Posts by Lee Morrell 4 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jul 2008
Surely the title should be 'A percentage of few thousand possible ebook buyers are waiting to see what the IPAD is actually like shocker'. Although it is a bit long.
Those that really want an ebook will more than likely have one already and so wouldn't be polled.
I didn't know you were owned by Apple now?
What was Amazon thinking? Even laptops/netbooks/tablets aren't ready to take on the textbook yet! Why would a new, limited technology even try!
The current crop of ebook readers are only OK for reading novels in my opinion. Before they can be used for academic courses several things need to be incorporated...
1, Larger, colour screen. 6 inch greyscale is not enough.
2, Top notch touchscreen for notation.
3, Better firmware to allow you to zip around inside the ebooks and find what you are looking for.
I have seen a Demo Vid of something called Courier (by Microsoft?). That with slightly larger screens may work. Shame it is not even a working model. I doubt we'll ever see it.
Why would Ebook Reader producers subsidize their products? They do not have any follow on profit area? Ebook stores have prices set by publishers who usually have their own ebook stores. It isn't as captive a market as Itunes was. ebooks are priced comparatively to Hardbooks when the novels come out as that is how the publishers want it. They don't want to cannibalise the Hardbook market by having the ebook priced too low. You are paying for reading it now as opposed to later.
You want an ebook system that will be available soon. But...
1. How mush did you pay for your last MP3 player/ phone? usually the latest product is more than that of a reader now. The prices will come down as the production of the screen technology ramps up.
2. The page turns take little time to get used to and as the controllers evolve will be a lot quicker. But I have to say that lying in bed, pressing a button is a lot less awkward than turning a page.
3. The text on the screen is near perfect, clear text. Why spend money and time chasing DPI?
4. screen sizes available now are 5/6 and the larger 8.1 inch, something to fit every hand.
5. I'm an avid reader, whether on the commute to work, at home, or in bed, I still only recharge it every 2 weeks or so.
6. Most Ebook Producers are not content providers, the publishing industry is going to go through a digital revolution. Hopefully quicker and less painful than that music industry has/is doing.
*Netbook/computer providers do provide a lot of Bloatware on their systems. Which most of us spend the first couple of minutes removing. Give me Public Domain content by Dickens, Doyle and Twain anyday.
Myself, the whole Wifi/3G issue is a non event. I do not buy my music content from my MP3 player (as it cannot do it), and I don't want to buy my literature that way either.
This deal by Irex is hopefully another nail in the Amazon/Topaz coffin. Hopefully it will push the Open Standard that is epub to the fore (shame about the DRM though).
I've had one of these for 8 months. And it is ideal for those who travel. At home I probably read for, on average, an hour a day and it will need charging probably once every two weeks.
The screen is awesome, the sony ebook store isn't. But you can buy books from elsewhere and convert them (see 'Calibre' comments above). If you are interested, head over to www.mobileread.com as this is a must bookmark for all ereaders.
Unfortunately certain authors (yes you Ms. Rowling) believe ebooks are the spawn of the devil and will not release their books on it for fear of piracy. But even a quick glance at the dark net will show you that they are on there as soon as they were released.
With new firmware coming out adding the new Adobe ePub format in the offing more books will be available for more ebookstores as well.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
