E-Readers (Kindle, Nook, using iPad for reading) yay or nay

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is anybody gonna talk about the resource cost of e-readers vs. books

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:14 (twelve years ago) link

e-readers are way more convenient than regular books on public transportation, you can hold it and turn pages with just one hand!

That's basically the best reason for getting one.

silverfish, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:15 (twelve years ago) link

ie: an object composed of toxic chemicals that will be obsolete within several years vs. object composed of renewable resource that will last forever

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:16 (twelve years ago) link

xp

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:16 (twelve years ago) link

voted I own an e-reader and split my reading between that and regular books

wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:16 (twelve years ago) link

xps

E ink is a world different from any backlit screen. I get overstimulated really easily and have to put away my computer, but E ink isn't any harder on my eyes than regular paper. When I 1st got my e-reader (nook) I wasn't sure if I would use it much, but it turns out that I use it constantly. I have a cover which makes mine really easy to read hands-free. I just have to tap it to turn the page.

My brother-in-law bought the new Kindle for my sister for Christmas, but loved it so much that he kept it for himself and ordered another for her. The newest Kindle (E ink) looks fantastic.

julia, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:20 (twelve years ago) link

the environmental impact question of books vs. e-readers has not been settled; there are a lot of complicated factors involved
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/01/HOCR1M0J6B.DTL

n/a, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:24 (twelve years ago) link

I've owned a nook color for a year now. I love it and use it almost every day. I read books, subscribe to magazines, use some of the apps.

But! My wife just bought a Samsung Galaxy. MANY of the apps that I use on my nook - and have paid B&N money for - are apparently available free to her through whatever Samsung's interface is. Additionally, there are definitely a wider variety of apps available.

another suggestbanite (rusty flathead screwdriver), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:27 (twelve years ago) link

I own an e-reader (kindle) and it is awesome but still split my reading between that and regular books

cccccc, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:29 (twelve years ago) link

And of course, because it represents one of the most proven models of "reuse" around, the greenest option of all is still your local public library.

^^^pretty conclusive to me

GHG emissions are just part of the picture. cuz the other problem with devices like e-books isn't the amount of CO2 emitted in their manufacture, it's the toxic elements involved

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:29 (twelve years ago) link

personally I read a lot (def more than 22 books per year) but everything I read is either used or from the library. I think the only new books I've bought are comic books.

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:30 (twelve years ago) link

including loads of stuff that (surprise) is not available for e-readers

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:30 (twelve years ago) link

iPad, some reading but not the majority yet. I've bought e-editions of the 2nd Alex Ross book and the ESPN oral history, gotten a bunch of older free stuff in the public domain, and *cough* discovered some science fiction and Faulkner here and there on the web.

William (C), Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:32 (twelve years ago) link

if i find myself on a bus or train or in a room with some time to kill, and maybe i'm not sitting comfortably or whatever, it is obviously easier to pull out a paperback and then shove it back in my bag or pocket if i need to move on quickly, then to pull out and switch on a whole fucking machine that definitely won't be as easy to shove away afterwards

You really have no clue what an e-reader is, do you? Also, no interest in learning; only decrying (cf. Cooking) .

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:44 (twelve years ago) link

I love my Nook mostly because I don't have a lot of storage space in my house for print books and it is very portable -- I can throw it in my purse and have lots of books available to read.

The reason I favor the Nook over the Kindle is that Amazon has not been crazy about Kindle users using Overdrive so that they can borrow ebooks from libraries or to share books. I'm not trying to sound like a Nook commercial, I'm sure that's probably true of the iPad or other ereaders that aren't the Kindle.

Nicole, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:47 (twelve years ago) link

No it's cool, Amazon really are a bunch of assholes.

flexidisc, Thursday, 15 December 2011 18:58 (twelve years ago) link

You really have no clue what an e-reader is, do you? Also, no interest in learning; only decrying (cf. Cooking) .

wtf? fuck you, seriously

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:00 (twelve years ago) link

i'm sure amazon are assholes but kindles are compatible with overdrive now

n/a, Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:01 (twelve years ago) link

i have seen e-readers, both other people using them and ones belonging to friends of mine. they don't look anywhere near as easy to handle as a book.

as for cooking i tried for ten fucking years.

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:01 (twelve years ago) link

Yet you still have enormous misconceptions about them that you insist on defending despite hearing evidence that contradicts them.

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:04 (twelve years ago) link

did you even read my post?

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:07 (twelve years ago) link

Bickering aside, what do advocates of e-readers have to say about their effect on the availability of books, etc. to those who can't afford the readers, or otherwise don't have access to them?

