# Sony Announces the "iBook" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114 "2006-01-09T06:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/21 "2006-01-10T00:33:40Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > It’s a great device to take on long trips instead of a bunch of books. That’s probably the only reason why I would get one. For me, there’s a tactile pleasure in reading a book which can’t be replaced with electronics. It’s the feel of the paper, that virgin crackle when you open it for the first time, and the lovely New Book Smell. I have to admit, though, that it would be nice not to have to pack a seperate suitcase full of books. I just hope that it comes with memory cards so you can store more than 8 to 10, since I’m an avid re-reader, and would have a hard time deleting a book to make room for another. (Library patrons wouldn’t have as much trouble with this, I think.) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/22 "2006-01-10T01:43:16Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > I just hope that it comes with memory cards so you can store more than 8 to 10, since I’m an avid re-reader, and would have a hard time deleting a book to make room for another. (Library patrons wouldn’t have as much trouble with this, I think.) Well, they most certainly will be like an IPod and therefore will sync with your computer. Books are fairly small so you could hold a entire library in the space one DVD takes up. In any case the solid state memory sticks have become so user friendly and large that it’s internal memory will probably be able to store on the order of 4 books without breaking a sweat, probably twice that. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/23 "2006-01-10T02:00:08Z")
I was involved with an ebook project in 2000. I was skeptical of it then and am now. I’m a techie who loves to read, you would think that I am the target market, but I’m just not interested. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/24 "2006-01-10T02:07:04Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > There may be something to that. Reading on a Palm does eat up battery life. But $300 - $400 for an ebook reader that will probably run stuff on a proprietary format so that I can’t read my other ebooks on it??? Color me dubious. 😕 I’d rather spend money on more batteries for my Ipaq…a lot less money, too, unless I wanted 6 or 8 batteries. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/25 "2006-01-10T03:27:08Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > I just hope that it comes with memory cards so you can store more than 8 to 10, since I’m an avid re-reader… I don’t think that would be a problem at all. I don’t know about the currently available readers, but a $200 iPod Nano comes with 2GB of memory. If you used that to store text, it will hold over 1000 novels. (Assuming 8 characters per word and 100,000 words per novel). And most likely you’d be able to store even more on your PC, and only transfer the ones you want to read to the e-book reader. The only question is whether the price is low enough that the average user can buy tens or hundreds of books. And whether there’s enough of a selection that you’d _want_ to buy that many. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/26 "2006-01-10T04:33:09Z")
All in all, I like the idea, but it is going to take a lot to displace the very mature paper and ink technology. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/27 "2006-01-10T13:58:16Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > A \<$100 Palm can do the same. The problem is, where do you get the content? I read a LOT of fanfiction, and amateur written original fiction. All I need to do is save HTML files as text. Then I save it to the right folder on the device.No mon3ey needed. > [@Archergal](#): > > I also just realized that if this thing isn’t backlit, I can’t read in bed with the lights off like I can with my Palm. Well, the device I mentioned is backlit, and also, it works like a USB hard drive, unlike a palm, so I can download at any old computer, with out a docking station. 😛 Another really cheap ebook reader would this, assuming you already have a Gameboy Advance, or DS. [http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=246&products\_id=3983&](http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=246&products_id=3983&) ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/28 "2006-01-10T16:08:24Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > That’s probably the only reason why I would get one. For me, there’s a tactile pleasure in reading a book which can’t be replaced with electronics. It’s the feel of the paper, that virgin crackle when you open it for the first time, and the lovely New Book Smell. Oh yeah, another great thing about the old eBook (and don’t think the Sony has this feature) is the backlight. You can read it in any light, even in bed at night when your SO wants to sleep. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114/29 "2006-01-10T16:33:36Z")
Anybody else give this thread an initial skip due to the title? The iBook is well-known, existing product that has nothing to do in fuction with what’s being discussed in this thread, and Sony has long had a competing brand for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sony-announces-the-ibook/339114.md?page=1)