them when my computer crashes, they don't rely on battery power, I can read them while the airplane is taking off and landing, I never have to get my book warrantied, I like getting a paperback for $5, (and any time there is a new technology, even if it is easier to produce, the price goes up, i.e. tapes to CDs), and many many more reasons.

Books are great. Electronic books will have their place, but books are books, and books are awesome. I'm not giving mine up any time soon.

Jeremy Vaught
jeremyvaught.com

I like books. I love the way they feel and the way they smell. I love the heft of them (though not so much in the briefcase). Although I do an insane amount of screen reading, I don't like it. I also read a lot of rather obscure and out of print books that I doubt would be available through the platform. So I'm with you on this one.

i think a lot of books that we read though can be consumed in bites
referenced
you can pull quotes from them
for those reasons maybe a reader would be pretty neat
if it could do that kind of thing


the ultimate would be the kind of system Ender Wiggin had
he spoke to the computer program and she communicated with him via a ear piece
read him important info
did research on topics he was currently interested in
weeded out a lot of the trash
and brought him just the useful stuff

*that's* the kind of book reader i want
an information assistant


and physically
we have to carry enough around as it is
why not take advantage of smaller more portable devices
maybe it's even greener!
ack

Aren't you getting an OLPC -XO from the G1G1 campaign? One of the best reasons to get one (in my mind) was the dual mode, sunlight readable display and tablet mode.

Sunlight readable + tablet mode + Insane battery life = Awesome Ebook Reader

It supports far more formats that the kindle is likely to, AND it looks a lot better IMO.

I got an iPod so that I could listen to music while on the train or driving (it plugs into the car stereo.)

Without it, I'd need to carry some other device (like the CD Walkman I had before) on the train, or copy the CDs onto tape. (The old car stereo didn't have a CD player, I missed that generation completely.)

So the iPod effectively solved the "I have no audio at all" problem for me.


What's the situation with reading books ?

While driving, I can't read... full stop :-)

On a train, I can read a book. My laptop case is sized to take my laptop plus two books... so I don't have the problem, since I can decide what I want to read in the morning, and have it with me.

A book reader might solve the "while on the train, I changed my mind about what book I wanted to read" problem, but that's a far smaller problem than the "no audio in train OR car" one.


But heh, when the book reader is quick, and at the price point of a paperback, I'm sure I'll get one... after all, I ended up replacing the CD walkman with an iPod :-)