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The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

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Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#181

Post by ptaffs »

JosNun wrote: post #174

My question is, where do people buy epubs for these? Are you buying them off of Kindle or similar and stripping the DRM? My biggest withholding is that I can get used paper books for quite cheep (ie, from thriftbooks or similar), but there's not really a similar marketplace for digital versions (understandably so). Maybe I'm just cheap, but I have a hard time justifying near-full-price for books that I can get the ph…

That eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving, it's quite galling that the price isn't favorably differentiated. And I don't think the author gets to keep the difference.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#182

Post by presbyterian »

ptaffs wrote: post #181
JosNun wrote: post #174

My question is, where do people buy epubs for these? Are you buying them off of Kindle or similar and stripping the DRM? My biggest withholding is that I can get used paper books for quite cheep (ie, from thriftbooks or similar), but there's not really a similar marketplace for digital versions (understandably so). Maybe I'm just cheap, but I have a hard time justifying near-full-price for books that I can get the ph…

That eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving, it's quite galling that the price isn't favorably differentiated. And I don't think the author gets to keep the difference.

> eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving

But they do need editing, layout, design, marketing, etc, which are a significant part of the cost of a book. A book is never a solo endeavor by an author.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#183

Post by JosNun »

presbyterian wrote: post #182
ptaffs wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving, it's quite galling that the price isn't favorably differentiated. And I don't think the author gets to keep the difference.

> eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving But they do need editing, layout, design, marketing, etc, which are a significant part of the cost of a book. A book is never a solo endeavor by an author.

Presumably, though, those are also things that you'd need for a physical print book, and you could share some of that effort / cost between the two? Maybe this is a naive assumption, but I would assume that the total cost per unit of ebook is still a decent amount less than a print book, even when factoring for the publishing costs, purely due to the fact that you are dealing with a digital version compared with a print version that needs real materials and labor.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#184

Post by ptaffs »

JosNun wrote: post #183
presbyterian wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving But they do need editing, layout, design, marketing, etc, which are a significant part of the cost of a book. A book is never a solo endeavor by an author.

Presumably, though, those are also things that you'd need for a physical print book, and you could share some of that effort / cost between the two? Maybe this is a naive assumption, but I would assume that the total cost per unit of ebook is still a decent amount less than a print book, even when factoring for the publishing costs, purely due to the fact that you are dealing with a digital version compared with a pr…

You put it well and presbyterian is right in that point, but eBooks don't have the financial risk of retail merchandise planning and merchandising, and that cost saving isn't differentiated.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#185

Post by dredmorbius »

ptaffs wrote: post #181
JosNun wrote: post #174

My question is, where do people buy epubs for these? Are you buying them off of Kindle or similar and stripping the DRM? My biggest withholding is that I can get used paper books for quite cheep (ie, from thriftbooks or similar), but there's not really a similar marketplace for digital versions (understandably so). Maybe I'm just cheap, but I have a hard time justifying near-full-price for books that I can get the ph…

That eBooks don't need printing, warehousing, distribution and retail shelving, it's quite galling that the price isn't favorably differentiated. And I don't think the author gets to keep the difference.

Much of the cost of even a print book is in fixed factors: authorship, editing, proofreading, marketing, cover design, and the like. These may vary by title and it's quite possible to skimp on elements, but for a highly-produced work (references, fact-checking, illustrations, data tables, etc.) can be significant. Those costs are amortised over the print run and sales, which for most books is quite small, perhaps a few thousands of copies.

Digital publishing bypasses print, distribution, warehousing, and materials, but still includes those fixed costs.

Keep in mind that many publishers effectively act a bit like investors or VC, seeding a large number of publications in the hopes that a small number succeed. The name "Random House" was said by its founding publisher, Bennet Cerf to be "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random". As in music and cinema, a few "tentpole" projects support much of the rest of the enterprise.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_House#Company_history>.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tentpole>

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#186

Post by dredmorbius »

fg137 wrote: post #146
npunt wrote: post #103

Was just looking at this. What keeps me from buying is the screen is just too small. I'd love to slap this magnetically on the back of my iPhone and have it on the go as a focused reading device but eyes after 40 aren't so happy about reading super tiny characters. My two wishes are: to size it up so it is roughly the width of a modern smartphone (2.72" -> 2.8") and decrease bezel size. At these small sizes, even 1/2…

I mean, people read HN articles and discuss them on phones all the time.

Poorly.

Using a touchscreen easily halves my effective intelligence. The frictions in both reading and typing are huge.

(Written from a desktop.)

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#187

Post by dredmorbius »

aftergibson wrote: post #79

I have a mudita kompact as my primary phone, is there any value in getting an additional device like this?

Separation of contexts. You can use or dedicated e-book reader, and/or leave your phone behind / disable it when you want to focus on reading specifically.

If the Kompact works for you, no need. Different strokes and all that.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#188

Post by cbfrench »

I got mine a month ago, and I’ve read 13 books on it so far. Its chief advantage is its size: the ability to carry it with me all the time and to pull it out whenever I have a free moment is great. (And also, although I have no evidence to support this, I think the smaller format helps me to read better, as I am able to focus on a small block of text rather than letting my eyes wander all over the page, as they are wont to do.) This little device may be the best $60 I’ve ever spent.

I loaded mine with cpr-vCodex. It has some useful features, and it gets updated almost daily. I find the “reading achievements” a bit gimmicky, but it’s otherwise a solid firmware option.

Re: The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader

#190

Post by pluralmonad »

jerojero wrote: post #85
pluralmonad wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not being lighted is what has kept me from trying it. If they do add lighting I hope it is a front light and not a back light. Hard to beat a front lit e-ink display for reading. Bonus points for warmth settings.

Its not physically possible to have eink (based on inked beads, like the current e-reader has) and backlight. only frontlight is possible.

Great news, but these are still entirely unlit.
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