I use the Amber Lit Converter to turn them into HTML files, then format them a bit in Word, then save as text, then use DropBook to convert them to .pdb. (I could use Aportisdoc on the html directly, but I'd lose all the formatting.)
Open the html file;
copy contents & paste into Word;
run a find/replace to add \i before and after italics;
Figure out what formatting is used for chapter heads; run find/replace to add \c\x\B\l to the front and \l\B\x^p\c to the back;
Fix the header at top: add \vTITLE="Title of Book" AUTHOR="Author"\v
I like paper books because if the power goes out, I can still read. And ebooks don't have that New Book Smell (my second favourite smell, after New Magazine Smell).
I like ebooks. I can read in bed, on my side, after everyone else is asleep and the lights are out. Or in the back of the car, without only getting half a line of text as the car travels under each streetlight. I can finish one big long book on the bus, and start the next one, without having to carry a backpack with me. I can read in a very crowded bus or train, without jostling the people next to me with page flipping. I can reset the font size to whatever I want (or within a limited range, which works fine for me); I can set it down and pick it up later and it opens to exactly the paragraph I was reading before; no more worries about losing a bookmark or turning down pages
( ... )
Oh I definitely see why someone would prefer e-readers. I wouldn't mind having one, and I would probably use it fairly often if I did have one. But it's not at the top of my list and I really really like paper books. But I remember when I first got my iPod and I discovered Notes, I was SO EXCITED because I could put my music porn, video porn, and word porn on this tiny little thing and carry it around with me so I could be entertained with EVERYTHING whenever I wanted. I can understand that the convenience is a big factor.
But my best friend owns a used bookshop, so I'm biased toward paper books. And as cool as e-readers sound, I really hope that they don't become the next iPod (actual records/CDs? Who needs them anymore!) because then we'd both be jobless.
Print books aren't going away; the combination of "they work when you have no batteries" (i.e. two weeks into a massive ice storm, or in hurricane aftermath) and "you can highlight passages and make notes in the margins and hand it off to the next person taking Chemistry 101" and the comfortable feel of bookness are going to keep books around for a long, long time.
(Another drawback: with a physical book, you can put fingers in three different spots and flip between them to compare passages or whatever. Ebooks don't do that well at all.)
And ebook readers suck for pictures. They can't replace comic books/graphic novels. They can't replace children's books. They can't replace scientific books with detailed diagrams. Nor coffee table books. Nor art books. Nor most textbooks
( ... )
I know virtually nothing about ebook readers (I store my ebooks on an USB stick and take it to work where I read them on the pc whenever there's nothing else to do *g*)...but I stumbled over this ad for the new amazon reader a while ago,
Thanks! No, I hadn't. I'm aware they're doing Weird Stuff with ebook readers; I hadn't kept up with what.
GAAAH $400?!?!?! I can get a laptop for that price! (I think. I have geeky friends.)
Wireless "like a cellphone" a.k.a "doesn't work on BART in the underground stations." There goes most of my reading time in transit to & from work.
Weighs most of a pound. OMG is bigger than a paperback book. Loses most of my interest right there. One of the main things that keeps me willing to deal with the nuisances of ebook reading is that mine currently fits in the palm of my hand; I can read it on a very crowded bus or while drinking coffee, without risk of dropping it.
Looks like special proprietary software; won't read my current pdbs, only books I buy from them. At more-than-paperback price. Ick. No, wait... "Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing." WTF? It does email? Or you email docs to the service, and they magically appear in your device? (I read a couple of reviews.
( ... )
Wow... having overlooked your first line about the post that triggered this, I assumed that whole post was a response to the existence of Kindle (which is kind of nifty but expensive and proprietary, bulky, weirdly designed and you can't do other stuff on it like you can on a PDA). I think there's maybe a market for similar things when they're as easy to slip into a pocket or bag as a paperback book :)
Ebooks are glorious things... but as long as the electronics companies are thinking "let's make it as much like a paper book as possible, and then people won't care about the things we *can't* do that paper does" they're kinda doomed. People who embrace the new media want it to max out its *new* features, not pretend to be the old medium
( ... )
The amazon one a a bit locked down for my tastes. I want an XO (the one laptop per child machine, http://www.olpcnews.com for the best site about them) for my ebook reader. Cool, good screen (much better than the kindle, I believe), full blown Linux box, good battery life and full sun capable screen. They do tablet mode as well as laptop mode.
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But my best friend owns a used bookshop, so I'm biased toward paper books. And as cool as e-readers sound, I really hope that they don't become the next iPod (actual records/CDs? Who needs them anymore!) because then we'd both be jobless.
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(Another drawback: with a physical book, you can put fingers in three different spots and flip between them to compare passages or whatever. Ebooks don't do that well at all.)
And ebook readers suck for pictures. They can't replace comic books/graphic novels. They can't replace children's books. They can't replace scientific books with detailed diagrams. Nor coffee table books. Nor art books. Nor most textbooks ( ... )
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(http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA)
have you seen that yet?
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GAAAH $400?!?!?! I can get a laptop for that price! (I think. I have geeky friends.)
Wireless "like a cellphone" a.k.a "doesn't work on BART in the underground stations." There goes most of my reading time in transit to & from work.
Weighs most of a pound. OMG is bigger than a paperback book. Loses most of my interest right there. One of the main things that keeps me willing to deal with the nuisances of ebook reading is that mine currently fits in the palm of my hand; I can read it on a very crowded bus or while drinking coffee, without risk of dropping it.
Looks like special proprietary software; won't read my current pdbs, only books I buy from them. At more-than-paperback price. Ick. No, wait... "Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing." WTF? It does email? Or you email docs to the service, and they magically appear in your device? (I read a couple of reviews. ( ... )
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And I want some for my kids too.
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