Electronic reading...

[fajrdrako]

From January 29, 2009: First. Go read this great article from Time Magazine: Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature. (Well worth reading.)

Second. Stop and think about it for moment. Computers and digital media are changing everything we do these days, whether we realize it or not, and that includes our beloved books.

Third. DISCUSS!

Interesting article. We've been discussing the demise of Border's on the Bujold list; it made me worry, briefly, if Chapter's will follow suit. Empires rise, empires fall. I buy more from Amazon than from Chapter's now. Why? It's usually quicker, they have more of the books I want, they're international, it's often cheaper, and I don't have to take a lengthy bus trip to get to the bookstore.

Twenty years ago, I wouldn't have imagined such a thing.

Times they are a-changin', and though I don't have a Kindle, I've thought about getting one. I'd be more inclined to get it if I'd ever actually seen one in action, if I had a demo model. Does anyone local have one to show me? Do any of you have Kindle experiences to share? Or other e-book readers to recommend?

My current equivalent is having audiobooks on my iPod. What a joy.

Though, like most people, I still prefer to read a book with pages, I'm excited by the new developments. E-books don't get dog-eared or fall apart. No way to make notes in margins, though, I imagine. My current trick is to put paper covers on books, and write notes on the paper covers. I could always tape a bit of scrap paper to the Kindle for that purpose, I suppose.

I love having options: many options. First of all, we get a greater variety and freedom of reading. I've always loved fanfic - yes, even when it was just available in expensive and hard-to-find fanzines - heck, even when the only fanfic available was what I and my friends wrote on lined pages torn from the back of our school books. Fanfic has never been, and with current laws, never will be, available commercially. Now we have access to any kind of fanfic we like. Fan writing is often better than published works - and, sadly, often much worse, due to a lack of editing and proofreading. But it's there, and the only downside I can think of is that you have to exercise your own quality control - you have to search for the gems.

But that's true with every book, physical or otherwise. Every time you try a new author, you don't know what to expect. The big difference? If a piece of fic online is a dud, you can stop reading and go to the next story, losing nothing but a few minutes of time. Buy at book at Chapter's (or Amazon) and you're out $15.00 if its a dud. But probably you can find a friend who'd like it.

And we're saving trees when we read electronically, though I don't know how to compare the total energy/product cost that would go into a book read electronically. If we can stop deforestation before the planet is destroyed, so much the better. - and here I'm guilty, because I always print the fic I get online, and read it in a physical copy. More comfortable that way. But when I have a comfortable, portable e-book reader that I can read in bed, and adjust the light and font size, and carry with me on the bus (assuming there were buses) - well. Yes. I could be sold on that.

We no longer miss the good old days when we read things on tablet or in scrolls or on pyramid walls. We'll get used to other forms of reading.

~ ~ ~

Adendum: I looked on the Amazon page and discovered that, frustratingly, Kindles are only available to Americans. Actually, they aren't available to anyone right now - they've sold out, which is a sign that it's filling a need. But even when they have them, only Americans can buy them.

So - do I have American friends out there with a Kindle or similar device? Are they good? Should I be looking for something like that?

Comments

[trialia]

I'm sorry, I'm just stuck on the idea of people writing notes in books that aren't textbooks. O_O;

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

People do. There's a whole historical study of marginalia and intertextual ammendations. Reactions. It's sort of like a study of grafitti.

I don't write in books - like I said, I write on their paper covers.

I never wrote in textbooks, either, and I hate highlighting! But once I lent my English text to a friend, who wrote (in ink!) all over "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot. At the time, I was aghast and horrified. Now? I look at it, and feel all nostalgic, because it reminds me of that friend - whom I haven't seen in decades.

[scarlettgirl.livejournal.com]

Interesting article - thanks for the link.

I went through the whole electronic reader debate for over a year before finally falling to the Sony eReader. I am a very tactile person and love and adore my books but the tipping point was moving and coming to the realization that I had a LOT of books that I really enjoyed but wouldn't necessarily care to read again. Those are the type of books that are perfect for the eReader. There was also the whole fanfic thing. Being able to load the Reader with fic and tote it around has been an absolute joy.

I debated for a long time between the Kindle and the Sony.
Sony finally won me over because they declared themselves Open Source last summer and are much more accommodating to other publishing houses and forums compared to the Kindle which has the sole stranglehold over Amazon. There are loads of other resources than Amazon for books and I've never not been able to find something but, let's face it, Amazon has the best search engines and catalog out there. I don't think Amazon will always be this proprietary but until it loosens its claws it's a bit of a nuisance. Sony is also much more elegant than the Kindle and has a great "book" feel. I've caught myself trying to "turn" the pages on it several times!

The downside of a reader is that you can't easily flip to a page to look for a quote. You can enter page numbers, etc. but that *flip flip flip* action is impossible. On the other hand, I tend to be a "peek at the last page" sort of girl (I KNOW!) and with the reader you can't do that either. I think that might be a good thing. ;)

Since the reader supports word docs and PDF's (as well as photos and a bit of audio but I rarely use that feature) I have on my reader books purchased through they Sony bookstore (supported by Borders), free books, loads of fic, friends manuscripts that they've asked me to look over as well as my own writing that I might want to review.

