I just can't make the switch to e-readers

[GagHalfrunt]

Meh, curling up in bed with a Kindle or Nook just doesn't feel the same.

I got a nice firm leather cover for my Nook and it feels just a real book.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I have a Kindle Fire and I've never read a book on it. Wasn't a big reader anyway. Only way a device could get me to read more would be if I had an e-ink reader; the LCD ones have too many distractions.

I've thought about buying/reading books on it but there's always something I'd rather be doing.

 

[Born2bwire]

I haven't personally bought a paper book since I got my Kindle last Spring with the exception of books that were not on the Kindle. But I did find out last week that they added the Aubrey/Maturin series and I've already bought three of those and read half of what I bought. :awe:

I've already got two six foot tall bookshelves of paper books. I don't really want to keep buying the paperbacks anymore. The Kindle fits in my coat pocket, makes it easy to purchase books, has a built in light for reading on the bus at night, and it looks just as good as paper (even better now that my older paperbacks are yellowing).

 

[nageov3t]

I've been surprisingly enjoying graphic novels on my Kindle Fire, although it's a little stupefying that there's no zoom feature (or a way to switch to horizontal orientation)

 

[SMOGZINN]

imo, the only really viable argument in favor of physical books is that you can buy crazy cheap used books (whereas e-book prices are set by the publisher and seem specifically designed to fuck over users)

on the other end of the price argument, though, are $.99 books, public domain books, kindle library lending, and self-publishing authors selling their books at a reasonable price.

This is really my main problem with my Kindle Touch. The price of old books is simply stupid. I can go to half price and get the soft cover book for $2 or buy it on the Kindle from Amazon for 9.99.

Supply/demand does not work for digital items, we need to come up with a new system.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I've been surprisingly enjoying graphic novels on my Kindle Fire, although it's a little stupefying that there's no zoom feature (or a way to switch to horizontal orientation)

This is one of the things I wanted to do with a Kindle Fire as well. First reviews of it said it didn't work very well for graphic novels though, so I went with a Touch for the surperior text, I read far more books then graphic novels anyway.

I'm glad to hear that you find the graphic novel experiance enjoyable on the Fire, gives me hope that next year I can get into it when they do their update.

 

[bobdole369]

I cannot stand reading on a backlit screen. Granted i'm reading all day at work, but it isn't books. Fire, iPad, laptop/apps, iPhone - no freakin way. 10 minutes and out.
Kindle keyboard - 9 hours plus once.

e-ink > everything indeed

OP is your kindle perhaps not an e-ink device?

I got a nice firm leather cover for my Nook and it feels just a real book.

I was curled up with tea in bed last night with my kindle + leather cover/light in my blanket fort like I was 9 again.

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah, I can't give up on real books yet either. Actually bought a couple this past weekend. I've tried friends' e-readers, but I just did not like them.

KT

 

[nageov3t]

This is one of the things I wanted to do with a Kindle Fire as well. First reviews of it said it didn't work very well for graphic novels though, so I went with a Touch for the surperior text, I read far more books then graphic novels anyway.

I'm glad to hear that you find the graphic novel experiance enjoyable on the Fire, gives me hope that next year I can get into it when they do their update.

I tried it out with a cheap book first, but it's suprisingly readable.

the only real problems are that:

-there's no way to zoom in if I want to look at a piece of artwork in higher detail
-it's vertical-orientation only, so if the graphic novel comes to a two-page horizontal setup, it's basically unreadable (again, something that could be worked around with just a digital magnifying glass)

 

[dainthomas]

The way I read I do a lot of flipping back and scanning for old pieces of conversation or descriptions when I forget something that happened. I can do this in a few seconds with a book, but I've found it to be a huge PITA on ereaders.

Plus spending time in an old bookstore >>>>>> browsing Amazon or B&N's website. Maybe it's the atmosphere that I like.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I don't like the ipad or color tablets for reading but e-ink is really impressive IMO.

 

[rh71]

that's ok, I can't make the switch to reading. I draw my limit at short posts like message forums.

I got my wife a nook for santa-day. Text on an electronic device is just not exciting to me.

 

[Exterous]

OP is your kindle perhaps not an e-ink device?

No - the Kindle is an e-ink device. I actually don't mind the backlighting on the iPad too much unless its in sunlight

The way I read I do a lot of flipping back and scanning for old pieces of conversation or descriptions when I forget something that happened. I can do this in a few seconds with a book, but I've found it to be a huge PITA on ereaders.

Plus spending time in an old bookstore >>>>>> browsing Amazon or B&N's website. Maybe it's the atmosphere that I like.

There are a couple of books that I read that have maps or photos in them (Biography style - In the middle but covering the entire span of the book) and I found it irritating to try and go through those when I hit the relevant parts of the book.

I like browsing book stores as well but I think thats offset by the recommendations feature on Amazon's website. I have found some good new books that way

Man - I went through the first 3 hard cover books in a series in a week and a half. I have the fourth book on the Kindle but have not been motivated to read it. I think I am just waiting until it gets checked back in at the library....

 

[SMOGZINN]

The way I read I do a lot of flipping back and scanning for old pieces of conversation or descriptions when I forget something that happened. I can do this in a few seconds with a book, but I've found it to be a huge PITA on ereaders.

