E-Books are an interesting idea.
However, they do have one problem. It is not relaxing to curl up with your computer on the couch.
So of course having a large number of books in rtf or pdf means not really reading them except in front of the computer. It's ok, but not as flexible, enjoyable, fun as having the ability to carry the book around etc.
Which brings me to looking for a PDA that is good enough to read a lot on and cheap enough to afford.
Which brings me to E-Bay.
Which brings me to this site, which is a good idea.
Posted by hugin at Febrero 20, 2003 11:03 AMI have seen e-book readers that seem to be a lot better than PDAs (bigger screen). E-books seemed to be "the next big thing" a few years ago, and Microsoft supposedly had some kind of technology that made them easier to read, but then the whole idea kind of vanished.
The ebook readers were about the size of a small book, and the display actually looked just like a novel's page.
I dunno though, there is something satisfying about reading a real book. The smell and the feel and stuff.
Posted by: stacey on Febrero 20, 2003 11:17 AMThere is indeed a quality to reading a book that cannot be denied. On the other hand, when you are on a bus for a while every day and you are almost finished one book but not quite and the other book you wanted to read is another hardcover... it gets a little irritating.
The problem with an ebook reader is that they don't necessarily handle non-proprietary file formats. I don't know if it will be able to read a pdf file, etc.
I've done some reading on a pda, it isn't bad truly. Takes a little getting used to, but it wasn't too bad.
Posted by: Hugin on Febrero 20, 2003 11:27 AMI'm a luddite at heart, which is a laugh, because I can't think of a non-tech way to do blogging (messages in bottles, maybe?). I just can't warm up to the idea of e-books. You can't flip the pages and display them on your library shelves and spill things on them.
I don't even have the patience to read the daily news on my computer. Have to have that crinkly paper sound to go with my morning coffee!
Well Laurie there is always the letter that gets passed/mailed around.
Oh, and don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm giving up books. I'm just saying that the electronic version has some advantages. And that since I have a number of such versions, it would be nice to be able to use them in environs normally limited to print versions. Of which Munin and I have many!
Posted by: Hugin on Febrero 20, 2003 11:17 PMhave you tried audio books on cd? i have some at home and i like them very much...
Posted by: kaydee on Febrero 21, 2003 07:37 AMI have listened to a few, but I tend to prefer listening only to ones read by the author.
Also you have to be in a particular frame of mind to listen to a book as opposed to reading it. The pace is very different. And if you have never before read the book it can be a difficult experience.
Posted by: Hugin on Febrero 21, 2003 11:37 AM