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Here comes the e-book revolution

computerworld.com

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Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#21

Post by unalone »

sdfx wrote: post #11
njharman wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being a product of/advertised by one of if not the worlds biggest book retailer had more than a little to do with it. In fact "integration of the marketplace", "broad audience", and "name recognition" are all symptoms of being Amazon.

Sorry if my original post was not clear enough, but this is exactly the point I was trying to make. Maybe it's not fair, but all these points do matter for the target audience just as much as technical superiority matters for the tech-savvy crowd.

Yes. And is that necessarily a bad thing? Amazon has a reputation for excellent customer service. They're extremely dedicated to making your experience with Amazon great. Doesn't that mean the public has less to risk with an Amazon book reader? I'm biased because I have a Kindle and it's a sheer delight to use, but that's kind of the point. Posters here are acting like the Kindle's reputation is undeserved, when in fact it is a superior e-reader in the sense that it's easy and comfortable to use. People who go only for technical superiority often ignore the user experience, and that's equally poor a way to look at a product.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#22

Post by unalone »

procrastitron wrote: post #20
unalone wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The keyboard is incredibly useful. I annotate things that I read, and I'm grateful that they've got a keyboard. Meanwhile, the screen handles text well enough that on the small setting, one page is about equivalent to a page in a book. You can't compare a laptop to a Kindle. You just can't. The electronic paper that it uses is in a league of its own. I can see comparisons to Sony's e-Reader or the iLiad, but if you c…

You're right that most laptop screen's aren't good enough for reading e-books, but the OLPC XO is an exception because of its special display. Granted, that display still isn't as nice as e-Ink, but it is good enough for serious e-book reading.

What display does it use? I didn't know it used a special display.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#23

Post by unalone »

jballanc wrote: post #13

Funny how much I'm reading about this problem right after reading Siracusa's piece: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/02/the-once-and-fut... I, for one, can say that I was inspired to download "Stanza" after reading that, and have already finished H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" thanks to it! "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that…

Stanza is icky. I use it on my Mac to convert stuff for the Kindle, and it does the job but it does it poorly.

It's especially bad on the iPod touch. Reading on something that small is possible, but it's a dread.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#25

Post by procrastitron »

unalone wrote: post #22
procrastitron wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right that most laptop screen's aren't good enough for reading e-books, but the OLPC XO is an exception because of its special display. Granted, that display still isn't as nice as e-Ink, but it is good enough for serious e-book reading.

What display does it use? I didn't know it used a special display.

It's some sort of special display that was created just for the OLPC. It has an adjustable backlight. When the backlight is turned on all the way the display looks like a regular laptop display, but when it is turned off all the way, then the display looks like an e-Ink display.

Unfortunately, it does not compare with the e-Ink displays in terms of low power usage, but it is good enough for long reading sessions without straining your eyes.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#26

Post by unalone »

procrastitron wrote: post #25
unalone wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What display does it use? I didn't know it used a special display.

It's some sort of special display that was created just for the OLPC. It has an adjustable backlight. When the backlight is turned on all the way the display looks like a regular laptop display, but when it is turned off all the way, then the display looks like an e-Ink display. Unfortunately, it does not compare with the e-Ink displays in terms of low power usage, but it is good enough for long reading sessions with…

huh! Very neat. I'll have to look for that and see how it works.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#27

Post by creativeembassy »

If anyone is looking to get an e-book reader for CHEAP (to see if you'll even enjoy reading a book without paper), I bought my wife an eBookwise at Christmas. Her (and I, haha!) have been enjoying it since. It's old-school (still uses smartmedia cards!) but gets the job done, and I didn't pay with an arm and/or leg.

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#28

Post by Zev »

procrastitron wrote: post #16
unalone wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think? What about it makes it weak? It has access to an online Amazon store. It has free wireless Internet from anywhere. It's owned by the largest online book store on the planet and it integrates into their products. If you need to convert to a format that works for them, they give you a free email address that converts instantly, or for ten cents you can send it right to their book. Physically it's beautiful:…

I completely disagree with you regarding the Kindle's physical form; I think the Iliad (and every other e-book reader I've seen) is far ahead of it in terms of design. When I'm reading an e-book, all I want in front of me is a large screen. However, the Kindle sacrifices screen size to make up for a built-in keyboard. 99% of the time that you are using the device you won't have any need for a keyboard, and the Iliad'…

(and every other e-book reader I've seen)

How many ebook readers have you actually used?

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#29

Post by Zev »

timf wrote: post #3
mapleoin wrote: post #2

I hate it how everyone focuses on Amazon's Kindle. I think it's one of the weakest ebooks out there. And certainly the most proprietary. There are tons of ebooks out there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebook_reader and I think the iLiad should get more headlines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILiad

Nice thing about the Iliad: "Developers and users wishing to create or run third party applications can request shell access from the manufacturer." Thanks for the pointer.

You could grab the kindle source and hack on it directly if you wanted; http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&...

Re: Here comes the e-book revolution

#30

Post by Zev »

unalone wrote: post #23
jballanc wrote: post #13

Funny how much I'm reading about this problem right after reading Siracusa's piece: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/02/the-once-and-fut... I, for one, can say that I was inspired to download "Stanza" after reading that, and have already finished H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" thanks to it! "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that…

Stanza is icky. I use it on my Mac to convert stuff for the Kindle, and it does the job but it does it poorly. It's especially bad on the iPod touch. Reading on something that small is possible, but it's a dread .

I cant stand Stanza. Unless the file is too big to email to Amazon to be converted, I do everything possible to avoid opening it up.
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