Plus spending time in an old bookstore >>>>>> browsing Amazon or B&N's website. Maybe it's the atmosphere that I like.

Really? I would think that would be something a electronic format should excel at. I have not really tried it on my Touch, so I can’t say, but if it really is a PITA then that is something that really needs to be fixed. Searching the text should be one of the real power uses of an ebook.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Really? I would think that would be something a electronic format should excel at. I have not really tried it on my Touch, so I can’t say, but if it really is a PITA then that is something that really needs to be fixed. Searching the text should be one of the real power uses of an ebook.

I find it pretty easy to search for previous quotes on my kindle. If you know the characters name or a couple of words from the passage you can search for them and the kindle will show every instance in which those words appear. I never have any problem quickly locating something I want to review.

 

[IronWing]

Are the book formats portable between different brands of readers? Any DRM concerns moving books among readers? This has been one of my hangups about ebooks. That and I'm old.

 

[KeithTalent]

The Kindle is a proprietary book format right? Can you use it with libraries?

KT

 

[lxskllr]

Are the book formats portable between different brands of readers? Any DRM concerns moving books among readers? This has been one of my hangups about ebooks. That and I'm old.

DRM should never be accepted. If you find a book you want with DRM, the prudent thing is to find a cracked copy on the black market, and if one exists, then buy the polluted copy. Either that, or crack the DRM yourself.

The Kindle is a proprietary book format right? Can you use it with libraries?

KT

Last I heard, Kindles weren't compatible with Epub. That was what made my decision to go with Nook for my daughter. Not utilizing open formats is a deal breaker AFAIC.

 

[KeithTalent]

Last I heard, Kindles weren't compatible with Epub. That was what made my decision to go with Nook for my daughter. Not utilizing open formats is a deal breaker AFAIC.

Agree with that; makes no sense. Guess I'd have to go with a Kobo if I were to make the switch (actually thinking of buying one for my Mom). :hmm:

KT

 

[PricklyPete]

My wife and I are addicted to our Nooks. We both read more and more because of them.

 

[dighn]

Really? I would think that would be something a electronic format should excel at. I have not really tried it on my Touch, so I can’t say, but if it really is a PITA then that is something that really needs to be fixed. Searching the text should be one of the real power uses of an ebook.

While e-books have advantages for text searching, physical books still have some advantages. e.g. you can rapidly flip through pages and look for things that resemble what you are looking for - electronic media just don't work that well for this purpose due to lower refresh rates, lower display density, simplistic page flipping mechanism etc. imagine if you are looking for a diagram, or have only a general idea of what you are looking for. text search isn't that great there. also, when cross-referencing things, you can very easily flip between two pages in different parts of the book. it's just a much more flexible, organic and multi-dimensional user experience. though personally I find this to be more useful for text/reference books and less so for novels.

 

[nageov3t]

The Kindle is a proprietary book format right? Can you use it with libraries?

KT

you can convert e-pub to the kindle format, but not (I believe) e-pub books from public libraries because of their own DRM.

 

[SMOGZINN]

DRM should never be accepted. If you find a book you want with DRM, the prudent thing is to find a cracked copy on the black market, and if one exists, then buy the polluted copy. Either that, or crack the DRM yourself.

I completly agree.

Last I heard, Kindles weren't compatible with Epub. That was what made my decision to go with Nook for my daughter. Not utilizing open formats is a deal breaker AFAIC.

Kindle does not currently support Epub, but with a program like Calibre it is easy to convert them on the fly.

 

[Born2bwire]

DRM should never be accepted. If you find a book you want with DRM, the prudent thing is to find a cracked copy on the black market, and if one exists, then buy the polluted copy. Either that, or crack the DRM yourself.


Last I heard, Kindles weren't compatible with Epub. That was what made my decision to go with Nook for my daughter. Not utilizing open formats is a deal breaker AFAIC.

But the Nook uses DRM in their format too. The difference is that the Nook takes after EPUB and Kindle MOBI. The Nook can read EPub that is open and the Kindle can read Mobi that is open. The main reason why I was thinking about the Nook was that libraries were using EPub for their format and so the Kindle would not be compatible (plus they had the book sharing thing). But now the Kindle is starting to be supported by libraries (and they have their own version of book loaning). I would guess though that when it comes to compatibility with public libraries the Nook would be better but at this point I don't think it will be that big of a difference in the future.

I was hoping that the Kindle would move to support EPub but now that the Nook and Kindle have similar functionalities I don't see any incentive. Now it really just comes down to which merchant you want to buy books from. The free books can be found in both formats.

EDIT: Hey, it looks like my public library supports the Kindle. Sweet, I better get a library card then. I normally just go to my Uni for library books but they don't have an e-book library.

EDIT EDIT: And now I have an account with my local public library.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: And now I just found that I can check out the very same book that I am reading on the Kindle.

 

[pontifex]

DRM should never be accepted. If you find a book you want with DRM, the prudent thing is to find a cracked copy on the black market, and if one exists, then buy the polluted copy. Either that, or crack the DRM yourself.


Last I heard, Kindles weren't compatible with Epub. That was what made my decision to go with Nook for my daughter. Not utilizing open formats is a deal breaker AFAIC.

get a free app called calibre and in 3 seconds it's in the correct format.