E-book reader Vs. Processed Wood-Pulp reader

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
21

I rarely read fiction, almost all of my reading is non-fiction, especially histories. I’ve seen other people complain about the Kindle being less good for non-fiction, but I don’t see it myself. I don’t often find myself needing to jump back and forth between different sections of text.

I’ve read a few ebooks where I’ve consulted the maps or the photo insert a few times while reading, and it is more of a hassle than it would be with a print book, but the fact that I don’t have to deal with a thick and heavy print book more than makes up for the less convenient map/photo-section access.

22

For various reasons, I prefer paper books, although they are taking up an inordinate amount of space in my house.

My biggest qualm about e-books – the control the e-publishers have over my collection. There was that famous case where Amazon erased several books from kindles (refunding the cost – but that’s not the point) because the publisher was somehow illegitimate. That one of the works was 1984 was so perfect that you have to wonder if this was somehow deliberate. So – when Q.R. Markham was revealed as a plagiarist and his Assassin of Secrets was recalled, did they also erase the e-copies?

I’d like to know. I picked up the wood pulp version as a curiousity (and to see how egregiously he’d cribbed. My copy is marked up), but if I’d gotten a kindle version, would it now have retreated into the ether?

23

My e-readers are apps on iPhone and iPad.

I like the e-reader for what I call “fluff” reading. For reference material or material I’m likely to read multiple time or items that are appropriate for browse-reading (almanac, etc.) I like the dead-tree version.

24

if you are doing research or scientific/technical learning then you frequently need multiple books open at the same time. you also need large full image views which e-book readers can’t give.

25

I’ve essentially stopped buying CDs. MP3s are superior in enough ways that I have no need of them.

DVDs? I like to have box sets of my favorite TV shows, b t beyond that, I don’t buy DVDs any more. Too easy to just stream.

Books? I do love my kindle, and for one-time reads like thrillers and mysteries, it’s terrific. But when it comes to the newest Discworld book or other things I know I’ll re-read, only paper will do. An e-reader will never entirely replace paper books for me.

26

E-book:
You can adjust the type. It’s nice for people that need larger type.

27

Dead tree book: If you’re reading it on the beach and go for a dip or play some volleyball, the DTB will still be there when you come back. And, if not, you’re out $7.95.

EBook: Too high a probability that some dick will walk off with your entire library. Now that e-Ink readers are down below $100.00, this isn’t quite the issue it was when they were hovering around $250.
Winner: DTB
Also, for swatting flies, I give an edge to rolled up magazines. In fact, this may be the only thing that Wired is good for, because it’s sure not readable by any standards of civilized typography I’m familiar with.

28

I love my Kindle Fire for non-fiction. If there’s a word I don’t know I literally just put my finger on it and the definition pops up. If there’s a name or phrase: highlight then press. From there it will automatically search Google or wikipedia.

“What does Thomas Aquinas say about idolatry?” Type in the search and it will scan an entire book.

“I love that line. I should remember it.” Highlight, write a note , it is now on my Kindle 3, Fire, phone, and 2 computers.

“My friend has an interesting book on his shelf.” Take a picture with my phone, click on the amazon link and push to my kindles. In 30 seconds I now have that book.

29

I actually find that this kind of thing can be easier with my Kindle than with a real book - type in the weird name and up comes a list of search results. Click on the first to re-read the section where the character was introduced, then press the back button a couple of times to pick back up where you left off.

30

It wasn’t “several books” - they did it exactly once, and shot themselves in the foot doing it. I’d say there is zero chance of them doing anything like that again.

I’m just going to copy and paste what I wrote a couple a days ago, the last time someone brought this up.

If the only place you store your ebooks is on your Kindle, then you can lose them, perhaps. If, like any non-stupid computer user, you make backups of your important files, then no, you won’t lose them. No matter what Amazon does, or what happens to your Kindle.

31

E-reader wins all the way for me. Because of the total convenience of being able to carry a whole series in my purse, I find I read way more now.

I can read while I’m eating and not have to try to prop the book open and then put down the fork, turn the page and try to prop it open again. If my hand are messy I can turn the page with my elbow.

The cost for e-books is so much less than purchasing the hard copy book.

And I can even read Straightdope on it! I have a kobo btw.

32

I can see a straight history book, or any non-fiction book, that is read straight though wouldn’t be a problem. I’d have more of a problem with books where you have to jump around a lot, more like text books then anything. I know I wouldn’t like to have to look in the index, then find the page, then do a problem, look up the answer, back to where I was before, look up the index… It’s those kinds of books that I wouldn’t want to use an ereader for. Everything else I don’t think I’d buy a print book.

33

A computer with multiple monitors works even better.

34

Sorry–you’re wrong. There were reports of several books, including Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. 1984 is the one everyone latched onto for the symbolic reasons. If you do a search on Amazon and Kindle and 1984 you’ll bring up these reports.
They claimed that they wouldn’t do it again – buit, of course, I’d like to see if they’re keeping to their claim.
As a non-e-book-owner, I have to ask, camn you back them up on your own strorage media? It’s not at all obvious to me that you can do this. Certainly the e-book merchants haven’t been publicizing it.