I adore it and can't recommend it enough.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for recommending the Sony readers. I was looking at it online, and it looks terrific - especially since you can acquire the books anywhere. Can you use it to read fanfic? I suppose so - just copy the fic into Word and bob's your uncle.

Best thing about it: its available in Canada! Yay!

I never peek at the last page - it's the first page that's important to me.

Thank you so much for your comments. I'm practically ready to order one now.

[idiotgrrl.livejournal.com]

I have taken to putting books I want to read on hold at the public library, unless they are in a series I'm following and know I will reread. That way I can get a look at them before I decide to buy them. It's saved me a lot of money in books put out only in hard cover that made excellent read-once books. And yes, I am thinking of getting a Kindle for the very reasons you mentioned.

However, print does spare you the problems of incompatible media making your old and dearly beloved books inaccessible to you!

[scarlettgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm working with the technology department at our Library to set us up for eReader downloads which is a win-win. Right now the bigger metro areas such as NY and Washington offer the service (you can also get an out-of-state card for a yearly fee) and I think more libraries will be adopting the technology.

But yeah, I'd never buy a book that's a "keeper" for the eReader. There are some books that you just need in hard copy and want to treasure forever.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I do most of my reading from the public library, but at the moment that's a problem - my closest library is closed for renovations and becasue of the bus strike and the heavy snow, it's a time-consuming job to walk to any of the other libraries and back. I can live with this. But I'm not happy about it!

I'm not planning to get rid of my old books, and certainly not my carefully-collected multiple editions of Dorothy Dunnett. But I don't mind expanding my facilities, either.

[calime]

I really liked the article when I read it a few days ago. And I admit that (largely thanks to the fanfic) I've changed from 'omg, I want REAL books' to 'I'm probably reading more online than paper books ... oops, maybe I should consider ebooks'. I've been dl-ing free ebooks, and reading them on my laptop (because it's rather small and comfy and I do take it to bed *grin*), and recently I looked at my tiny apartment and the whole wall bookcase-cum-cupboard-thingy which I bought a year ago, and thought 'I'm gonna run out of room soon...' ... and again, now that good fanfic has kind of ruined bad printed fic for me I tend to look at the price of books, too, in the sense of 'do i want to spend so much if I'm not sure it isn't crap'...hence, logical next step - welcome, ebooks.
After I too discovered that Kindle is for US only, I've been ki9nd of coveting this , though if I will be able to afford it, it'll probably be no sooner than after a few years. So far, laptop has been ok :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't have a laptop, but your description sounds sort of irresistible!

Running out of rooms for books is a constant problem. I've yet to find a good solution. An e-Reader would be helpful and convenient.

[the-blue-fenix.livejournal.com]

I do more of my reading than not on my PDA these days; Mobipocket format for preference. However, I must admit that many of the e-books I own are, er, somewhat unconventional in their acquisition style.

Because of this unconventional nature, they tend to be DRM-free. When I do buy e-books outright I either get the non-DRM versions or buy legit and then crack a copy for my permanent files. (Trivially easy for *.lit format, for example; don't take my word, google for yourself.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My PDA doesn't work well; it's sort of incompatible with my technology. I've considered getting another, but I'd rather skip that step, and really, all I want is something to read books on.

somewhat unconventional

Nothing wrong with that, in my estimation!

they tend to be DRM-free

How do you know what are the DRM versions? What does DRM mean?

[bright-lilim.livejournal.com]

I read more and more books from my computer. I'd love to have an ereader which is a, DRM-free, b, free from regional restrictions, c, cheap, d, easy to repair.

I'm fairly certain that Kindle works only inside US. I remember reading a discussion about it in some blog but I can't find it anymore. A US solder wanted to take some of his books with him overseas and was looking for an ereader. He was told that Kindle only works inside US.

Sony ereader works only in US and Canada. You know, just in case you'd like to take it with you on a vacation or something...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd love to have an ereader which is a, DRM-free, b, free from regional restrictions, c, cheap, d, easy to repair.

That would be wonderful.

Could you explain about why the American readers won't work in Europe? Is it becuase they can't be recharged or refilled? Because surely if they've got the text in them, you can take them on travels and still read?

They'd be perfect for travel, if they worked - you wouldn't have to fill up your suitcase with books. Which I always do.

The Sony reader looks good to me, but I would like to think I could use it when (note the optimism here) I go to England and France next year.

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

I'm fond of my Kindle (her name is Hypatia). I do think that if I find a book I want to keep, I will still get a dead tree edition, but the Kindle is helping me cut down on space allotted to books. Books breed like rabbits, and bookcases breed like elephants.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hypatia - ooh, good name!

Books breed like rabbits, and bookcases breed like elephants.

