Comments | fintach: eBook Readers

fintach

eBook Readers

Mar 31, 2008 00:18

All right. I know some people on this list like ebook readers. I've never thought I'd consider one, but in looking at my list of .pdfs (and the new trend of some authors to offer .pdfs of books for free), I find myself wondering if there is any potential to them ( Read more... )

Comments 9

baronlaw March 31 2008, 15:50:52 UTC

I just read on my Laptop, not quite what you are looking for.

fintach March 31 2008, 21:48:54 UTC

Not exactly, but a valid answer nonetheless.

deirdremoon March 31 2008, 15:56:55 UTC

I've only used the Sony eReader. I've looked at the Kindle, but I think the constantly available keyboard would bug me ergonomically (even though I would want the function 10% of the time, it'd be in the way 90 ( ... )

fintach March 31 2008, 22:53:04 UTC

Yeah, that was my first thought about the name "Kindle" too.

So far, you're the only ebook reader to speak up. I thought there were three or four around here, but perhaps not.

I've done some digging around since reading your post, and it sounds like the latest Sony (the 505) has sped up the refresh rate, but still no search. The Kindle has a search, plus the ability to annotate and bookmark, but I'll need to find out more about how well they handle third-party .pdfs before I could move further.

Not that I expect to buy one soon, but I can't help it. I plan for things like this well in advance.

Thanks for your feedback, though -- much food for thought. . . .

tronpublic April 1 2008, 07:06:52 UTC

Here's another electronic ink device to look forward to:

http://www.polymervision.com

I often read using an ooooold Palm V. It's got a crappy B&W LCD screen. The nice thing about this is that the back light is weak compared to today's color screens. This means that I can read it in bed in the dark without waking up Wendy.

The Sony's firmware is utter crap. No search. Stimpy... you EEEEDIOT! PDFs that were made for 8.5 x 11" printouts have two font sizes on the Sony: annoyingly small and unreadable.

OCR scans of lots of scifi and many popular books are drifting around the internet. Quality varies. Often, italics are lost. Pictures are usually lost. Formatting them for the eReader can take some time. For example, paragraphs need to be indented or separated with an extra line feed.

fintach April 1 2008, 14:35:08 UTC

"http://www.polymervision.com"

Now that's an interesting looking reader.

I can't imagine how they would not include a search engine. Ah, well. For the time being I suspect I'll stick with the Palm for reference and the books for reading.

Hopelessly behind the times... nightsinge April 1 2008, 07:34:18 UTC

"I know some people on this list like ebook readers."

An ewhat huh?

Re: Hopelessly behind the times... fintach April 1 2008, 14:36:55 UTC

Devices that attempt to replace paper books with a single small electronic device that can store electronic books in either a proprietary or open format. If you want to see an example, go to Amazon and look up the Kindle.

Re: Hopelessly behind the times... nightsinge April 1 2008, 17:36:46 UTC

Oh? But then you don't get to stroke the pages as you read. Reading--it's so tactile for me.

Then again, here I am on LJ. ;>