eReader - What do you think?

[Night Train]

What do you think of the eReader that has been on the news today?

In principle it would seem like an ipod for text but I don't know if like it.

I like MP3 players as I can transfer all my vinyl, cassettes and CDs via my pc to the player to take away with me to listen to. Same with video and DVD onto MP4.

But I have close on 2000 books, about 2/3 fiction 1/3 non fiction, 1/2 illustrated, 1/3 out of print and antique, 1/2 are collectable. I will not be able to transfer any of them to the reader without buying the downloads, if they were available. It would mean having to re-buy all my library.
If I lose my MP3 player I can buy a new one and just reload my music. If I lost an eReader I would have to buy the downloads again.

I will stick to printed paper for the time being though I wouldn't say 'no' to an eReader as a gift just for the 100 free books already on it.

 

[Cyclista]

Been looking into this as I am getting sick of carting book around in my bag all the time. I've had a play with the Ereader in the Sony shop on the high street here and I must say that I was quite impressed. Very easy to read, not too weighty, just a little bigger than a paperback, going to go back later on today to see how it handles images as alot of the reading that I do on one will be of online magazines, newspapers ETC.

If I lose my MP3 player I can buy a new one and just reload my music. If I lost an eReader I would have to buy the downloads again.

This is not so, it seems that Sony have written something similar to Sonicstage ( but better hopefully) for the ereader so you can control your Ebook the same way you control your MP3's.

 

[yello]

In principle I'm interested.

But I do find it difficult to read text on a computer screen, certainly for any length of time. I prefer hard copy. So I'd need to be convinced primarily that the eReader thingy is going to be easy to read in that respect.

Then there's the whole medium question. Just as I like holding and looking at vinyl in preference to CD, I also like the whole process of picking up a book, leafing through it, etc, etc. And especially in the winter when I can sit by the fire with a glass of red wine (cliché I know but true!). IF the eReader can work in that way too (and it's possible I guess) than I'd be interested.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

an over-engineered solution imho. i'm no technophobe, but i recognise that paper, in this application, is a superior technology.

 

[Night Train]

I would be more interested if I was able to upload my existing library with some sort of instant scanner. A gadget that could x-ray scan a whole book without having to do each page in turn.

I must admit I really do prefer the feel and readability of real paper pages.
On an environmental front paper books are a great store of atmospheric carbon from the trees grown to produce them. I wonder what effect eReaders will have on that?

 

[Cyclista]

I would be more interested if I was able to upload my existing library with some sort of instant scanner. A gadget that could x-ray scan a whole book without having to do each page in turn.

While this is a good idea, it means that you are going to run into the same set of copywrite issues that you get with MP3's, which is the main reason that Amazon have not released the Kindle in Europe yet they have not been able to agree a publishing contract with the major European book dealers. And with what's going on in the US at the moment with the RIAA, I'm not too sure that I would want to get into the whole "Fair Use" thing with books as well as music, as there would be very little to stop people making copies for the book available online exactly the same way as is done with CD's and DVD's.

I must admit I really do prefer the feel and readability of real paper pages.

Agreed, however carrying a book in my backpack is a pain in the spine and I think that an Ereader will help with this as they are less bulky than a paperback and much easier to carry.

I have to say that if I do get one then it will mostly be used on the ferry and while at work, and most likely for newspapers and e-zines. Nothing is going to stop me buying and reading conventional books.

 

[Renard]

an over-engineered solution imho. i'm no technophobe, but i recognise that paper, in this application, is a superior technology.

Agree. At work most people print out bigger documents as it is easier on the eye to read from paper. I think there are some forms of technology which have outstripped the point at which we have evolved to. Proper books don't need batteries and cope better with sand and lotion if you are on the beach, crumbs and splashes of tea at the breakfast table, etc.

 

[Night Train]

Cyclista, that's the thing that bugs me. I would find it a useful tool to carry my own books around for my own reading when I am unable to carry a box full. In the same way I carry all my CDs in a tiny MP3 player so I don't need a box full. I have bought and paid for the access to the material, I am not sharing it and so I shouldn't fall foul of the copyright. I've never downloaded music either, everthing on my MP3 exists in my music collection and I buy the CD of anything new that I want. Granted others may not be so honest.

If I can't use it to read my own existing library then it isn't much use to me. Perhaps when technology has caught up then I might reconsider it.
On the other hand, it would be good for periodicals and magazines that aren't kept long term and have no intrinsic value in their own right.

 

[Cyclista]

Cyclista, that's the thing that bugs me. I would find it a useful tool to carry my own books around for my own reading when I am unable to carry a box full. In the same way I carry all my CDs in a tiny MP3 player so I don't need a box full. I have bought and paid for the access to the material, I am not sharing it and so I shouldn't fall foul of the copyright. I've never downloaded music either, everthing on my MP3 exists in my music collection and I buy the CD of anything new that I want. Granted others may not be so honest.

Yep, pretty much how I feel. Although there are some online resources that provide copies of books that are outside of copywrite and available to anyone who wants to download them.

If I can't use it to read my own existing library then it isn't much use to me. Perhaps when technology has caught up then I might reconsider it.
On the other hand, it would be good for periodicals and magazines that aren't kept long term and have no intrinsic value in their own right.

And this is why I have not pre-ordered one. While I like the idea and the Sony one does seem to be very well thought out, £200 just to read papers and magazines on the go seems to be a bit much

 

[alecstilleyedye]

the ereader is not really an ipod for books. an ipod can hold a music collection, and that is useful if you're on the bus, a long drive etc as you can listen to whatever you want, or a random selection.

how many people take a selection of books to read on the bus? even if you take a few in the suitcase on holiday, you are only likely to read one at a time.

and paper is far easier on the eye.