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My God, that thing [Amazon's] looks like 1983 back from the dead.

test wrote:

Tallgeese wrote:

My God, that thing [Amazon's] looks like 1983 back from the dead.

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And we still have the more serious problem of eBook pricing models - the same or more as their real book counterparts????  Give me a break.

I have friends who were excited about the Sony eBook reader, but the pricing for titles just turned them off.  And I read an article that said that the publishers are still trying to figure out a pricing model?  OMG.

They are selling the Kindles for the same price as a 16 GB iPod Touch, which would probably work just as well as a reader, if the screen is held horizontal. My point being is that it is unnecessarily ugly and clunky-looking for the price. It makes a Zune look elegant.

I find that when I read books digitally I scroll the type, as opposed moving my eyes down a page like I would with a book, so one doesn't need height with the screen. The paperback I'm reading right now has the copy set 3.5" wide, but it's cheap printing on cheap paper. Crisp type on a quality, though smaller, screen like the iPod's should be easy enough to read for the average person.

The Sony PRS-505 does look better and it's only $299, and that's still too much just going by looks, but Sony products tend to be pricy anyway.


As far as title pricing goes, printing costs very little, so the price of an ebook will probably never be much less than a print book.

For those who mention the macbook or iPhone as reader, e-ink tryly is a more calm experience on the eye.. I have a cheap Motorola F3 that has e-ink, and it has a very concrete / real / calm presence.

StaticAge wrote:

In art there is often a point where more brush strokes begin to destroy the art rather than create it. I think technology is sometimes the same way. A book is a great technology that cannot really be improved upon.

I don't know about that. Most man made things can be improved upon with a little time and thoughtful design.

Ebooks have the potential to be really cool, but they need to make one with 2 flexible pages, with writing on the back and front that, so you can flip back instantly to the page you just read if you need to re-read something. They also need to make them fast (none of this flashing nonsense), and they also need a good interface to be able to search for text/phrases.

The primary limitation to this goal is technology. Right now, we simply don't have the technology to do this, at least not at a reasonable cost.

Aqua OS X wrote:

I like Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro eBook readers. They look nice and they also run other applications.

Me too, except for when I'm laying in bed which is where I do a good bit of my reading.

Frank

Aqua OS X wrote:

StaticAge wrote:

In art there is often a point where more brush strokes begin to destroy the art rather than create it. I think technology is sometimes the same way. A book is a great technology that cannot really be improved upon.

I don't know about that. Most man made things can be improved upon with a little time and thoughtful design.

Like the door handle? "When you've got a good design, it tends to stick."

ePaper etc I think is a nasty idea. The iPod works well, but the line length is too small for me to scan. The iPod Touch is about the closest on the market atm.

Actually, I think the Kindle gets a lot right. Sure, it's kinda ugly, but.

You can buy books from anywhere with the cell linkup. Great for road warriors. It also has a fantastic library and the hardcore prices are about $10-15 off street price.

Nice things about it:
1) Carry a lot of books with you
2) Free Wikipedia access
3) Pretty light
4) Can download all past purchases if you lose your kindle or lose the files, etc. This is a great feature. I've been saying for years that this should be the default behavior of the iTunes store.
5) Major newspaper subscriptions. It would be nice to have the paper downloaded to the device while you sleep.
6) Weekly magazines as low as $1.99 a month!
7) Survives 30" drop tests.


Problems with it:
1) Uses Sprint EVDO. I am a Sprint customer and they still don't have EVDO in my area.
2) That flashing when it changes screens. In the video it was bothering me. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad in person.
3) Horribly ugly
4) Often when I read a book I like to hold it by the side I'm not reading. Kindle only has one side.
5) What about paperback books? Are you even saving any money with them?
6) Priced way too high. They should be selling it at a huge discount since you have to purchase from them in order to use it.
7) Did I mention that it is ugly?

lord funk wrote:

2. That fantastic library can already go on your laptop / iPod / whatever.  Nothing new there.

Where can I buy electronic printed versions of books to take with me on my laptop? Aside from O'Reilly Safari which is a lame concept.

Frank