maybe that's why I don't like reading on e-readers, the page is too small!
― flexidisc, Thursday, 22 December 2011 18:38 (twelve years ago) link
I fear the day when my eyesight goes and I can't use teeny tiny fonts anymore
― OH NOES, Thursday, 22 December 2011 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
all books should just be printed on one long fortune cookie fortune
http://www.addamsfamily.com/addams/tickertape2.jpg
― brownie, Thursday, 22 December 2011 18:40 (twelve years ago) link
I've got three books open on my desk. One of them is 1Q84; it's got +/- 44 lines of text per page, +/- 100 characters per line. There are 0-3 hyphens per page, and only prominent – immediately noticeable - weird spacing due to justification. The text is fairly dense, and it easily absorbs a lot of spacing issues w/o seeming too deliberate. I have yet to see an ereader/electronic screen that can display that amount of information in a way that is not overwhelming or eyestrain inducing...
― remy bean in exile, Thursday, 22 December 2011 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
there's also stuff like - pretty much all faber poetry is typeset the same way. it's a part of how the meaning and the weight of the words you read are constructed. i'm not sure i like the idea of taking that away from the interaction you have with the text. (there's an argument that having personae reduced to the same standards as a self-published .epub of poetry about vampires is a democratic step forwards and a good thing but i think it's an argument that's basically wrong.)
xpost yeah that's another thing -- pretty sure that a lot of ppl who read a lot will use this things with smaller text; screenshots always seem to have like a 35-45 character wide line. (this is in part bcz if you want a screenshot that works on a monitor which is most likely going to have a smaller dpi you need to not use the smallest text size.)
― thompp, Thursday, 22 December 2011 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
only ONE prominent - immediately noticeable – spacing due to justification.
hyphenating bothers me a lot more than weird spacing. I only notice weird spacing in extreme cases. Not being able to read a whole word without moving my eyes from one side of a page to the other is way worse. I notice it every time even after 20+ years of reading books.
― silverfish, Thursday, 22 December 2011 19:10 (twelve years ago) link
hyphenating to facilitate a line break is a crude last resort, compared to deft leding
― Aimless, Thursday, 22 December 2011 19:20 (twelve years ago) link
ur thinking of kerning/tracking
― Cooper Chucklebutt, Thursday, 22 December 2011 19:27 (twelve years ago) link
Woot's got refurbished Kindle DXs for $199 today.
― jaq, Thursday, 22 December 2011 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
Main problem with the Sony one - or my first gen one at least - is that it has a separate socket for charging and won't charge through the USB socket. Which sucks if you forget to charge it beforehand and to bring the right cable when you go home for Xmas.
― ledge, Saturday, 24 December 2011 14:11 (twelve years ago) link
Weird thing about the syncing is that in my experience the Kindle iPhone app will try to sync to the last page read on the actual Kindle, but not vice-versa.
― zat you, wrinklepaws? (James Redd), Sunday, 25 December 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
Just got me one of these things today. Trying to figure out how to hack it.
― kingfish sandbox bonaparte, Sunday, 25 December 2011 17:02 (twelve years ago) link
Had a look at my dad's kindle. Not the latest gen, has a keyboard, but page turning still a lot faster than my v old Sony, and can see the use in having a keyboard for searching. Wifi connection handy too although my uncle wanted to know how much the new Clive Cussler would cost so i took a look at the price, then went back to the home screen - or so I thought. Turned out I'd bought the damn thing, although I never clicked the 'buy' button and certainly didn't see any confirmation screen :|
― ledge, Sunday, 25 December 2011 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
one of my law partners is obsessed with reading books on his cell phone and -- even moreso -- audiobooks. i have no interest in either option. i want to feel a book in my hands. it's weight, packaging, the pages themselves add something to the experience for me that an efficient machine (or the assistance of a narrating voice) will never match.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 17:16 (twelve years ago) link
I love reading books on my phone on the train while commuting
― OH NOES, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:12 (twelve years ago) link
ditto, it's amazing.
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:28 (twelve years ago) link
C'mon people don't really give a shit about "the feeling of the paper"and stuff, is that really what you're thinking abt when you read?
