Reading an ebook vs. a regular book, what's your experience?

[Prozak]

Just wondering how people would compare reading a novel in ebook format on their PDA's vs reading a regular sized book. How is it on your eyes, does it feel uncomfortable, or take getting use to etc. thanks.

[SeveR]

I enjoy reading on my Clie much more than regular books. I havn't noticed any strain on the eyes. I like the fact that u dont have to turn pages so u can easily read using just one hand. You can hold a tonne of books on the clie plus it is smaller than most regular books. Plus audiobooks are kickass too :)

[Spiral]

Fewer words per line. I like putting project gutenburg books on my clie, because I'm never very free to read at home. I don't buy ebooks because imo, it's too expensive, and I'd rather get a real book and have the actual thing. An annoyance is that it takes away battery life.

[BluePrt]

I really like reading on my Sony. I am and avid reader so it saves space and I can get about 180 Books on 128 mb ms. It sure beats tryping to carry, address book, pictures of grandkids, mp3 and a deck of cards + calendar.

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by Prozak
Just wondering how people would compare reading a novel in ebook format on their PDA's vs reading a regular sized book. How is it on your eyes, does it feel uncomfortable, or take getting use to etc. thanks.

Better on the PDA :

1) lighter (try reading War and Peace on the bed lying back down....it's a test of your strength and endurance!)
2) active lighting (i can read in the dark)
3) easy flipping (with scroll button)

Better on traditional books

1) much more titles you can read for free from the local libraries (however, many populars titles have been converted to ebooks for palm for free)

[BluePrt]

I agree. I was taking a class and I couldn' thold the book I was using just to big. I have several readers. Also some converters to write so that I can get books almost anywhere. I convert some help files so that I can have them on my NR.

[rhart00]

I read a lot of ebooks on the clie because it is easy and convenient way to carry around multiple books. I still prefer the feel of printed materials though.

[yorrick]

I still love read paper books, but when I am travelling on business or on busses and trains, the convenience of an ebook on PDA is wonderful. The times that you have that you would otherwise do nothing (such as waiting in lines) can be filled by reading a short story etc.

Initially, I thought reading ebooks was a the ultimate geeky ting to show off your PDA. These days, I think it's another great way to relax on the train or bus! :)

[rhinoman]

It took me awhile to really try reading books on my clie. Now that I have, I read as many or more books on my handheld than paper ones. It's not that ebooks are better, they are just more convenient to carry around. Several times a week, I have to take my Mother to the hospital for therapy. It's great having my pda with me so I can read while sitting in the waiting room. Also, I sometimes listen to mp3s while I am reading (the clinic's TV is on sometimes and The Price Is Right is often on! I hate that show!).


I am going to go against popular opinion at cs and state that I feel the Mobipocket reader is better than Palm Reader Pro. I read from both, but the fonts, text, and colors are clearer on my sony. Also, I don't need to bookmark my pages because mobireader automatically brings me back to the last page I was on.

I have an NX80V and the big screen is great for ebooks.

rhinoman

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by Prozak
Just wondering how people would compare reading a novel in ebook format on their PDA's vs reading a regular sized book. How is it on your eyes, does it feel uncomfortable, or take getting use to etc. thanks.

I've become so accustomed to reading on my handheld that I find physical books a pain and cumbersome, and no trouble on the eyes (for me). For example:

1 - can have a wealth of books/websites (use iSilo) with me in my shirtpocket.
2 - One handed operation with the Jog Dial or set on autoscroll.
3 - can read in total darkness.

There are more advantages, but it's late and I'm tired. Think I'll read a little on my Clie though before dropping off to sleep. :)

[hpf]

Originally posted by rhinoman
It took me awhile to really try reading books on my clie. Now that I have, I read as many or more books on my handheld than paper ones. It's not that ebooks are better, they are just more convenient to carry around. Several times a week, I have to take my Mother to the hospital for therapy. It's great having my pda with me so I can read while sitting in the waiting room. Also, I sometimes listen to mp3s while I am reading (the clinic's TV is on sometimes and The Price Is Right is often on! I hate that show!).


I am going to go against popular opinion at cs and state that I feel the Mobipocket reader is better than Palm Reader Pro. I read from both, but the fonts, text, and colors are clearer on my sony. Also, I don't need to bookmark my pages because mobireader automatically brings me back to the last page I was on.

