Help an Old Fart With E-Readers

Cafe Society
1

I have a long-standing love affair with books. I personally own a couple thousand actual books. Back when I used to commute to work by train I downloaded a few e-books to my Pocket PC Jornada and I must say it was handy to have a compact way to hold several books, but since the end of my mass transit commuting I’ve been back to my treebooks. What with my decades-long reading habit I can’t help but notice the recent proliferation of e-readers, all of which have much easier to read screens than my Jornada - so, keeping in mind I found the Jornada tolerable I assume just about any available e-reader today will also be tolerable.

However, in recent years I haven’t been keeping up with these things, so I have a few questions that perhaps some of you could help answer.

  1. Is this the time to jump from paper to digital for new book purchases?

  2. What about future compatibility? Backward compatibility? Do modern e-readers allow me to download free e-books from places like Project Gutenberg or am I stuck with one company’s software version?

  3. Prices? For both reader and books.

  4. Durability? (I still have and use my Jornada, which is probably pushing 12 years now so it’s not like I’m brutal to my electronic toys, but I still like to know this about anything I purchase)

  5. Availability of books in e-format - I don’t read pot-boiler bestsellers, so I’m interested in the availability things like science fiction and other genre books, along with non-fiction.

  6. What the hell do I do with all these tangible books I have around the house?

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  1. Tough to say. I like my kindle.

  2. Future compatibility is always a crap shoot. DRM adds a lot of complication to this. It is not out of the question that you might be left without a good way to read your books. All ereaders (nook, kindle, sony) will let you get something from Project Gutenberg. You may have to download them to your computer then put then on the reader instead of just using the reader for that.

  3. You can get a good reader for $150 or less. The book prices seem to be a little less than physical books.

  4. I haven’t had problems with my kindle.

  5. New books are generally available. Older books are more of a crap shoot.

  6. You let them gather dust like they have for the past 40 years.

3

The Kindle gets props from reviewers because it isn’t back-lit. Back-lit readers are nearly impossible to use in sunlight. My wife and I both love our Kindles and my reading has really increased over the last couple of years because of it. There are sites besides Amazon where you can download free books, also. Whatever isn’t available for the Kindle I get at the library.

4

I’m a fan of the Sony Reader. There are 3 models, with clear step-ups in features and price. Like the Kindle, it is that really cool eInk technology, which means it is just like paper. Seriously, the screen looks like a piece of paper. So, it has all the advantages of paper - easy on the eyes, no back light, can read in direct sunlight, etc etc.

The other benefit of eInk technology is exceptionally long battery life. A lot of portable electronic devices barely last 6 hours. A Sony Reader will last up to 3 weeks on a single chart, it’s super cool.

On to the questions!

1) Is this the time to jump from paper to digital for new book purchases?
It’s definitely getting more of a buzz. I’ve had my Reader digital book for about 3 years now, but I think more people are getting on the bandwagon, which is a good thing (more interest = more content).

2) What about future compatibility? Backward compatibility? Do modern e-readers allow me to download free e-books from places like Project Gutenberg or am I stuck with one company’s software version?
My Reader digital book has open format support. So, I can read free books from places like Google Books or Project Gutenberg. I also check ebooks out of my local library.

3) Prices? For both reader and books.
Prices in Readers are coming down. Books are still spendy, but I generally use the library (for both physical and ebooks)

4) Durability? (I still have and use my Jornada, which is probably pushing 12 years now so it’s not like I’m brutal to my electronic toys, but I still like to know this about anything I purchase)
I’ve taken care of mine, kept in its case and it still looks gorgeous. I appreciate it was a 250.00 piece of hardware (at the time) and I treat it as such.

5) Availability of books in e-format - I don’t read pot-boiler bestsellers, so I’m interested in the availability things like science fiction and other genre books, along with non-fiction.
Lots of new stuff is available in eBook format, but it can be tough to find some of my favorites. I was trying to stock up my Reader (since it holds 1200 books!) with stuff like Lonesome Dove, Shogun, the books I come back to over and over again and it was shocking (to me) what wasn’t available.

**6) What the hell do I do with all these tangible books I have around the house? **
I have a rule, for every book that comes in, a book must go out.

5

There have been quite a few threads about e-readers over the past few months; this is just the most recent one: e-Book formats & sources; what reader to buy?

I’ll tell you what I told myself: it’s not an either/or thing. Just because you get an e-reader doesn’t mean you can’t keep on reading paper books, too.

6

I am also an old fart with thousands of books. When I was researching these things a few months ago the first one I eliminated from consideration was the Kindle because of the proprietary format it uses for some books. I waffled between Sony and nook for a while, then on the spur of the moment went and bought a nook one night because the B&N store was still open.

I don’t know if Kindle supports all the open ebook formats; I seem to think it does not, but wouldn’t swear to that.

Actually, I haven’t bought any ebooks yet. I have downloaded so many free ones that it will take quite a while to read them all.

I don’t think of it as a replacement for paper books. It’s good for novels and such; things you just read through and are finished with … not good for reference, though … things you want to grab off the shelf and page through to find a certain part or passage.

