Dead Trees or Inconvenienced Electrons?

[pete_1967]

I am an avid book reader, been since I was 5 or so years old and I've never thrown, given or sold a book I've bought. However, there is one small setback to buying and keeping books - they need bookshelves, and bookshelves take space in your home.

I recently faced a dilemma, I had a choice to buy a new bookshelf but because I don't have space for it, I would have had to find a bigger place to live as well, or I can buy an e-reader. Although nothing beats a real, printed book, for practical reasons I finally succumbed and bought myself a Sony PRS-650. To my surprise, I rather like it and reading from it feels so natural that there has been occasions I've almost flipped the reader over to turn to next page!

Although it can never completely replace real books, and I have no intention to stop buying real books either, I merely decided to be more selective which ones I want to buy and which ones I can merrily read on my reader, I am positively surprised about the device and convenience it offers. Its ability to read PDF files, and Calibre's ability to convert them, makes it a good choice to read O'Reilly's Bookshelf books stored on my server and availability of free books is amazing thus I haven't had a need to buy single DRM'ed book yet.

The main reasons I went for Sony reader were:
1) No vendor lock-in (epub)
2) Ability to loan e-books from local library
3) Quality build (aluminium not plastic)
4) Touch screen - can do everything the way I feel like (page turns, options etc)
5) MP3 player - just in case
6) 2 add-on card slots (can put some tunes for those moments when I want to listen music and read on the road)
7) No wi-fi - I bought the reader for reading books, not surfing the Net

If you got reader, which one you have and what you think of it?

[Dan]

I can't find it right now, and I don't remember where I read it, (in which collection) but Isaac Asimov once wrote a short piece on the development of the perfect personal entertainment device.

Long story short, by the time all the needed criteria were addressed, including the nasty habit batteries have of dying just when needed the most, and the ability to create truly individual experiences, cost vs simplicity etc ... The lowly un-powered, imagination activated, random access capable printed book won out over most all things electronic and digital.

I think I'll keep flip those dead-tree pages, thank you very much. It's just about the only flippin' exercise I get any more. <....>

[RupertPupkin]

I can't read for long on a screen. I'll stick with good ol' dead tree technology.

[pete_1967]

Originally Posted by RupertPupkin

I can't read for long on a screen. I'll stick with good ol' dead tree technology.

That's the thing with e-ink displays, it's nothing like reading on a LCD or CRT. They are not backlit and viewing angle is ridiculous. The text is quite literally printed on the screen and viewing angles is like on printed paper (180 degrees). I was sceptic myself but I have to admit that it is perfect display for reading on screen. The added benefit is ability to change text size and orientation for easier reading and 10 dictionaries at hand to check any word you are not sure about.

Best way is to go to a shop and try one yourself to really see what I mean.

By all means, the readers are not perfect and I don't think they ever will completely replace printed books, lack of colour for one reason and limited usability in cold and rain, but for reading novels, references and other text heavy material they are darn good.

[glennzo]

Wife has a Kindle (I think that's what it is). Given to her by her brother.

[JONOR]

The PRS-650 sounds interesting for learners.
I've written out a large font dictionary for learning another language while in the gym.
The 650 would probably be small enough to put on the bookshelf of the aerobic kit possibly including the rower.
Currently i print off a sheet at a time but this method is quite limited in both the learning and editing process.

[pete_1967]

Originally Posted by JONOR

The PRS-650 sounds interesting for learners.
I've written out a large font dictionary for learning another language while in the gym.
The 650 would probably be small enough to put on the bookshelf of the aerobic kit possibly including the rower.
Currently i print off a sheet at a time but this method is quite limited in both the learning and editing process.

It has 6" screen and not much frame around so should fit (PRS-350 has 5" and 950 is 9" screen).

If you're just reading vocabulary in gym, you can create 800x600 images and use the slideshow function (it has image library) in it to automatically go through the "pages" (you can adjust the speed of the show) saving you hassle of changing pages.

[JONOR]

Thanks for the slide-show information.
If i do, it will have to be the 9" model, the rower can put the screen at quite a stretch !