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:08 (twelve years ago) link

I own an e-reader but I think it's mostly dud/still mainly read regular books

I own an e-reader and it's pretty classic but I still mainly read regular books.

Was sort of considering buying my mother one for Christmas but she is not super comfortable with computers (she is fairly competent at various Office tasks but will complain about how illogical they are all the way) and I think she is kind of attached to the idea of paper books

(also e-books are super expensive unless you are adept at finding real ebook links among download scam sites, which is totally not a route I want to have to coach my mother to go down - the Amazon ebook price is rarely more than a couple of pounds cheaper than the paperback price, and I don't see my mother wanting to pay that for something "virtual" which she'll be scared she'll delete by accident, or which Amazon have the right to take away from you again without warning)

brony island baby (case spudette), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:09 (twelve years ago) link

case spudette's mother is the person in this thread i feel i have most in common with (and all her concerns otm!)

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:10 (twelve years ago) link

i'm with lex on this one

t. silaviver, Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:11 (twelve years ago) link

also it's kind of annoying posting in a thread with actual reasons that haven't been disproven and being shouted down just b/c i'm not on-message technologically - how do you people cope with the vast majority of people who are even less comfortable using new technology than i am?

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:11 (twelve years ago) link

Your positions have been rationally countered. You had no rebuttal except to restate your original positions.

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:16 (twelve years ago) link

how do you people cope with the vast majority of people who are even less comfortable using new technology than i am?

laughing and pointing, mainly

William (C), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:17 (twelve years ago) link

"nope", "nope", "nope" ≠ rational countering

degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Thursday, 15 December 2011 19:17 (twelve years ago) link

c'mon lex they told you you were wrong, what more could you want

aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 December 2011 23:55 (twelve years ago) link

kindle for majority

Easy, cheaper, instant access to books

Lighter and more portable than one paperback

Free books

bloating forecast: ruff swells (p much resigned to deems), Friday, 16 December 2011 00:00 (twelve years ago) link

easier to read in bed/bath too

bloating forecast: ruff swells (p much resigned to deems), Friday, 16 December 2011 00:02 (twelve years ago) link

E ink screen does not strain eyes/cause headaches like backlit screen can

Basic models are very simple to use. I recently got my 1st cell phone ever, a very basic one, and it was more complicated than my e-reader.

julia, Friday, 16 December 2011 00:11 (twelve years ago) link

Lex: n/a, ledge, julia, silverfish and others have presented benefits that counter your detractions. There are on 54 posts itt atm so they should be pretty easy to find... Or Are you trying to rea this thread using a paperback format?

Sandbox Jesse, Friday, 16 December 2011 00:46 (twelve years ago) link

fake sandbox lex

wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:08 (twelve years ago) link

ie: an object composed of toxic chemicals that will be obsolete within several years vs. object composed of renewable resource that will last forever

― aesthetic partisan (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:16 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink

this kinda analysis is actually very difficult to do cause "someone buys a paperback" involves more emissions than just cutting down some trees, you also have the emissions from a. transit of object b. brick+mortar store c. transit of human being to buy object. then if you really want to drive this to the ground you can say 'well what else would people be doing with that bookstore location, what happens to the money we'll save/spend w/ ebooks, etc. also w/ the way the economy works right now, isn't any new economic activity basically bad for the environment somewhere down the line? a: yeah...' even 'just go to the library' is like, fine, okay that works on an individual level, but libraries w/ physical books depend on a system where lots of people publish and buy physical copies of books.

you also have to consider that people are buying tablet type computers *regardless* of how much they read, so it's not really and either/or decision w/ paper books. using myself as an example I might buy a tablet *instead* of buying a new laptop and eventually tablet-devices will probably do everything our laptops do so reading a book on them won't be any 'worse for the environment' than reading ilx.

in conclusion there are better things to worry bout.

iatee, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:23 (twelve years ago) link

I read pirated ebooks on my iPad, like I downloaded every Discworld novel recently. l1br4ry.nu is hit-or-miss for textbooky things. I bought a few indie tabletop roleplaying games as PDFs that I read on the iPad.

silby, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:41 (twelve years ago) link

Basically I might pay $3 but not $10 for an ebook of what would be a backlist mass-market paperback and I don't really want to buy a physical backlist mass-market paperback. Humongous postmodern novels, physical all the way.

silby, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:43 (twelve years ago) link

I say, "get that e-reader offa my lawn, you punks!"