I have an NX80V and the big screen is great for ebooks.

rhinoman

I feel the same. Moreover, there are lots of reference titles published by Taylor & Francis, McGraw-Hill, Elsevier I only found in Mobi format. They use great features, like frames, scripts, synchronization with desktop.
Now, I only use Mobipocket Reader.

[archangel]

I started reading ebooks three years ago and even got my wife a Clie so she could read books on it. I was an avid book buyer, but hated have bookshelves full of books. We have bought over 200 books in the last three years and I really like the fact I can save them all on a single CD-RW for backup.

Reading on the Clie is great. Light up screen and adjustable fonts and text size makes reading easy. Plus I can have several books at a time with me and I can read anywhere. Also in the last year or so the prices of new release ebooks have really dropped and are half the cost of the hardcovers with Fictionwise giving 100% rebates on many books. Not to mention all the free ebooks Microsoft gave away. I haven't even gotten to most of those yet.

I use Palm Reader Pro the most, but I also like Mobipocket Pro. Either is great for reading.

[*YellowRose*]

I read more now that I use my PDA ~ which is a good thing. :)

I like that I can read in any circumstance - while waiting (for bball practice to be over, during soccer practice, at Doc's office, wherever).

I have to say, though. Reading in the dark is my favorite ~ I can read as long as I want, and the light doesn't keep anybody awak! I use PalmReader with a black background and dark gold letters (van Gogh, I think, is the name of the color scheme).

[rldunn]

For reasons mentioned in the other posts, a book would have to be extremely good and NOT available as an ebook for me to read a regular book every again. Ebooks are so convenient, provide additional functionality (searches, one-tap dictionary lookup, etc), and are cheaper, so I really don't see any drawbacks. I wasn't sure I would like them when I started, but after the first book, I was hooked, and now my wife is hooked as well!!

[PPC]

Since I discovered eBooks I've hardly read any ink ones. Using a PDA (I have a Dell Axim) is just so convienient, for all the reasons already mentioned.

During this summer, Microsoft gave away a lot of good books. I don't like the MS Reader so I just converted them into Mobipocket format.

I've also bought quite a few books. Peanut Press (Palm Digital Media) and Fictionwise have a good selection. Because I have no idea what kind of PDA device I'll be using in future, I save all my purchased books in formats that can be read on any device.

[verndude]

I enjoy reading e-books and the printed versions. My problem with printed titles is that they take up so much space so if I can get them from the library I will read the paper version. Otherwise it’s e-books all the way. I do agree with others about the cost of e-books. I am all for supporting the author, but lets face it with an e-book there is no costs involved in printing and little cost in distribution and you can’t share your favorite books with your friends or sell the book at your garage sale after your done with the book. So why do e-books cost the same as the printed version? Oh well I love to read so I guess it’s pay the price and enjoy.

[dwig]

I'm and avid (read: rabid) reader and am now on my 4th portable device for reading eBooks (1st was a WinCE v1.0 HP handheld). I have read eBooks at lunch 4-5 times per week for the last 5 or so years. When, as a school student, I read of Vannevar Bush's "Memex" device, owning such a thing became a dream. We now have a viable form of such a device in today's PDA's. Its proof that his prediction/dream (hypertext, eBooks, electronic imaging, wearable computer interfaces, ...) from 60 years ago was accurate.

I would rate the reading experience as follows (10 is best)

10 - Leather bound standard sized book with good typography and printed on excellent paper.
8 - Standard American publisher's 'First Edition' or 'First Trade Edition' hardback
8 - Properly formatted eBook on my UX50
6 - Common modern American paperback
5 - Properly formatted eBook on my Fujitsu Win98 "sub-notebook" (~2.5lbs)
4 - Old yellowing "pulp SF" paperback from the '50s
4 - eBook on my old Clie T415 or the ancient HP handheld

The ratings, above, are very personal and are based soley on visual appearance in a good reading location and the "handling" of the book (weight, balance, arm position when the book is at a usable reading distance, and the 'spiritual' pleasure gained from the art of the book's typography and layout). They are not influenced by the convience of carrying the book around or readability in bad light; adding these factors would move the UX to a 10 and the next best, the T415, to a 9. The Fujitsu sub-notebook comes the closest to the Memex because it has >3000 searchable books, including encyclopedias and atlas', on its harddrive. As a result, in the real world day-to-day I read about 45 minutes/day, average, with about 80% of that weekly average being eBooks , currently on my UX50.