All in all, I like my little step toward avoiding fuddy-duddyism even if my main use for it so far has been to reread classic books.

7

Don’t the e-readers allow you to adjust the font size?

As my vision is starting to deteriorate with age I can see that as being a big benefit.

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1) Is this the time to jump from paper to digital for new book purchases?
My gut says yes. Treebooks (I like that!) may not be gone tomorrow, but e-books are definitely here for the long haul.

2) What about future compatibility? Backward compatibility? Do modern e-readers allow me to download free e-books from places like Project Gutenberg or am I stuck with one company’s software version?
The Kindle store has Project Gutenburg books available for free. There are programs that will let you convert from one platform to another, but I don’t know much about them or how well they work.

3) Prices? For both reader and books.
Kindle = $189 for 3G+WiFi; $139 WiFi only. (I do not regret getting the 3G version – especially handy for my newspaper subscription.) Pretty sure other brands are comparably priced. New titles run about 12 bucks, but if you browse you can find lots of bargains; I’m talking under a dollar in many cases. I’ve read some cool stuff that I wouldn’t have looked twice at in a brick-and-mortar bookstore.

**4) Durability? **
The very first week I had my Kindle, it slipped out of the case (didn’t realize it was unzipped!), tumbled town a flight of stairs, and crashed into a wall at the bottom. The back panel got knocked out of place. I was able to snap it back together with minimal effort. The incident has not affected its operation and it has always worked flawlessly.

5) Availability of books in e-format - I don’t read pot-boiler bestsellers, so I’m interested in the availability things like science fiction and other genre books, along with non-fiction.
If you’re a browser like me, there’s lots and lots and lots of stuff out there in every genre. You won’t run out of things to read anytime soon. If you go looking for a specific obscure title, I dunno, but I bet there’s a pretty decent chance you’ll find it.

6) What the hell do I do with all these tangible books I have around the house?
Whatever you would have done with them anyway, I guess. (You don’t have to go cold turkey.) Here’s a site with some suggestions on donating, if you’re so inclined.

**Bonus comment: **Once you’ve finished reading a book, you can delete it from the device so as not to take up memory – but anything you’ve ever purchased can be retrieved at any time. So you can carry your entire collection with you always. Pretty cool, I think.

9

Can all ereaders display PDF’s?

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The Kindle allows you to adjust the font size. I cannot imagine that any of the others do not include this feature.

Mahaloth the kindle can display PDFs. I don’t like pdf books on the kindle. The pages always seem to be formatted for a larger page than I like. I don’t see how the nook or sony readers which have the exact same 6 inch eink screen can do any better.

11

The Sony Reader has some special PDF thing, page flow or something. Supposed to optimize PDFs. I honestly have never mucked with it.

6 adjustable screen sizes though!

12

I can’t really see myself reading outdoors with an e-reader. With that caveat, how would the iPad work as an e-reader. The other functionality of the iPad (a easy to carry way to surf the web and check e-mail) makes it more appealing to me than a single-function e-reader.

13

1) Is this the time to jump from paper to digital for new book purchases?
IMHO it is. I was speaking to the propriater of a used book store a few months ago, and he asked me if I thought that eBooks were going to last, or were they just a fad. I told him that by the time my 3 and 5 year old become my age, physical books will be a rarity. Look at the sale of physical CDs compaired to .mp3 download. Soon video will be on demand and streamed, and DVDs will go the same way. eBooks will become a standar way of purchasing new books, especially fiction.
2) What about future compatibility? Backward compatibility? Do modern e-readers allow me to download free e-books from places like Project Gutenberg or am I stuck with one company’s software version?
There are actually a couple of questions here. Compatibility. The way I look at it, there will always be programs that will update and convert from one file type to another. The danger will be if you go with buying books that are DRM’d and that particular format/authentication goes away. However there are copious amounts of free books available.
Just a few:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.amazon.com/gp/b/?node=2245146011

http://www.baen.com/library/

The best advice I can give you for making sure you keep up with latest versions, and don’t have a problem converting is to use a program like Calibreto manage your eBooks. Just download the books to your computer, load them into Calibre, and it will automatically convert the files to the right format when you tranfer to your device. PM me for more book resources.

3) Prices? For both reader and books.
According to Gizmodo, prices range from $140 to $700 (for an iPad). However personal experience shows me that you can get some readers for as low as $100. Books range from totally free (amazon itself has over 20,000 free ebooks) to $6,431.20 for some strange ass book that I don’t think anyone will ever buy. However most fall under $18.
4) Durability? (I still have and use my Jornada, which is probably pushing 12 years now so it’s not like I’m brutal to my electronic toys, but I still like to know this about anything I purchase)
Like anything else, they can be broken. My kindle is fairly durable. I’ve dropped it off the table a few time. Get a decent protective case and you should be fine. Something to keep in mind about the kindle and other e-ink displays is that there are fewer moving parts. So I imagine that they’ll be less prone to something going wrong.

