Have you converted to eBooks?

[wobs]

Worth a read?









Does anyone ever buy the audio versions of books?

Excellent read. From the first agriculture to "present day" (it was written a few years ago, with an updated Forward). It looks at how innovations can bring about seemingly unrelated developments, and how global communication and trade links have enabled this, even in medieval times.

I have a few audio books, but not many. One is Nick Cave's Bunny Munroe, as he wrote the musical score specially for it. Really good, as I'm a NC fan.

I recall Stephen Fry saying he used audio books as a great way to work off the calories, by having them as he walked. The miles just flew by, as he listened to various books.

 

[Doug99]

I was given a Kindle as a birthday present so made an effort too use it. Novelty soon wore off as I prefer turning a proper page. And you can't pass on / swap ebooks

 

[Brigade77]

I like both but I'm finding I prefer picking up my Samsung tablet with FBreader more these days.

I have more than 5000+ books on my 128gb memory card.

I can give an epub copy away to like minded folk without ever loosing MY copy.

I can increase the text size.

It remembers what page I left it at.

It doesn't smell fusty.

No one in my household has yet worked out how to rip a page out just to annoy me.

Need I go on ?

 

[conny]

The written word every time.
As others have said, there is something about a book that an electronic device cannot copy. The aroma, the texture of the pages, (different in some books to others), the ability to swap it in for something else, knowing that someone less affluent than yourself may be able to educate themselves or simply enjoy reading.

My usual reading material is factual history of WWII but I also like numerous other factual subjects. Not a great lover of fiction but do appreciate classics like Sherlock Holmes, some Dickens and maybe local authors who write stories about my home city, Liverpool.

 

[HawkEye244]

https://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/06/dual-display-e-book-reader-lets-you.html

This is an interesting article on duel-screen display eReader's. Having checked amazon though they clearly never took off.

I also disagree with a comment on the article where a guy says this:

''So basically, you use twice as much power and have to re-charge twice as often?
Am I the only one who thinks this is a backwards step?
The whole point of an electronic book reader is that it is not an actual book.
I think most people will be able to get their head around the fact that it is not a book and therefore the flipping of pages is redundant.
Come on people. There is no need for this whatsoever.''

The point I think he misses is that people are very accustomed to consuming literature with two faces and that is precisely why (in my opinion) eReader's feel like eReader'

I went looking for a duel screen eReader a few years ago but all I could find was a normal kindle.

This guy's comments I agree with:

''I find the flow of ideas in a book (other than pulp fiction) is such that I like to be able to flip forwards and backwards and keep my current reading point in view...

I like idea of both side-by-side and flip-over page presentation.

I've looked at e-readers such as Kindle and they're not enough like a real book for me - in the sense that they don't offer the same readability described above - so I have passed until now.

I think this is precisely what is needed, and as soon as they do it with e-paper to keep power consumption down, shrink the gutter and make it light I shall be buying.''

How can a duel-screen eReader not be a workable solution in this day and age? We have developed means of storing huge amounts of energy in very small confined spaces...

 

[HawkEye244]

I like both but I'm finding I prefer picking up my Samsung tablet with FBreader more these days.

I have more than 5000+ books on my 128gb memory card.

I can give an epub copy away to like minded folk without ever loosing MY copy.

I can increase the text size.

It remembers what page I left it at.

It doesn't smell fusty.

No one in my household has yet worked out how to rip a page out just to annoy me.

Need I go on ?

Do you ever have a problem with glare? Typically how long does it last until a battery recharge is needed?

Tablet's aren't my preferred option because I'm forced to buy features I don't necessarily want, like a camera, wifi/internet, audio/visual etc. I just want to read off it!

They put wifi into digital cameras now too which is fine, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it, I can take it or leave it -- no problem transfering data with a cord!

 

[Brigade77]

Do you ever have a problem with glare? Typically how long does it last until a battery recharge is needed?

Tablet's aren't my preferred option because I'm forced to buy features I don't necessarily want, like a camera, wifi/internet, audio/visual etc. I just want to read off it!