I have a very good library with a specially chosen reading chair and lighting where I read printed books. No issues carrying the books around and no risk of damage to my premium books and rare old, fragile collectables. Reading done elsewhere (lunch, waiting rooms, bed, garden bench, ...) is all eBooks.

BTW, here are some Vannevar Bush links worth looking at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushhf.htm
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0034.html
the latter is a short bio, the former is his rather ground-breaking essay published in Atlantic Monthly in July, 1945.

[dwig]

Whoops, theres a typo in one of the links in my previous message. Here are the correct links:

BTW, here are some Vannevar Bush links worth looking at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/computer/bushf.htm
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0034.html
the latter is a short bio, the former is his rather ground-breaking essay published in Atlantic Monthly in July, 1945

[dwig]

I'm having a bad day; 3rd time's the charm (I hope)

http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm

[abosco]

Why I hate ebooks:

1) Lots of them don't have as many features as the actual print version. Case and point - Piloting Palm. I just bought this print book from Amazon last week, and it comes with several pictures to what the text refers to. The ebook version has NO pictures.

2) Pricey. I have to pay the same amount for an ebook as I would an actual book? What is making it cost so much? The price of an ebook should be even less than half of its printed counterpart. Hell, it's written on a program, not hundreds of pages with glue and ink!

3) Real books don't run out of batteries. If I end up reading a little too long or with the brightness too high, I may have to stop. Print books don't even have a battery.

4) Harder to read. Even with the gorgeous 4" display of my NX80v, it doesn't measure up to a full page of text on a printed page. Even though the NX can probably squeeze in more text in one screen than one page of the print book, it'll be more of a nuisance.

IMO, ebooks deserve nothing but the shaft. Less features, just as costly, and the only benefit is that you don't have to carry a paperback in your hand. Oohh, excuse me while I cream my jeans at the excitement of doing something the non-traditional way.

[dwig]

Another advantage of eBooks, depending on the format and reader of course, is the ability to do word searches (few printed books are well indexed and printed fiction almost never is).

Also, many readers allow quite jumps to a dictionary to look up words without breaking the general flow of reading. Admittedly, this is very easy to do with printed book in a library like mine at home, where reference books are always at hand, but its impossible to carry a truely good dictionary (like the OED Shorter Ed.) and a historical atlas along with my current book when I'm on a lunch break from work. My UX does lack the dictionaries and atlas's, at present, but the Fujitsu notebook I use when on long trips does.

[BluePrt]

I agree magazines do not have the pictures for e-books. Some one said mobi book keeps your place so do most readers. I use bookmarks for going back to certain place I want to remeber...books that have more information. I have about six readers that I use regularly. The palmreader pro is my most used one. The TIBR I use as it reads text files easily. I use a couple of writers for some help files.

[rldunn]

Originally posted by abosco
1) Lots of them don't have as many features as the actual print version. Case and point - Piloting Palm. I just bought this print book from Amazon last week, and it comes with several pictures to what the text refers to. The ebook version has NO pictures.OK, that's one example of where an ebook would have less features, but there are other features that ebooks have that paper books don't, such as word search, one-tap dictionary lookup, chapter info, etc. And all the books I've bought have had the same pics as the paper versions, though I tend to read books without pics.

2) Pricey. I have to pay the same amount for an ebook as I would an actual book? What is making it cost so much? The price of an ebook should be even less than half of its printed counterpart. Hell, it's written on a program, not hundreds of pages with glue and ink!I can't remember the last time an ebook I bought was the same price as a paper version, and I only read popular novels, not 100-year old classics. It used to be that the price difference was small, but I think the difference has gotten bigger over the past year. Even if they were the same price, that wouldn't be an advantage either way.

3) Real books don't run out of batteries. If I end up reading a little too long or with the brightness too high, I may have to stop. Print books don't even have a battery.That's a valid criticism, especially on long plane flights. I have an external battery charger to deal with this, but with paper books, you don't have to worry about it. Of course, it's much easier to take my PDA with me on a plane (since it would be with me anyways) than a couple of books (not to mention a dictionary), so that advantage might offset the battery thing.

4) Harder to read. Even with the gorgeous 4" display of my NX80v, it doesn't measure up to a full page of text on a printed page. Even though the NX can probably squeeze in more text in one screen than one page of the print book, it'll be more of a nuisance.I'd have to disagree here. With PalmReader, I can choose any font, any font size, and any color scheme that I want. People with severe vision problems could make the settings so they could read an ebook, while they don't have that option with paper books. And that doesn't even count the ability to read in the dark, which you definitely can't do with paper books.

