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Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

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Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#51

Post by r00fus »

manojlds wrote: post #41
waffle_ss wrote: post #9

I got a Kindle about a month ago but have since returned it. It seems to be an excellent device for reading any book that should be read serially (e.g. novels), but any type of book that requires "random access" (e.g. reference/technical) doesn't work well due to the small screen, inability to jump to page X (which makes it difficult to use an index since you can't easily jump to it from anywhere), and poor search fu…

Technical books are so HEAVY and I actually prefer the Kindle for them than carrying those books. Also, reading a huge technical book in say, an airport, would bring you lots of stares ( don't say you don't care about them!) Yeah it is tough to jump around and some books just cannot be read on a 6" screen ( and I doubt that the DX fares better.) but for most books I found that I am good with reading them on Kindle. T…

I use my e-ink Kindle for reading stories. For technical or reference manuals it is woefully incapable. Screen sizing for 6 or 7" devices probably makes pdf reading difficult even if it's render-able.

The iPad (ie, any 10" tablet) shines for reading content that's best served as a PDF over ebook format (ie, included pictures, possibly video). Interactive content really does require at least a tablet.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#52

Post by gte910h »

waffle_ss wrote: post #9

I got a Kindle about a month ago but have since returned it. It seems to be an excellent device for reading any book that should be read serially (e.g. novels), but any type of book that requires "random access" (e.g. reference/technical) doesn't work well due to the small screen, inability to jump to page X (which makes it difficult to use an index since you can't easily jump to it from anywhere), and poor search fu…

IMO, non-formatted ebooks don't really work for technical books. I have used kindle on iPad even, doesn't hold a flame to pdf on iPad. For normal sized kindles and kindles on android phone/iPhone, don't even start.

While the kindle DX is bigger, it's still not very nice for reading tech docs. I'd buy an ipad instead and use the PDF version (and I buy all my books ebook unless not sold that way).

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#53

Post by gte910h »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #50
jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

I hate reading novels in paper form. Each of the books in the Game of Thrones series is 1000 pages long. Holding a super fat book in your hands is not pleasant. You have to break the spine to keep it from closin. You need to physically rotate the book as you move from the left to the right page. It's heavy and cumbersome. Urgh. Reading on a tablet type device meanwhile is a dream. Thin, lightweight. I hold the device…

The last books of Wheel of Time made me feel exactly the same way (released in Hardback a month before ebook).

I actually prefer the iPhone4 to the kindle for long reading sessions as it's even lighter.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#54

Post by ezy »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

Most of these, with the possible exception of the feel of the book in your hand can be replicated by an ebook.

Not ebooks in their current state, of course, but by a hypothetical electronic book that has more capability. I suspect paper books will become like vinyl, hobbyists and retro obsessed will still have a lot, but most people will only keep a few for sentimental reasons (e.g. your grandfather).

There are some great ideas here for anyone who wants to take advantage of them:

- Add drawing support and overdrawing/highlighting to the ereader (this should be there now, lord knows why it isn't).

- Put a display on the back of the ereader so people can see the title of what you're reading. This sounds terribly egotistical, but so is twitter, and it's not doing too bad :-)

- Use a (very: e.g. 8'x4') large picture frame/bookcase display to show all the books (and media and art and whatever else) you currently have in your living room or study or whatnot. The technology is not quite up to doing this at scale, but I can see it happening. I do think a human friendly way to browse media not tied to a remote control or sitting down in front of a rectangle or peering through the aperture of a handheld device will be a majorly successful consumer electronic device in the future.

I also don't think that ebooks will somehow demote text-only to secondary status. After all, what do you think you're reading now? :-) Even if you look at the web in general, the best sites (for reading) have text as the backbone, and if they have other media, it's more about supporting the text with a diagram or an example -- not a stage or a soundtrack.

EDIT: Oh! and for battery life -- go solar :-)

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#55

Post by gte910h »

pistacchio wrote: post #2

i got a kindle for xmas. it is amazing. however i've grown up in a house where every wall is covered by a bookshelf full of books. i love owning them, i love the fact that my father and me exchange books and than when i was a kid i could read the very same book that my father read as a child because he saved all of them. i don't want my children to grow up in a house with no books, so i intend to only read ebook of b…

Children do what their parents do not what they own.