35

Reports of Kindle-erased Ayn Rand books and Harry Potter:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50136
Yes, there was some question, apparently, about their legitimacy. But that’s not the point.
They did it again in 2010:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle

36

I’ll second this, but I feel like this has more to do with a publishing racket than anything else. This is the same reason the publishers are often charging more for an e-book than a real book.

Project Gutenberg is handy for downloading (obviously older) books for reading (for free!). As far as newer things, if they aren’t offered as e-Books. . . well, then I don’t feel bad about downloading them through other means. I’d happily pay the $10 or whatever to purchase it, but since the publisher wont make it available, I’ll get the book through some other digital channel.

On the beach, I usually have my Kindle, my $400 camera, and my $500 iPhone. Hell, even my beach bag was $70 (it has nifty, water proof speakers you plug your iPod into and it plays your music-- and it’s a cooler!). My point is: if someone wants to steal my crap, my Kindle is probably the least of my concerns.

But seriously, as a regular beach go-er, I’ve never had an issue with this. You just need to not leave your stuff laying around and stay within eye sight of your bag. I guess as a woman, I’m just used to having to keep my purse near me that a beach bag is just an extension of that.

37

I’m the other way around. For fluff reading, I scour the clearance shelves in Half Price Books, and get that one time read for one or two bucks. But since I’ve had to replace several of my favorite books that I bought in DT format, I’m going through my library and replacing the tattered copies with ebooks. I bought Unseen University in ebook form, without first buying it in paper. And since I’ve gone through so very many copies of Good Omens, I bought a digital copy, figuring that I’ll save money in the long run.

38

I thought this was amusing…

One of my cow-orkers came in today and brought in his B&N Nook Color that he and his wife got for Christmas, he’s a neophite when it comes to smartphones/tablets and the like, so during break, I helped him out with the basics…

The NC definitely has a nice, sharp, bright screen, I was impressed, however I was NOT impressed with the paltry 1 GB of available memory for user data, or the lack of a Micro SD card slot, still, not a bad tablet, a bit too heavy for casual use though

While I was playing with his NC, he played around with my NST, when he compared a text page on his NC to my NST, his immediate response was “I like yours better, the text is much easier on the eyes and looks sharper too, I like the light weight of your Nook better too”

I think he’s a bit jealous of the simplicity of the NST, so I made sure to emphasize that the NST is ONLY an E-Reader, you can’t watch videos, stream from Netflix, listen to music, or surf the web on the NST, you can ONLY download and read e-books/magazines/newspapers/comics, wheras he can do all those things on the NC, I told him to think of his NC as similar to an iPad, a more limited iPad, and that his NC was far more advanced than my primitive E-Reader…

He still liked the NST better, though, the sharpness, clarity, lack of “eyestrain” of the E-Ink display really appealed to him…

I just found it kind of amusing that here he was, with a technically more advanced tablet/reader, and he finds that he likes the more primitive E-Reader

39

I do love my iPad, but several of the things I love about it don’t apply to e-Ink readers (such as the backlight). There are a few other issues, though:

PRICE:
Some books are much cheaper for e-readers, especially the free stuff from Project Gutenberg. I’ve found with older mass-market paperbacks, though, that they cost $8 to $10 as eBooks from Amazon or Apple, where a new paperback costs $6 to $8. You can also buy the paperback for half-price at a used bookstore, and then sell it back to the used bookstore when you’re done, making the net price a couple of bucks.

AVAILABILITY:
If you happen to read mostly new fiction or old classics, you can get darned near everything as an eBook. Unfortunately, I’ve found a LOT of nonfiction, especially stuff that’s heavily illustrated or has a lot of formulas, just flat isn’t available as an eBook. Ditto children’s books.

USABILITY:
I am happy to leave a $3.00 paperback sitting on a towel while I’m swimming. Not so an eReader. I can read my paperback the whole time I’m on an airplane. There’s a lot of time they won’t let you have a reader on.

LIGHTING:
I love the backlighting, because I do a lot of my reading in bed and I don’t have to keep my wife awake. It’s a lot more convenient than juggling a booklight, too.

TEXT SIZE:
I do a lot of my reading in bed (as mentioned above) when I’m tired at the end of the day. I also read while working out on my treadmill. In both cases, being able to enlarge the text on the device gives the eReader a clear, massive, huge win.

BATTERIES:
I know the battery life on these things is huge, but if you forget your charger on a trip (or forget to charge the device before you leave), you’re still screwed.

COLLECTORS:
I have a whole bookcase full of autographed books. Clear win for paper.

40

I broke down and got a Kindle Touch. So far I like it - once you’re “into” the book, you can forget that it’s not paper you’re reading, although that 1sec (maybe 0.7 sec or so) delay when turning the page is annoying.

One thing though - finding things in a book. If you skip somewhere and forget to bookmark, getting back is a PAIN! Same with looking back (I believe someone mentioned it upthread) for things you want to clarify. I am not sure, really, how they could possibly have made it easier. The “paper book” UI for looking for stuff is impossible to reproduce in electronic form…