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Topic: Hardware

Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

Summary: I'm doing a bit of research on the question of ebooks and the appropriate formats to use in publishing some research and archival content I have. Do you have an Amazon Kindle, Sony Portable Reader or another favorite eBook format (Please add your comments on devices and formats in TalkBack)?

Mitch Ratcliffe

By Mitch Ratcliffe for Rational Rants |

I'm doing a bit of research on the question of ebooks and the appropriate formats to use in publishing some research and archival content I have. Do you have an Amazon Kindle, Sony Portable Reader or another favorite eBook format (Please add your comments on devices and formats in TalkBack)? If so, how many titles do you purchase each month (that is, how many individual ebooks and subscriptions to newspapers or magazines)?

[poll id=17]

Topics: Hardware, Mobility

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Talkback

15 comments
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  • eBooks on MobiPocket on my Smartphone

    I dont own a Kindle (waiting for V2 - hoping it will look better!) but I always have 2 or 3 eBooks on my phone in case I get stuck waiting somewhere.
    domesticdoyen@...
    Reply Vote

  • No paper for me

    Since getting my Sony in December, I have purchased no paper books at all and I very well might not ever again. I find that I am spending about the same amount of money as I did on paper books, but I am getting more books because the prices are lower (especially if I wait until they come out in paperback).
    dmclean@...
    Reply Vote

    • Senseless pricing.

      Why should it matter to eBook purchasers whether a book has been released in hardback or paperback? An eBook is neither.

      Paperbacks are supposedly cheaper because they're easier to produce. eBooks are cheaper than paperbacks to produce. There is no logical reason that an eBook's price should be tied to either of the other formats. But it is because it can be, because some publishers aren't interested in publishing so much as maintaining their buggy-whip franchises.
      dave.leigh@...
      Reply Vote

      • Agreed, pricing needs to change

        The publishers should be pushing the eBook format because it eliminates the used book market. eBooks will not really take off until the prices become reasonable. I have seen several cases where the paperback was cheaper than the eBook and that is just stupid.
        GrumpyOldMan
        Reply Vote

      • Revelation

        Hardbacks are more expensive b/c companies make more profit. Plain and simple. Sure, they're more expensive to make, but they're not 4 times as expensive to make as a paperback.

        And as long as people keep buying the more expensive flavor (whether it's e-book or real-book) why would companies lower their price?

        simple supply and demand
        tikigawd
        Reply Vote

        • Re: Revelation

          [b][i]And as long as people keep buying the more expensive flavor (whether it's e-book or real-book) why would companies lower their price?[/i][/b]

          Precisely. So stop buying eBooks at the inflated price.
          And let the publisher know why.
          dave.leigh@...
          Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    I own a Kindle but seldom buy books for it. There's plenty of free stuff, and I've learned I prefer audio books over ebooks.
    jharris@...
    Reply Vote

  • eBooks Rock.

    I buy a couple per month, but I read about 10.
    Project Gutenberg is a great source.

    My preferred format is the Palm eBook format (.pdb, aka Plucker) and I prefer to read it on my Palm device. I've seen the Kindle, and the Sony reader, and IMHO they both missed the boat, bigtime.

    Those devices are too big. Yes, they hit the target form-factor of a paperback book, but they apparently forgot that in converting media to a new format it is the aim of technology to be BETTER THAN the original media, not to simply duplicate it. And while acquiring books on a Kindle is easy enough, they didn't think enough on the device's actual use.

    In my estimation the Palm is superior for several reasons:

    1. The Palm is about the size and shape of a Pop-Tart. It fits easily into a shirt or trousers pocket. It can be held and operated with one hand. It has an easily read backlit screen. It is unimportant to me that the page is not formatted exactly the same as the paperback book. After all, the "book" is the words and the informational content they convey, NOT the layout. The smaller page of the Palm means that when I return to my book, I know EXACTLY where I left off, and I can resume more easily.