IMO, ebooks deserve nothing but the shaft. Less features, just as costly, and the only benefit is that you don't have to carry a paperback in your hand. Oohh, excuse me while I cream my jeans at the excitement of doing something the non-traditional way. That's fine that you feel that way, since ebooks aren't for everyone. But there are real advantages to ebooks, so not everyone is using them just to be different.

[archangel]

Ebook prices have dropped a lot in the past year. Shop around and many of the new bestsellers are $9.99 before discounts as ebooks while they are still $25 in hardcover.

Not to mention all the free books Microsoft gave away and the 100% rebates Fictionwise is giving on many recent books.

Pricing is not something that is a complaint for me. I suppose used books are cheaper in many cases, but thats not an area ebooks can compete. Paper will always have an advantage in the resell department.

[caroln]

Reading ebooks was something I never expected to be keen about. I still enjoy reading a paper and ink book but regarding the benefits of reading on my pda, I have to agree with what has already been said. Having a good selection of books with me all the time is like having a security blanket against boredom. I haven't bought any yet either because there is such a good supply of free ones.

Regarding eye strain, I did find that bothered me at first especially as I do most reading in the evening but I found that turning the light right down has resolved that (easier on the battery too). Haven't tried the van Gogh colour scheme yet but probably will now.

[alsa]

I have to butt in here and proclaim that the Rambrandt theme with PalmReaderPro is much better (gold on black). The Van Gogh one is much darker - I don't know how you guys can read with it!

[DaveTN]

I have become an avid ebook reader. I have mobipocket and use it almost exclusively ecxcept for "My Bible" that I read the Bible on daily. I also use PDF Reader for Palm a lot too.
My main reason for enjoying ebooks rather than paper is convenience. I can carry several different books at once in a small form factor and not have to worry about losing waht page I was on in any of them.
Many of the tech books that I own also came with a CD-ROM that has the PDF version of the book on it. I can also read late at night and not keep my wife awake by rustling pages or using a flashlight. I have also been experimenting with ZiffDavis's Zinio Reader for reading some of their magazines (PC World) on my laptop.

David

[LupeValenz]

Try carrying Lord of the Rings Trilogies, Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends, Raistlin Chronicles, War of Soul series, Sword of Truth Series, Wheel of Time Series all with you at once. It'll be hell, thats why I love Ebooks, get to have them all with me in one nice lil package :D.

[RunningWoman]

Since I've been out of town several days each week for the past several months, I've become re-acquainted with eBooks of necessity. I love being able to carry an entire library with no space/weight penalty. Reading at night in the dark is wonderful, and the scrolling feature lets me curl up with an arm around a cat without ever disturbing his sleep to turn a page.

I've basically stopped buying books in print, even if it means paying a higher fee than I'd like for electronic media. I'd like to encourage publishers to expand their eBooks, and suspect economics is the most likely way to do so.

Kim

[abosco]

Try carrying Lord of the Rings Trilogies, Dragonlance Chronicles, Legends, Raistlin Chronicles, War of Soul series, Sword of Truth Series, Wheel of Time Series all with you at once. It'll be hell, thats why I love Ebooks, get to have them all with me in one nice lil package
Or you could, you know, just carry the one you're currently reading. No sense in wasting the space if you're not even using it. And if you have the ability to read all of those books sporadically, skipping between them at each chapter, and still understanding the story, I'll buy you a huge beer. Until then, use logic. If you're reading one, carry one. Once you're done that one, swap it out for another.

I would have loved to buy Piloting Palm in ebook format. But the lack of pictures, same price, and a few other factors bothered me to no end.

[Spiral]

Not commenting on the sense of reading those all at once, but a pretty good set of fantasy novels. I've read all of those but the newest sword of truth, Brothers in Arms, and Wheel of time. My favorites would be Chronicles, War of Soul, and the first few of the Sword of Truth.

[NJL!2016]

I love reading e-books on my Clie. To read comfortably, I have to invert the screen (white on black) and use a large font. I read books much faster than paper books.

[javabird]

Originally posted by verndude
I am all for supporting the author, but lets face it with an e-book there is no costs involved in printing and little cost in distribution and you can’t share your favorite books with your friends or sell the book at your garage sale after your done with the book.