Aimless, Friday, 16 December 2011 01:43 (twelve years ago) link

iatee otm. Just think of the carbon footprint of this baby
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/WilliamCrump63/libraryken.jpg

wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:43 (twelve years ago) link

reading a kindle in the city vs. reading a paperback in the suburbs

good webinar (ha ha I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 16 December 2011 01:59 (twelve years ago) link

classic

wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Friday, 16 December 2011 02:03 (twelve years ago) link

Ytvgyivihbhi hjkhi

Jeff, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link

I just read that on my ereader.

Jeff, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link

The abridged version of Finnegans Wake with shorter thunderwords?

wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Friday, 16 December 2011 02:16 (twelve years ago) link

l1br4ry.nu

hmm, is this something that requires an invite?

William (C), Friday, 16 December 2011 02:17 (twelve years ago) link

Is the name in the URL of the image above being familiar just a coincidence?

Sandbox Jesse, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:41 (twelve years ago) link

Jesse, read me an ebook before bed. Plz.

Jeff, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:43 (twelve years ago) link

The one with all the pretty pictures.

Aimless, Friday, 16 December 2011 02:45 (twelve years ago) link

I am not especially for or against e-readers or paper. What was bugging me was that a couple advocates of paper ITT have been ardent and unrelenting in their derision of e-readers. Of course the poll is pretty inflammatory, but to me it feels like a reaction to the sanctimony coming from some of those in the throes of a backlash against e-readers.

I do not own an e-reader, but I will probably wind up with one sooner or later. I do most of my pleasure/personal interest reading on my iPhone, on my personal laptop, or my work computer. Reading on the iPhone is not great b/c it's just too small, and it's not e-ink.

As I see it - the merits e-reading and dead tree reading:

Paper:

- Flipping through and skimming is far easier

- Enjoyment of the tactile aspect, holding a real object, and being able to write on it (this is especially important to me). And autographable.

- Feels familiar and somehow wholesome, authentic, natural, earthy

- Won't malfunction, for the most part

- No great initial expenditure

- Accessible to more people

- Related to the last three: When the revolution or Armageddon comes, we will be able to use printed matter long after e-readers' batteries have died. (also, easier to smuggle paper - just try to carry a Kingle or Nook in your own "nook")

e-reading:

- Index or Table of Contents look up are much easier in a physical book. I find that this view is the other way around for me.

Nearly every single time I'm reading on paper, I wish for Ctrl+F capability. Especially if it's informational reading.

- Hyperlinks. To definitions, allusions, related information, etc.

- Portability. One light-weight device holds voluminous amounts of text.

- After the cost of purchasing the device, e-text is comparable or cheaper. And, as I understand it, e-books are available on loan from libraries (many? some?).

- Convenience of downloading reading material v. borrowing at the library, buying at a store, ordering online, borrowing from a friend, stealing.

- Kindle is idiot-simple to use. There are people in my life who are profoundly tech illiterate who enjoy their Kindles.

Sandbox Jesse, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:24 (twelve years ago) link

I use the US version of this software to watch US TV stuff despite being in the UK. Only turn it on when you're actually watching something cos browsing with it on is supremely annoying, but it's good for what it does.

http://download.cnet.com/Expat-Shield/3000-2092_4-75211377.html

You failed, you didn’t eat the whole pizza (NotEnough), Tuesday, 27 December 2011 20:45 (twelve years ago) link

That's a slick little thing. Sadly, I'm on a Mac.

EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 December 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link

the states are a different country, and you can never BookMac

twice banned gabbage is death (p much resigned to deems), Wednesday, 28 December 2011 01:32 (twelve years ago) link

lol @ "switch on a whole fucking machine" - like that's harder these days than "open a whole fucking book at the last page I was reading"

― mortified of ILX (onimo)

So I got a kindle and it turns out that, as I thought, you press one (1) button and the whole fucking machine starts up at the last page you were reading in less than 2 (two) seconds.

I've read one and a bit ebooks since Christmas and it feels like... reading. I don't feel I'm really missing any tactile or sensual experience, but then I usually read cheap/used paperbacks.

I agree with some of the concerns upthread about spacing/justification but it hasn't bothered me too much - I'm used to seeing a similar thing in newspapers.

mortified of ILX (onimo), Thursday, 29 December 2011 10:30 (twelve years ago) link

"switch on a whole fucking machine"

Indeed. There are thousands of circuits and valves and tubes. How can the average man be expected to learn how to make them work?