They put wifi into digital cameras now too which is fine, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it, I can take it or leave it -- no problem transfering data with a cord!

I upgraded from a Hudl 2 to a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10" just before Xmas. The missus uses it to watch movies streamed & downloaded. I use it for a little browsing but mostly ereading. The Hudl used to run out of battery after 3-4hrs when hammered hard but we haven't gone under 50% yet with the Samsung.

The Hudl was impossible to read/watch when out in the garden in daylight, not yet tried the Samsung. I have a hand me down Kindle paper white which is excellent.

My main plus points on the tablet are that they're backlit so that I can read at night without disturbing her snoring & not ever having to throw/give a book away ever again. I like to read my favourites several times & I hate throwing/giving books away, that I know I'll want to read again in a few years time, to make room for more books.

Spooky. My latest hardback has just arrived via Amazon. Guy Martins 'Worms to Catch'. I'll download the epub when it's on the torrent sites 'cos no doubt this copy will disappear before the weekends over

 

[woodbine]

Save me from all this technobollox. I only invest in technology if I REALLY need it, and if life would be difficult without it. I have a desktop pc and an ancient Nokia 6100 dumb phone, and standard TV. That's it. No smart phone, e book, tablet, laptop, smart TV. Not even sat-nav, a road atlas and dog-eared A to Z is plenty good enough. I don't get this obsession to cram as much 'tech' into people's life just because it's clever and new.

So, no I haven't converted to e books. One more piece of junk to go obsolete, be stolen, or more likely continually need me to feed it with volts from it's charger. Much prefer proper book, magazine or newspaper.

 

[Belboz]

Much prefer proper book, magazine or newspaper.

Me too. Going for a dump with a gadget just wouldn't be the same....

 

[woodbine]

Me too. Going for a dump with a gadget just wouldn't be the same....

Exactly. Have you ever tried wiping your arris with a kindle?

 

[Belboz]

Nope - I tend to paint my arris with Ducksback....

 

[HawkEye244]

I upgraded from a Hudl 2 to a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10" just before Xmas. The missus uses it to watch movies streamed & downloaded. I use it for a little browsing but mostly ereading. The Hudl used to run out of battery after 3-4hrs when hammered hard but we haven't gone under 50% yet with the Samsung.

The Hudl was impossible to read/watch when out in the garden in daylight, not yet tried the Samsung. I have a hand me down Kindle paper white which is excellent.

My main plus points on the tablet are that they're backlit so that I can read at night without disturbing her snoring & not ever having to throw/give a book away ever again. I like to read my favourites several times & I hate throwing/giving books away, that I know I'll want to read again in a few years time, to make room for more books.

Spooky. My latest hardback has just arrived via Amazon. Guy Martins 'Worms to Catch'. I'll download the epub when it's on the torrent sites 'cos no doubt this copy will disappear before the weekends over

I didn't realise tablets operated like an eReader, I assumed you had to suffer from the same glare as from normal screens. So basically it has an eReader style function built into it ?

I'm like you I like saving space. The most obvious drawbacks are the size of the screen though and I really do like the idea of a duel-screen. Certain books (especially construction) have huge amount of annotations hence the size of the books. The eReader I currently have can barely display the smallest of annotations and when it does manage it the text is often jumbled.

What irritates me is they could do a lot better by design with these things but they don't. They deliberately phase in generation after generation of basically the same machine to get people re-buy it over and over, just with one or two extras added on. It's also packed with loads of extras I don't necessarily want. I think if I used the same machine for media as I did for literature I would end up watching videos and losing my concentration span.

 

[noseall]

. I don't get this obsession to cram as much 'tech' into people's life just because it's clever and new.

In business, if you are not down with the latest then you get left behind. It's like the bloke with the shiny new motor carriage making ten more drops a day than his horse drawn competitor.
It's difficult to be a luddite and ignore technology when you are earning a crust. Faster, bigger, stronger, is the way of the world.
My I pad is great where books are concerned. They can be swapped too.