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Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2923
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 10:37 am: |   |
Are electronic readers going to replace books? With Blackberries and phones that do video and the like, is there room for for an electronic reader? It would seem with everything getting smaller and smaller and more functions that no one wold be interested in a book size electronic device with the sole function of reading.
http://www.perrycomer.com
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C. E. Winterland
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1997
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 01:25 pm: | |
Sony has what looks to be a nice one, which you can see at SonyStyle.
(I believe this one's been brought up before).
The problem is, the unit is $350, and then the average title is $9.00 at the connect store.
The whole point of e-books is that they are CHEAPER than paper - not the same price. Sony is doing it wrong, and though they are mighty, this reader may go the way of the Gemstar e-reader...
I recently got a playstation portable - it would be great for reading, I haven't gotten the software to do so yet (too busy playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06), but that's obviously not its purpose in life, which is reflected in its price.
Amazon is supposedly releasing the Kindle e-ink reader. It is rumored to be releasing at $400, but has internet connection and will run Mobipocket e-reader software. The pictures I have seen have it looking like an old commodore Vic 20 tap drive or something with an sandy drab casing. But it's got a full keyboard... gotta be able to type in your credit card information when ordering online from Amazon.com, eh?
What about this... E-BookWise (a Fictionwise companY) has a reader they sell for $125, which can handle your own text files, takes a smartmedia card, and reads .rb (Rocketbook) files.
So... there seem to be new gadgets, but the same old story. To make it work... we need a free, universal software platform (Adobe already has this, and so does Microsoft), and an inexpensive hardware option. If the unit has to cost $350.00 - I'm OK with that, so long as the e-books are no more than $3-5.00 (maybe $10 for new releases). I think you all know I did some research into this a couple years ago. The hardware (the handheld with the paper-back sized screen) is CHEAP to make - you'd be surprised, I think. My presumption at the time was that in order to make it viable for everyone, you would have to get all of the proper software and operating systems - either MS or homegrown. All of that costs $$'s and to recoup it difficutl.
Gotta run.
CEW
It takes a hundred pages just to clear my throat.
David Eddings, The Rivan Codex |
Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number:
2924
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 06:17 pm: | |
but, but, but -- do we really want to buy another device in addition to the cellphone or blackberry that does all this other wonderful stuff from being a video camera to personal messenger?
And, are willing to ruin our eyesight on the tiny screen of a blackberry or cellphone to read a book?
http://www.perrycomer.com
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Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3573
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 06:46 am: | |
You'd think there would be someone who would be out there developing an open-source e-book reader (and formatter) in Linux...
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1912
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: 
Votes: 14 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 07:03 pm: | |
You can read ebooks in old-fashioned html and pdf for free at http://www.dunganbooks.com or any other website that is affiliated with the Gutenberg Project. What do you need a reader for? Your monitor lets you control the size of the print and the new LCD monitors don't contribute to eyestrain. Don't think anybody is doing it? Here are the statistics for my website (which gets less traffic than most of the other Gutenberg sites):
Usage Statistics for www.fdungan.com
Summary Period: Last 12 Months
Generated 27-Apr-2007 04:52 PDT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary by Month
Monthly Total Hits
Apr 2007 440482
Mar 2007 414452
Feb 2007 313186
Jan 2007 328211
Dec 2006 284285
Nov 2006 307618
Oct 2006 330244
Sep 2006 319260
Aug 2006 365944
Jul 2006 412114
Jun 2006 416598
May 2006 363083
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generated by Webalizer Version 2.01
Approximately 10 percent of the hits qualify as visits (longer than 5 minutes spent at website).
http://www.dunganbooks.com/duke.htm |
Harry Simenon
Unity Member
Post Number:
1540
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 02:05 am: | |
I think the technology will be E-ink, (and I hope the software will NOT be Microsoft!)
It SHOULD be able to run whatever software want, like you can with regular computers.
It should not have a whole keyboard attached to it, but enough keys to operate it and no more.
When this will be the case I will buy one.
I hate reading books from my monitor Fred, it doesn't read as easy as printed paper (or E-Ink)
Still I did visit your website for 'Dracula,' and adviced others to do the same. |
Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number:
1062
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 03:05 pm: | |
Wow, Fred. That's impressive, but I still can't read books onscreen--even my own. They just don't come across to me the same way. I can write passages that seem fine on the screen, even when I go back and read them later. Then I print out the manuscript and find all kinds of problems.
~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com
Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo |
Tom Elkins
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
748
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 05:09 pm: | |
I asked my son the computer guy about portable reading devices. Something small...about the size of a book...that is battery operated, that you can take to bed, to your recliner, on an airplane, to the doctor's office. He says they're on the way. You'll change books by changing discs, or something.
Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins |
Tom Elkins
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
749
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 05:13 pm: | |
P. S. He adds, as noted above, that the problem presently is price. But as with most new technology, it will come down.
Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1913
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 - 10:30 pm: | |
You can read the books on my website via your cellphone if you pay Cingular (or whatever company provides you with service) for internet access. If that's not small enough for you, I'm sure the next generation of cellphones will come up with something better. Of course, some of us will never make the change no matter how good it is or how easy it is to make it. That's why in addition to ebooks, I publish paperbacks. Actually, I make more profit off the paperbacks than I make from the ebooks.
The classic (copyright expired) ebooks are free. A few of the other ebooks are available as 99 cent downloads and/or five dollar CD's. The paperbacks range from $7.99 to $13.42.
I aim to please and do my best to supply what the market wants. Currently, I sell far more overseas than I do in North America. Hopefully, Chasing Loose Nukes, http://www.fdungan.com/duke.htm will go a long way towards solving my domestic distribution problems.
http://www.dunganbooks.com |
Harry Simenon
Unity Member
Post Number:
1549
Registered: 10-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 - 02:16 pm: | |
This guy does not believe that E-book readers will make it:
article
I think he is wrong, and that it will be a matter of time. The technology needs improvement, but it is certainly possible to create E-ink pages with a high resolution. Those will read like normal printed paper, lightweight, and only needing low power. A flexible display is also possible, so you could roll it into a smaller shape. The price will indeed go down dramatically.
Sure books are nice, but contents rules I think, not the shape of the book. |
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