/trying to switch on a dead horse

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 29 December 2011 14:23 (twelve years ago) link

quick question as i've just got one of them machines. i have a couple of books in rtf format that i need to convert to epub. so i downloaded calibre. is there anything to set up in the options before converting to a new format or do i just click on convert and hope for the best?

jibé, Thursday, 29 December 2011 14:47 (twelve years ago) link

forget if i've already posted this but while ebook prices are usually too high to make any sense (on amazon they are often higher than the price of the physical book), plug project gutenberg into one of these and the world changes.

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:36 (twelve years ago) link

Given my penchant for used books and hole-and-corner odd books, I would not consider an ebook reader at all, if it weren't for free book sources like Project Gutenberg and the growing number of ebooks at the public library.

Aimless, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:41 (twelve years ago) link

Though I've seen some books on Amazon where the Kindle and physical prices were the same, I don't think I've run across any where the Kindle version was more than the physical book. Being able to rent a textbook on the Kindle for a class I was taking (~$24 for 6 months) vs. buying the physical book (for ~$180) was interesting.

jaq, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link

Holy crap, that's a game changer. I am going to be back in school pretty soon and I hope like hell I can rent my textbooks!

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:48 (twelve years ago) link

"often" was probably untrue because it's not like i've done a survey but it's happened to me more than once! most recently here vs here and here vs here.

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:49 (twelve years ago) link

textbook rental is a beautiful thing yeah.

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:50 (twelve years ago) link

I had no idea that was possible. And I've only been out of the textbook market for less than a year.

Sandbox Jesse, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:50 (twelve years ago) link

i have two copies of 'postwar' if you want one

є(٥_ ٥)э, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:51 (twelve years ago) link

i ended up making it part of my annual book-raid on my parents' house (along with two volumes of robert a. caro's a song of ice and johnson; the plane home was the first time in my life i've struggled w/ the overhead bins). much thx tho!

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:55 (twelve years ago) link

(did you like postwar?)

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:55 (twelve years ago) link

yes v much so

є(٥_ ٥)э, Thursday, 29 December 2011 20:58 (twelve years ago) link

me too.

difficult listening hour, Thursday, 29 December 2011 21:02 (twelve years ago) link

wait there's textbook rental??? swoon

river wolf, Thursday, 29 December 2011 21:06 (twelve years ago) link

Amazon UK is doing a '12 days of kindle' with lots of good, cheap (99p) titles: http://www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=1503253031
I looked to see if Amazon.com is doing the same but it seems not - I could only find a list of '$3.99 or below' titles that all looked shit.

kinder, Thursday, 29 December 2011 21:10 (twelve years ago) link

You can rent physical text books, too - http://www.bookrenter.com/

wore glasses and said things (thejenny), Thursday, 29 December 2011 21:19 (twelve years ago) link

I've rented text books. I've also sold text books I've found in dumpsters. Protip for all the hobos out there, untapped market.

Jeff, Thursday, 29 December 2011 21:22 (twelve years ago) link

I just want a cheap source of 60's scifi stuff. Tho, this format seems to work with all the classic short-story collections put out back then.

kingfish sandbox bonaparte, Friday, 30 December 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link

i picked up the entire wheel of time series for free, that was pretty economical imo

jibe i had to convert those, fwiw- i used an online converter but can't remember what it was called so i'm not actually any use to you but there you go

twice banned gabbage is death (p much resigned to deems), Friday, 30 December 2011 02:15 (twelve years ago) link

me too.

have you read 'ill fares the land'? i cant recommend it highly enough tbh

є(٥_ ٥)э, Friday, 30 December 2011 02:16 (twelve years ago) link

ha thanks darragh. i'll see how those books come out without any settings modified.

jibé, Friday, 30 December 2011 03:51 (twelve years ago) link

thanks to the democratization of publishing my friend who is way better at writing lots and lots of words than he is at writing good ones now has a bunch of ebooks in the kindle store. I don't recommend spending yr money.

silby, Friday, 30 December 2011 19:59 (twelve years ago) link

unless you want to read his self-insert fantasies about managing a rock band or being a computer hacker and dating large-breasted women

silby, Friday, 30 December 2011 20:02 (twelve years ago) link

have you read 'ill fares the land'? i cant recommend it highly enough tbh

― є(٥_ ٥)э, Thursday, December 29, 2011 6:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Permalink

yeah i read this in like two hours and immediately donated my copy to the occupy portland library; as a (very personal and rightly so) manifesto against The Problem it's sterling.

difficult listening hour, Friday, 30 December 2011 21:00 (twelve years ago) link


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