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• • February 5, 2010 at 7:23 am #54815
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    How many people are actually using e-Readers? Do you read leisure books on them or use them as technical references? Are you comfortable reading an e-Reader? Has it ever fallen out of your hand as you sit on a bus/train/plane and end up on the ground as you nod off to sleep? How does it compare to a real book? Has it been a revolution for you, changed your way of reading, increased the amount you read, reduced the bookshelves in home or office for more space so you can stand with your arms spread and twirl and twirl without knocking things off the shelves?

    How is e-Reading working out for you? I cannot for the life of me get into it all. Except for perhaps a few tech manuals where I need to look up something in reference for a minute or two. I cannot read a book of leisure with it. And I miss book covers. I miss people looking at me to see if they can get a glimpse of the cover I'm reading, or sitting in Starbucks reading Twelfth Night so I can appear more sophisticated and intelligent than I really (ok I don't really do that last one).

    How's your experience of e-Books and e-Readers? Do you miss real books? Do you miss reflected light instead or prefer direct light? Do you prefer reading a book as a break from the screen?

  • February 5, 2010 at 3:53 pm #54824
    Adam Jury

    Member

    I have a Sony PRS505 (It's red! It's kinda nice lookin'!) and I love it. Since getting it (fall 2008) I've been reading more for leisure, both using it and reading paper books — it gives me more opportunities for reading as I can always keep it in my jacket pocket — and it has me back in the habit of reading, too.

    I do use it a lot for reading manuscripts for my day job; I like being able to copy manuscripts directly onto it and read them without the ability to edit. I take notes as I read, instead. Less time fiddling, more big picture stuff.

    It has not reduced the amount of books I buy; it's increased it. I've promised myself that until I polish off all the non-reference print books I bought in 2009, I won't upgrade to a Kindle (which wasn't available in Canada until recently), but I do want to upgrade to the Kindle for the whispernet downloads and the better store … although with recent events, we'll see how that goes.

    I don't find the experience of reading on it to be much different from reading a printed book. The time it takes for the screen to refresh is pretty close to the time it takes to flip a page in a printed book, and it lies flat and always remembers the page I last read. ;-)

    Aside from the selection and prices being not awesome on the Sony store, I consider it a total win.

  • February 5, 2010 at 6:25 pm #54830
    Dwayne Harris

    Member

    I don't like 'em. I admit that I am biased as I'm in book publishing, and I find e-books a threat to my livelihood.

    With that being said: I sometimes bring home PDFs of a book I've worked on or someone else in the shop has to read the entire thing, and I just don't like reading it on the computer screen. I can, but I don't like it. I'd much rather have a book in my hand and kick back in my recliner. And the same thing with magazines (which may go the “e” route). When I read my Sports Illustrated or Playboy mornings while on the throne, I'd much rather have the actual magazine to read. I'd hate to have to bring in an e-reader :)

  • February 6, 2010 at 10:55 am #54836
    Adam Jury

    Member

    Oh, I'm biased too — I'm in publishing and I think technology that makes reading more accessible is a victory. But, much as I love books, I don't see myself as strictly in _book_ publishing … they're just one tool for reading and for distributing info.

    I feel much more threatened by people who can't read than by people who read on an ereader. ;-)

  • February 6, 2010 at 4:29 pm #54837
    Dwayne Harris

    Member

    adamjury said: …

    I feel much more threatened by people who can't read than by people who read on an ereader.

    ---

    I definitely agree with that.

  • February 8, 2010 at 4:51 am #54840
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    Interesting views. I'm not entirely sold on the idea of e-reading, nor am I against it. Whatever makes it easier for people and whatever way people want to read the material is fine by me. I just cannot sit there myself and read a book on an e-reader. Maybe the ipad will make that easier? I don't know, with a touchscreen e-reader it might be a different experience, as you could use your finger to peel back the page. And that's another thing about “page turning”, software is built to give the page turn effect, so is that basically saying “we want to be just like books but we know we're not!”

    Do prefer the page turn effect when reading your books on e-readers? How about the noise that accompanies the page turn effect? It never sounds like a real page being turned, not to me it doesn't? Should page turn effects be erradicated? Or does this or would it add to your experience in reading an e-book on an e-reader?

    What would make the experience better for you? I could definitely go with a new book smell or something, that would be great. But a bit of a push to distribute that with an e-book :)

  • February 8, 2010 at 4:54 am #54841
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    I could go for one of these https://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2…..ok-reader/

    AHHH the joy of having a left and right page.That would be better for me.

  • February 8, 2010 at 12:12 pm #54848
    Adam Jury

    Member

    I haven't used an ereader that includes a page turn effect (are there any, currently?) — but I've read some books using the Kindle software on my iPod touch, and I actually find the “swipe to turn pages” gesture and the page turning effect very annoying. Part of this is you simply can't cram that much text on an iPod touch screen, so I feel like I'm swiping (or tapping) all the time! And the page turning effect itself, well … I don't want my ereader to try and emulate print books. I want it to do what an ereader can do well! :)

  • February 22, 2010 at 7:46 pm #54968
    kjgEnergy

    Member

    G'day guys,

    Bring on the iPad I say ;-)

    As a professional musician I would love to know if I can trash my exhaustive collection of songs/lyrics and notation from a massive thick folder that I often have on stage with me and place them into that of a slim sexy iPad. Taking up next to no room, and being able to get access to my music at the swipe of a screen. Oh yeah this is the future.

    Does anyone know if the iPad can be used to:

    1. Read single/mulitple page pdf files that i've created via InDesign

    2. Scan in rough hand written music notation/sketches to my mac, and then transfer that info as a pdf, so I can also add them to the iPad?

    Any help would be really great. As they are not out in Australia just yet, I'm just after this info so I can place my order if this works.

  • March 2, 2010 at 4:26 am #55044
    Colin Flashman

    Member

    I work in a printing company so i'm kind of biased here.

    A book won't run out of batteries.

    I can underline passages in a book without having to wash the screen off. Can also say the same with handwriting notes next to the text (e.g. adjusting ingredients or quantities of a recipe in a cookbook)

    I can photocopy information out of a book at a library (pending copyright of course)

    Can throw a book across the room and it won't break (might break something in its path though)

    Can roll up a magazine and smack naughty kids or pets with them. Smacking a bad dog with an ipad might be a touch much.

    in all seriousness, reading things on any computer was meant to be the end of books years ago. Nowadays a lot of software is shipped without printed manuals but, in many bookshops, there are printed manuals for that software – Real World Adobe InDesign CS4 is a great example. I think it says something about the help available electronically with the software…

    In my workplace if manuals are misplaced/lost/stolen/not there to begin with, i'll find the manual by hook or by crook online and keep it on my HD, but if i need to consult that manual for whatever reason i'll usually print out the relevant pages i need. I couldn't see using something like Kindle or an iphone/ipad for this purpose.

    Admittedly i don't read a lot of non-fiction, but it would be good to hear opinions from avid harry potter readers etc as to whether they'd prefer to read that as a printed book or on a kindle or other e-reader.

    I do see the advantage for students using e-readers for text books though. I remember back in the day having a backpack weighed down with textbooks and having to lug them home day after day. An e-reader would certainly be a better option there.

    I might add that my work hasn't had one customer ask about preparing their artwork for e-readers, and we print lots of books.

  • March 18, 2010 at 3:43 pm #55198
    Adam Jury

    Member

    collywolly said:

    A book won't run out of batteries.

    ---

    Anecdotally, I have never had my Sony PRS505 run out of battery life at an inconvenient time. It's advertised as giving 7,500 page turns per full battery charge, and charges easily via USB.

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