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
I'm pretty sure my e-copy of Nixon has the same words in it as the physical copy
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:31 (twelve years ago) link
If reading text doesn't provide enough excitement by itself, maybe you hate reading
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
no. i like reading. i get no feel or excitement from the technology. feels very cold to me.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
i can read!
read a book just last year, in fact.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
bizarre.
― Jeff, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:37 (twelve years ago) link
true story.
I just don't get this hypersensitivity, like is it impossible for you to read an ebook because you can't stop thinking about how "cold" it is?
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:58 (twelve years ago) link
The Internet is even colder
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 19:59 (twelve years ago) link
it's really not hypersensitivity. i'm not adamantly against kindles and similar devices; i just prefer physical books.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
i also prefer vinyl to compact discs, and compact discs to mp3s. but i've made the switch to mp3s because they're so much cheaper. if the price-gap with physical and electronic books reaches those levels, i'd likely go with a kindle-type device.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
alright fine but you could have mentioned that in the first place before I started goin all hardman
― moonbop, Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:30 (twelve years ago) link
merry christmas!
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 25 December 2011 20:32 (twelve years ago) link
(from a jew)
The tactile qualities of a physical book are a bonus for me.
― Sandbox Jesse, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:11 (twelve years ago) link
kindle evangelists really will not stand for any dissenting point of view, will they
― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:26 (twelve years ago) link
You are a ding dong. xpost Jesse.
― Jeff, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:26 (twelve years ago) link
That is not what the content of this thread would show. At all.
Xpost to lex
― Sandbox Jesse, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:28 (twelve years ago) link
Also to lex, you are a ding dong.
you know he won't be swayed by anything resembling a fact, right?William (C)
William (C)
― Sandbox Jesse, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
i don't really get the impression that you think there are any valid facts or reasons not to want a kindle
― degas-dirty monet (lex pretend), Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:36 (twelve years ago) link
― Sandbox Jesse, Sunday, December 25, 2011 9:11 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink
― n/a, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:39 (twelve years ago) link
Dont agree with ding dongs.
― Jeff, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:43 (twelve years ago) link
The ergonomics of books are pretty important (re: paper feel, etc.) - mass-market paperbacks usually have shitty printing and paper and especially with longer books are unpleasant to read. I don't like hardbacks in general (more of a pain to carry and read), but I especially don't like books with uneven pages opposite the binding.
Reading a quality trade paperback is probably still better than on a e-ink reader, but I'll take my Kindle over mass market pbs or hardcovers whenever possible.
― milo z, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:49 (twelve years ago) link
Simply not wanting an ereader is reason enough for me.
I have the ability to see why one would want one
And reasons one would not want one.
I have problems with the unilateral damnation of them with attendant refusal to acknowledge any good in them, "lalala no no no not listening."
Xp
― Sandbox Jesse, Sunday, 25 December 2011 21:56 (twelve years ago) link
Ok, got the thing working. Not bad, but I already brought 4 other books with me on this trip along
― kingfish sandbox bonaparte, Sunday, 25 December 2011 22:38 (twelve years ago) link
Overall experience of reading physical book still the best. The iPhone is obviously the most portable but after a while the glare causes a bit of eyestrain, find it good for reading samples but not whole books. The Kindle device with the e-ink splits the difference.
― zat you, wrinklepaws? (James Redd), Sunday, 25 December 2011 23:19 (twelve years ago) link
I like my iPhone Kindle app for non-fiction, stuff I can pop into for a few pages while I'm in line somewhere. Can't get into novels that way, though.
― milo z, Sunday, 25 December 2011 23:23 (twelve years ago) link
amazon kinder
I just got one for Christmas! And I can apparently get books from the library, which was one of my main concerns.
― kinder, Monday, 26 December 2011 02:21 (twelve years ago) link
No one was agreeing with me. Or with lex.
― Sandbox Jesse, Monday, 26 December 2011 03:53 (twelve years ago) link
I don't care if people like kindles or not but the whole "books are better because they have soul" thing is dumb as hell. Hearing about how people like to run their fingers through pages is gross.
― moonbop, Monday, 26 December 2011 04:11 (twelve years ago) link
I mean, what the hell is this "experience" people talk about wrt real books? Is it erotic?
― moonbop, Monday, 26 December 2011 04:13 (twelve years ago) link