That is so true - if only living space expanded at the same rate.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I am firmly convinced that if you leave two hardbacks together overnight, you'll find a litter of paperbacks in the morning. It's the most logical explanation for the state of my house, anyway.

[judymoe.livejournal.com]

Someone might have already mentioned this in your comments, but:

As a Kindle owner, I have to say I love it. If I were local, I'd run right now and show you its wonders. :)

You *can* dog-ear pages if you want. You can make notes, too. And I now can't live without the ability to click on a line and look up the words in the built-in dictionary. You can also look stuff up on Wikipedia or google, if you want.

I've loved books since I was about six years old. I tried reading on my Palm, but the backlighting is what bothers my eyes (I can't read white-background pages on the web for long, either), so I love e-Ink.

I'm hoping they will be made available to other countries soon. It seems so unfair that it's limited to the states.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

If I were local, I'd run right now and show you its wonders. :)

Sigh. Since it is not available to Canadians, I'd have to visit you to see it. (Which would be fun anyway, but not the scenario I was envisaging!)

Built-in dictionary! Wow! I love that. How wonderful.

Seems unfair to me that it's limited to the US, too. It's one of those things I'm helpless to fix - and it isn't even a case where I could buy it in the US and use it at home. So I'll look into the feasibility and features of the things I can get in Canada. I'm not sure what there is besides the Sony eReaders.

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

But that's true with every book, physical or otherwise. Every time you try a new author, you don't know what to expect. The big difference? If a piece of fic online is a dud, you can stop reading and go to the next story, losing nothing but a few minutes of time. Buy at book at Chapter's (or Amazon) and you're out $15.00 if its a dud. But probably you can find a friend who'd like it.

This is why I love discount bookstores and bargain basements. When a book only costs maybe 4 or 5 euro, I'm so much more likely to try something outside my comfort zone than if I have to fork out 12 to 15 euro for it. And of course, if I find an author I like then I'll probably end up buying their stuff new.

I actually bought myself a Sony 505 reader a few weeks ago. I haven't had a change to do much with it yet though, but that's mainly because of life being somewhat hectic these last few weeks.
Admittedly though, I probably wouldn't have bought it, only for my bosses had given me a gift voucher for Christmas and I wanted to use it up sooner rather than later, so I figured I might as well get something I'd never buy otherwise.

One of the reasons I wanted it was so I could (eventually) get all the books by my favourite authors (Terry Prachett, Robert Rankin etc) stored on the reader so that I can read them when I feel the urge, instead of having to dig through boxes trying to find the entire sequence i'm pining for.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Discount bookstores are great for finding new books and authors, but that's the greatest joy of a library. Of course, you see then what the librarians have chosen, but I've made some of my best reading discoveries there. Other good indicators are prize-lists, though I've given up on some of them - even Hugo Awards, where the 'best novel' is often not one like. (Bujold excepted, of course.)

I'm thinking of getting a Sony 700 reader (or maybe a 505, I want to look at both) as soon as I have time to go to the store.

Who is Robert Rankin?

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

I have a Kindle. I love it. It has some flaws, like not being able to catagorize things. It lists them in alpha order or by when the file was opened last.

But it's great to read on and you can carry hundreds of books with you, not to mention fan fiction as well.

I'll have it when I visit in May.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd certainly like to have a look at it!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

E-books don't get dog-eared or fall apart.

On the other hand, you don't lose paper books in a computer crash, and a physical book is still a tradeable commodity.

Part of me would like to collapse my book library down into a portable, useful form, as I have done my CDs. But the other part wants to own autographed copies, swap books, and clip markers on the pages I want to go back to.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm not planning to get rid of any books I wouldn't get rid of anyway. I'm just looking for a comfortable portability.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the article. I do wish that the authors of articles like this would discuss the distribution issues for self-published material. What publishing houses do that matters is not the physical production of the books, but the distribution.

For those of us who do not have the social network that ate New York, or a blog read by thousands, I don't quite see the point of putting the thing out there if no one's going to know it's there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Distribution is the key issue. The thing about fanfic is that you have a ready-made network of online fans of the show you're writing about, and plug into it. I seldom if ever read stories about original characters online. I wouldn't know about it in the first place, and I'm not looking for it.

I don't know a lot about distribution in the book publishing industry, but I've watched it closely in the comic book industry, and it's amazing. Business-wise, it's the most important thing. One of the reasons Marvel and DC comics sell so well - enough to make comics big business - is that they have the distribution business sewn up. The other reason is because they've made images of their characters famous, not just through comics but with movies, TV shows, and advertising. Get your character on kids' underwear, that's the ticket.

Yes, I'd like to see people talk about this more, too. It's the bulk of the iceberg, and we only see the tip.

[maisedoat.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, Kindle's will work outside the USA, you just cannot download directly from the publisher "over the airwaves". I know someone who has one in Europe and downloads to his computer over the internet, and from there by wire to his Kindle.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So I would probably be similarly all right with the Sony. That's good to know.