5) Availability of books in e-format - I don’t read pot-boiler bestsellers, so I’m interested in the availability things like science fiction and other genre books, along with non-fiction.

See my post above. There are tons of places to get eBooks right now. PM me for more details if you’d like.

6) What the hell do I do with all these tangible books I have around the house?

That’s up to you. I still have all of mine. But a good plan is something like paperback swap that can allow your books to go to someone that will really cherish and enjoy them, and at the same time allow you to aquire some books you may have desired that are out of print or unavailable in eBook format.

Someone asked about .pdfs. The kindle does ok, but I’d suggest just converting the file via calibre or something. The pdf rendering is usually pretty small, and while you can zoom in, you have to pan the screen around the document…which is just annoying.

Do note that there is a huge difference between devices like the iPad and Nook Color, and the Kindle and Sony eReaders. The first types of devices are backlite LCD displays. Which will have a high glare factor, be difficult to read in direct sunlight, and have shorter battery life. The Kindle, and Sony devices use e-ink technology that is basically like the page of a book. So no glare, can read in direct sunlight, and long long battery life. However you have to have light to read by, so no reading in bed with the lights out. And they are strictly ereaders, there are a few limited other functions, but all you’ll basically do on them is read eBooks. Where devices like the iPad and Nook Color will allow you to do other things.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.

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I’ve yet to see one that displays color. Is this just my bad luck or are these things only displaying b&w? I ask because I wonder about the book covers. Are they digitally scanned in and viewable? And are they in color?

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I think that prices are going to drop further on e-book readers although not by much.

Project Gutenberg has .mobi files as well which can be viewed by the Kindle without any conversion. If you need to, you can download Calibre which is a free program which lets you convert non-DRM files so you can read then on the Kindle.

I would estimate that the vast majority of my books have come from sources other than Amazon. Baen has a lot of books available which are DRM free and which can be downloaded in .mobi.

I don’t like reading .pdf on my kindle as the print comes out too small and I can’t adjust the font. You can convert pdfs using Calibre although it screws up the formatting somewhat.

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Most of the readers are black and white. Because most ereaders use the same e ink reflective black and white screen. Nook color just came out. The book files usually have the book cover in color. The nook color has a back lit screen like a laptop.

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I’m confident that color eInk displays for Kindles and the like will appear.

However, I am finding myself approaching the point where I will use both a Kindle and an iPad. My wife currently uses an iPad for eBooks and loves it. She does a lot more on it, but for bedtime reading she loves the fact that it requires no other lighting (so do I). It weighs about the same as a trade paperback, so it does not get that one handed use the Kindle gets, but it is no worse than a book.

The reason I will probably own both is that I consider the eInk devices to be the ‘paperback’ book to the ‘hardcover’ book iPad and other large tablets. I have less experience with the Kindle, but it seems perfect for reading text based material - say that book you pick up in the airport or slip in a pocket and take to the beach. The larger screen on the iPad means it works well for things reference works (with the entire web backing it up) or magazines like NatGeo and Smithsonian. I subscribed to them on the iPad and they are great. I can’t imagine them on a b&w screen.

So, to me the choice of eReader depends on what you like to read. If it is text-only, go for an eInk device like a Kindle. If you read lots of material with photos, color and graphics - go for a tablet like the iPad. With Kindles nearing the $100 mark, owning both is not out of the question - just like we own both hardcover and paperback books.

btw, both the wife and I are probably considered ‘old farts’ (at least by our kids).

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Our family has both a kindle and a nook. I read a lot and I find the kindle is easier for mass reading. But the nook is nice for less intense reading, and the color and formatting is much nicer for children’s books.

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The B&N books have DRM as well don’t they?

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Yes, they do.

It’s pretty common to read comments like Turble’s, but the claim that Amazon’s format is less open than B&N’s is exaggerated. Both will read non-DRMed materials in different common open formats (Mobi for Amazon, EPub for B&N).

But most books that you buy from their bookstores will have DRM. Both Amazon and B&N use proprietary, non-open techniques to add DRM to their base open format. Amazon tweaks one byte in the Mobi spec as well, which seems to be the whole basis for the not-an-open-format claim. It’s not, however, something that would really bother any Mobi-capable readers that I know of.

The decoding keys used by Amazon DRM are particular to the e-reading device. You can’t copy the files containing the books from one Kindle to another and still read them. I believe (but have not personally verified) that the same is true of the B&N DRM.

So no matter whether you buy from Amazon or you buy from B&N, you still have to worry about what would happen if your e-reader breaks a few years from now and the company has decided to get out of the e-book business in the meantime. If you, like me, look fondly upon your shelves full of books accumulated over decades, the prospect of buying books that might “expire” in the future is not something to take lightly. On the other hand, if you, like me, are wondering where to put your future book purchases given that all those shelves are already crammed full, e-books may make a lot more sense.

The concern over the long-term availability of DRM’d purchases is legitimate, and it’s something that every potential user of e-books has to consider, trading off the uncertainty against the advantages offered by e-books. It’s probably not, however, an argument for favoring one brand of e-reader over another.