E Book readers
 

Two questions: are e-book readers (such as the Kindle or Sony Reader) actually worth getting or would it just be another gadget for me to lose?

Secondly, presumably you can't use them during take off or landing which is one of the main times I read so I would have to take a real book anyway?

I have the Kindle software on my iPod Touch and love it. It's not the same feel or experience as a book, but I'm getting used to it and it is certainly lighter to carry 10-20 books on my iPod rather than in my carry-on.

Yes, it's an electronic devise so you have to turn it off and stow it during take-off and landing.

I love my Kindle (v2) and wouldn't trade it back for paper books.

I also use it regularly during take-off and landing and rarely have issues with the FAs. Maybe once or twice since I got it. See also this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...kindle+landing - for a discussion of use at the beginning and end of flights.

Also a huge fan of the Kindle. I don't miss paper books at all.

I bring a couple of magazines to read during takeoff and landing.

+1 on both counts. I love my Kindle2 and rarely have issues during takeoff/landing.

+2

I mainly read on my iPhone with the Kindle software. In fact I had made a commitment to read more and the Kindle software is helping me do it.

Here's an alternate opinion.

I don't get the whole kindle thing. I used a friend's and saw no benefit over paper books. The benefits I hear are things like, "It is easier than carrying around 20 books." Who the hell carries around 20 books with them? I don't need to be reading 20 books at once.

I think it is a gimmick and a percentage of those that sing its praises are trying to justify to themselves the high cost they paid for it. ;)

Dammit...share it with the world. Bring the Kindle to Canada!!! :mad:

So, it seems that they are saying not to buy illustrated books or complicated textbooks with lots of tables, figures, mathematical equations and pictures for the Kindle. Im not sure that that is particularly newsworthy. That isnt what I buy for it.

I didnt pay anything for mine. The iPhone app is free. My wife actually probably has 5 computer science texts on hers at any given time which would weigh a pound or two each. Plus the WSJ delivered to it every morning as she heads to the train. I may be reading 3 or 4 books at a time, and I can have them all on my iPhone and pick the one I want without lugging them all around. Im somewhat agnostic on the Kindle device, but there is absolutely no doubt that electronic books are the future. Particular technologies will shake out, but paper wont be one of the survivors except as vinyl is for recordings.

I bet you're the type that invested heavily in laserdisc and betamax. :p

No one can read the future, even you.

We have invested in three Cybooks- pricey but the holder makes it feel more 'book like' and we can all read the same book at the same time. While some mockingly ask 'who needs 20 books for a trip', my family of voracious readers would carry just that load in knapsacks, etc on vacations. We gave up on library books (heavy, fines for late/lost; sanitary concerns). One tip- if your teenager (or clumsy beloved one) has an e-reader, invest in the accidental damage plan...

I'm actively reading several books at any given time. They are all on my Kindle, so when I travel I don't need to decide which to bring with me and then later wish I had a different one.

I'm a long time Fortune subscriber and have switched my subscription to the Kindle. Since the Kindle is thinner than a single Fortune magazine, I'm now only travelling with the Kindle instead of a Fortune mag and a book, so there's some significant space / weight savings in my travel bag.

I've switched my WSJ subscription to the Kindle, which of course is automatically delivered wirelessly to the Kindle daily, so now I have my daily WSJ edition with me when I'm travelling instead of having a stack of unread WSJ's waiting for me when I get home.

I don't like reading long documents / white papers / etc on my computer, so I email them to my Kindle (each Kindle has its own email address).

So now I have my entire library of reading material with me, and I can make real-time decisions wherever I am, whether on a plane, in a hotel room, having lunch by myself, at a coffee shop, etc., about what I'm in the mood to read.

I make annotations / highlights to the books / magazines / newspapers / documents that are on my Kindle, and then I use the search feature to search across all of the material and annotations on the device if I want to refer back to something I've previously read or noted. This is particularly valuable to search across the back issues of Fortune magazine that are on my Kindle. For example, if I'm going to work for a new client, I search my Fortune library to see if they have been mentioned.

Not everyone will "get it" and not everyone will see value in it. But my Kindle has had an enormous impact on how I consume information. It's hardly a gimmick.

Haven't you just substituted one computer for a smaller one in this case?

I throw nearly that many in my bag every time we go visit the relatives. There's about 30 hours in transit and once we are there numerous meals with her relatives where all the conversation will be in languages I don't speak.

Indeed. But surely you don't represent the majority of population, right? :)

Isn't that the point of ebook readers?

The Kindle is designed for reading. Intuitive placement of next page / previous page, light enough to hold in one hand, portable enough to throw in a bag and not even be able to notice its size/weight. You begin to notice little conveniences like not needing to make any movements to turn pages.

So yes...I've substituted most of my reading from a computer that wasn't designed for reading, to a "computer" that was.

Fair enough. I guess it's just not for everyone. For instance, I don't mind the inconvenience of having to turn pages. ;)

Don't get me wrong, by no means am I saying turning pages is inconvenient.