    2. I'm not as limited in formats. I don't need to get my books from a particular source. I can read a plain-text file, or a Word doc, or a PDF, or a PDB file without problems. I can convert other formats into one that I can read. I can create my own eBooks.

    3. It's not a single-purpose device. I've been trying to cut back on those. At the moment I'm down to two: my Bluetooth-enabled PalmOS device accesses the Internet through my Bluetooth-enabled phone. I've tried devices that combine phone and PDA functionality, and I've found them to be sad compromises, so I like this arrangement better. There's very little duplication of effort, and the different form-factors make each device easier to use. Adding another device to the mix would be clutter, though, and I don't need that; especially not when the form factor of a Kindle is inferior to that of the Palm. Yes, that's my opinion. But since I happen to be the user of my devices, my opinion of their usability is the only one on this Earth that matters.

    4. I can (and do) carry entire libraries on SD cards. I can quickly pop one out and another in, but I don't have to leave the collection in there if I have to test new software which might lead to a factory reset of the device. I am, after all, a developer. (The Kindle also has an SD card slot)

    5. Magazines are irrelevant. That's what the Web is for.

    The same arguments are made in favor of the iPhone or WindowsCE device vs. a dedicated eBook reader. I'm not averse to either of those devices... I just happen to like the Palm better.
    dave.leigh@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    I own a Kindle, Sony, Smartphone PC with eReade, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket Reader, and Acrobat Reader, as well as several out-of-date readers.
    The Kindle is worthless, the Sony is very good, but, no back-light (which I know is impossible with a black on gray pixel reader. My favorite reader is the eReader for PDA/PocketPC/Smartphone by Peanut Press. It is the most versitle and simplestest to use. Where Microsft is impossible to upgrade as you buy newer equipment (no really, but a hassle) and, Mobipocket the same with approval by PID number which mean re-downloading your entire library, and it is difficult to bookmark. The eReader Pro (which is free now) has a font package, moveable library as you unlock using your creditcard number, and is backlit. You can resize fonts, change themes or colors and is just plainly the best all around.
    jaetee808
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    I used to use my Palm with eReader. Then I bought an iPod Touch. And now eReader.com / fictionwise.com has realeased eReader for the iPhone/Touch and all my books are available to read on my Touch. It is so cool and readable.

    I had to read the latest Harry Potter in hardback and hated it.
    fadelyk
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    I would just like a no frill reader that would read PDF's, TXT, DOCs, RTF's, etc. and show pictures if imbedded in the txt. All this and have a screen size of a book. And be USB. All the companies what to ad keyboards, datebook, addressbook, etc. Why not something plain and simple, just like a, uh, a book?
    OFLANDER@...
    Reply Vote

  • So, most folks don't buy content?

    I just want to clarify something -- more than half the votes
    in the poll so far are in the "None" category. Does this mean
    that you own a reader or use a reader of some sort (on PC,
    Mac, Palm, etc.) but don't buy books or current
    periodicals/newspapers to read? That's interesting and I'd
    appreciate any clarifications people can offer.... Mitch
    Mitch Ratcliffe
    Reply Vote

    • Free Sources

      Project Gutenberg for one:
      http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

      Bibliomania:
      http://www.bibliomania.com/

      The Baen Free Library:
      http://www.baen.com/library/

      O'Reilly Open Books
      http://oreilly.com/openbook/

      Those are just a few reasons.

      As I said, I buy about 2 books and read about 10 per month.
      There's no mystery: free eBooks are everywhere, whether public domain or under a Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation License.
      dave.leigh@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    I use Palm XP and Palm ebooks. I am very satisfied.
    jbhmax@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Kindle, Sony and eBook readers: How many a month?

    If an e reader was more $75-$150 id buy one right now, I just can't bring myself to pay 250-350 for it, and im not an un reasonable person, I splerge on some things, my polarized oakleys that ran me about 140 is an example, I just don't think a majority of people would dish out 300 for a
    E-Book reader.
    BlackwaterMerk
    Reply Vote
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