If you read, your kids will read if you give them encouragement to do so.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#56

Post by forrestthewoods »

gte910h wrote: post #53
forrestthewoods wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate reading novels in paper form. Each of the books in the Game of Thrones series is 1000 pages long. Holding a super fat book in your hands is not pleasant. You have to break the spine to keep it from closin. You need to physically rotate the book as you move from the left to the right page. It's heavy and cumbersome. Urgh. Reading on a tablet type device meanwhile is a dream. Thin, lightweight. I hold the device…

The last books of Wheel of Time made me feel exactly the same way (released in Hardback a month before ebook). I actually prefer the iPhone4 to the kindle for long reading sessions as it's even lighter.

Yep, lots of great devices for reading novels which are each great in different situations. What I haven't found yet is a good replacement for text books or academic resources. The readers are great for sequential reading but not so good for anything that requires for chaotically flipping back and forth across hundreds of pages.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#57

Post by gte910h »

ezy wrote: post #54
jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

Most of these, with the possible exception of the feel of the book in your hand can be replicated by an ebook. Not ebooks in their current state, of course, but by a hypothetical electronic book that has more capability. I suspect paper books will become like vinyl, hobbyists and retro obsessed will still have a lot, but most people will only keep a few for sentimental reasons (e.g. your grandfather). There are some…

>with the possible exception of the feel of the book

There are kindle covers that look and feel like a hardback book

http://www.amazon.com/Verso-Prologue-Cover-Kindle-Fire/dp/B0...

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#58

Post by gte910h »

manojlds wrote: post #41
waffle_ss wrote: post #9

I got a Kindle about a month ago but have since returned it. It seems to be an excellent device for reading any book that should be read serially (e.g. novels), but any type of book that requires "random access" (e.g. reference/technical) doesn't work well due to the small screen, inability to jump to page X (which makes it difficult to use an index since you can't easily jump to it from anywhere), and poor search fu…

Technical books are so HEAVY and I actually prefer the Kindle for them than carrying those books. Also, reading a huge technical book in say, an airport, would bring you lots of stares ( don't say you don't care about them!) Yeah it is tough to jump around and some books just cannot be read on a 6" screen ( and I doubt that the DX fares better.) but for most books I found that I am good with reading them on Kindle. T…

DX does not fare better.

iPad + pdf version is far easier than the DX for the 2 books I tried.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#59

Post by gte910h »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #56
gte910h wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last books of Wheel of Time made me feel exactly the same way (released in Hardback a month before ebook). I actually prefer the iPhone4 to the kindle for long reading sessions as it's even lighter.

Yep, lots of great devices for reading novels which are each great in different situations. What I haven't found yet is a good replacement for text books or academic resources. The readers are great for sequential reading but not so good for anything that requires for chaotically flipping back and forth across hundreds of pages.

I used the iPad + Goodreader + pdf version of the books. Works quite well. Also does bookmarks

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#60

Post by ezy »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #44
Turing_Machine wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get your point, but as a counterpoint consider this: my mother's cousin recently scanned a picture of my grandmother and her brothers (one of whom was the cousin's father) as babies, along with many other old family photos. I posted the scans on Facebook, so now everyone in the extended family (dozens of nieces, nephews, cousins, what have you) can see them. The pic of my grandmother is around 85 years old. Is the…

I don't dispute anything in your first paragraph. The ability to preserve and distribute rare or unique documents and photos is amazing. I'm not talking about rare books and antiquities, though. I'm talking about something far more common and mundane, and (to me at least) far more special. The books I've inherited from my grandfather are not precious or valuable to anyone but me. They're precious because I know I'm t…

Fair enough -- the transient nature of electronic media kind of short changes the human nature of existing in a physical world.

I have to say, I'm still pessimistic about bound books however. Perhaps future generations will be reading old books on their grandfather's Kindle and looking at old notes recorded on it -- interesting thought -- kind of bizarre to think about, even in this age.

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