But it IS convenient to get into a comfortable position in bed or on the couch, and not have to make any movements to turn pages. It's something that you probably wouldn't give any thought to, but once you've experienced the difference it makes, you have a "hey, this is pretty cool" moment.

I'm sure it is. For me, though, I'm not sure that moment is worth $300.

Seriously. You quote part of what I said and leave out the part where I said - twice - that I didnt know about the device format that will succeed and then cite as examples of me being wrong outmoded formats. Yes, anyone that isnt a moron can see that I was right in what I said, just as I would have been right had I said that Im not sure about the format but playing movies in your house is the future when VSH and Betamax came out.

I guess I'm a moron then, because I think you're wrong. I don't think ebooks are the future. In fact, I think they're a gimmicky fad. But we'll have to wait a few years to determine who is right. ;)

Agreed, that's not worth $300 for me either. But everything else is.

I can't handle reading long documents on my computer. Kindle reading is much friendlier on the eyes and mind. Reading on the Kindle is closer to reading printed text on paper. At least in my experience.

When I go on a trip longer than 1 week, I used to take multiple books (4or 5)...now I take one kindle. When I want to buy an English book in China...log on to Amazon and download to the computer.

Its worth it for me.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/4.7.1.40 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

The majority of the population is unlikely to buy a book this year. The eBook readers are not targeted at that market segment.

In looking at the price tag it is also useful to consider the discount that books sell at in the electronic format. It mat take a hundred or so to make back the initial investment, but that can happen surprisingly quickly in a family where reading is a passion. And while I don't think we ever got up to 20 on a single trip, I know that my wife and I have been into double digits. There very much is value in the format for some people. The fact that you apparently are not one of them doesn't mean that you represent everyone else.

That's a strawman if I ever saw one. I never said that I represent everyone else. I said I think they're gimmicky. And I said that I think they'll eventually end up in the dustbin of technological history.

But I'm glad you enjoy yours!

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330/4.5.0.77 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Think about what is involved in printing and distributing books electronically versus on paper. With that in mind the future is obvious. It is already happening with such things as scientific journals. That has made a huge shift towards electronic at every step of the process. And then of course there is the music example.

Nothing about the future is obvious and I really have to question anyone who says that there is. ;)

I read the NY Times on my Kindle. Sure I could take my laptop out to the deck and read for free, but the need for the screen to be bright and a WiFi connection makes it unpleasant.

In my opinion, receiving newspapers and blogs wirelessly are as important as buying books. $0.75 vs $2.00 for the Times, and nothing to schlep down to the recycling room. A week of newspapers is a lot more paper than a single book.

I was telling a friend about my Kindle recently. His first question was 'What else does it do?' My reply was 'When you buy a toaster you don't ask what else it does. You just know it does one thing really well.'

Well put. It was designed to give you a fantastic reading experience, and that's what it does.

Some things are if you think. Some, not so much, but yes some are quite obvious. Especially, when as I mentioned, they are already happening in related fields such as journal publications.

It's funny, in my field I don't see people carrying around Kindles reading journal articles. You do?

If you want to comment on my posts, whatever. If you expect me to discuss them with you, you really are going to have to respond to what I actually write, not what you make up and say that I wrote.

This thread is about E Book readers. Your insight into the future seems to depend on the fact that academic journals increasingly are digital. I'm missing the connection here. There is a big gap in your logic between digital journals and academics walking around with e book gizmos, IMHO.

I curious about the different Kindle generations
 

Have people had more than one generation (Im assuming some have). How do they compare? Especially the new DX? Thanks for any comments.

I have not yet purchased a dedicated e-book reader, nor have I downloaded any free readers to my iphone. I have shelves of books at home that I re-read or reference from time to time. Even with books I don't keep, I feel good "recycling" them by lending them to freinds or donating them to the local library.

As a result, I am having issues with the idea of only owning an electronic version when I finish reading. For books that I think I will only want to read once, I generally use the library, which admittedly is incredibly convenient for me as I typically walk past it 4 times a week. I also find it interesting that many libraries now offer e-book rentals and more are sure to be offered in the future.

All that said, I expect for travel, I will have several books downloaded to my iphone. I am already starting a list of books that would be appropriate for my next trip, such as pulp fiction recently released in hardback. -- Suzanne

One thing to consider is that Google is releasing a large number of books that are no longer under copyright in an electronic format. I expect, given their history that they will attempt to widely disseminate the ability to read them on just about any platform (including the iPhone). That will be an interesting development. As will the long awaited large iPhone/small tablet Mac that is rumored to be getting closer to release. The latter will likely be about the same size as a Kindle but more "open" in terms of formats I suspect.

Yeah, most of my read-once reading is from the library. If I don't have a book out you can pretty much figure I'm about to head out on vacation or that I'm just back from vacation.

The local library has a 7 item limit on more popular new items--and once in a while I bump into this.