I agree. I love reading books on my Clie. But I wish I could share them when I'm done with them.

Some of the advantages of ebooks are:

-you can download them immediately
-you can takes lots of them with you on a trip
-easy and fun to read on the Clie

Disadvantages:

-hard to read in sunlit area (I discovered this recently on a trip to CA, where the room was so well-lit with natural sunlight, that I couldn't read on my T615 at all. Luckily, I had a paperback with me. Since I live in Seattle, this usually isn't a problem!)
-battery life. This also is a problem on trips, even with the battery adapter.

[javabird]

Originally posted by dwig
When, as a school student, I read of Vannevar Bush's "Memex" device, owning such a thing became a dream. We now have a viable form of such a device in today's PDA's. Its proof that his prediction/dream (hypertext, eBooks, electronic imaging, wearable computer interfaces, ...) from 60 years ago was accurate.


Fascinating. Hard to believe he conceived of this before the existence of computers.

[javabird]

Originally posted by abosco
Or you could, you know, just carry the one you're currently reading. No sense in wasting the space if you're not even using it. And if you have the ability to read all of those books sporadically, skipping between them at each chapter, and still understanding the story, I'll buy you a huge beer. Until then, use logic. If you're reading one, carry one. Once you're done that one, swap it out for another.


But in addition to all those books, I can also carry my Bible, a Thesaurus and two Dictionaries with me. I like always having my Bible at hand without having to carry the print one.

[verndude]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by abosco
Or you could, you know, just carry the one you're currently reading. No sense in wasting the space if you're not even using it. And if you have the ability to read all of those books sporadically, skipping between them at each chapter, and still understanding the story, I'll buy you a huge beer. Until then, use logic. If you're reading one, carry one. Once you're done that one, swap it out for another.

With just a small memory stick you can have hundreds of books. Why limit it to one book? What if you feel like history that day and all you have is romance. I have 26 books plus a large dictionary on a 128MB stick and have 98.2MB of free space.

[LupeValenz]

Originally posted by abosco
Or you could, you know, just carry the one you're currently reading. No sense in wasting the space if you're not even using it. And if you have the ability to read all of those books sporadically, skipping between them at each chapter, and still understanding the story, I'll buy you a huge beer. Until then, use logic. If you're reading one, carry one. Once you're done that one, swap it out for another.

I would have loved to buy Piloting Palm in ebook format. But the lack of pictures, same price, and a few other factors bothered me to no end.

Well actually I do. I'm in the military and go out on deployments and thats where this baby comes in handy. Mostly go out for 3-6 months and most of the time, cuts the weight and space we need when we carry all our bags for deployments. My entertainment bag has gotten a lot lighter because of the Clies and ebooks :)

[LupeValenz]

Originally posted by Spiral
Not commenting on the sense of reading those all at once, but a pretty good set of fantasy novels. I've read all of those but the newest sword of truth, Brothers in Arms, and Wheel of time. My favorites would be Chronicles, War of Soul, and the first few of the Sword of Truth.

Thats great, Brother In Arms is a MUST read, love seeing the twins get a taste of being in the'military' life. Love raistlin so want to read up all bout his childhood. Haven't read the newest sword of truth as well, trying to finish reading Winters Heat from Wheel of time which is a good series, should keep you busy for a long while if you start reading those. Chronicles, Legends and War of Souls are my favorite as well.

[Talula]

If it isn't available in e-book, I'm not interested. Seriously though, I find readin ebooks to be very comfortable on my eyes and my body (no need to hold up a heavy book).

I've never been one to pass on my books, not sure why that is, so they usually end up taking up lots of space around my house.

So, Ebooks are more comfortable, and convient for me than are print books. I dont' care how much they cost, I'll pay extra if I really want the book but since I only buy ebooks I don't have any idea what their print counter parts cost. I'm with the guy show said they'll pay the price to support and encourage the industry.

[alsa]

have you seen all those books available on the Adobe site? In addtition to peanutpress' site and fictionwise.com the Adobe site offers more books for your e-book reading pleasure (albeit, they are in the pdf format, but you can quickly make a .pdb version)

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by abosco
Why I hate ebooks:

1) Lots of them don't have as many features as the actual print version. Case and point - Piloting Palm. I just bought this print book from Amazon last week, and it comes with several pictures to what the text refers to. The ebook version has NO pictures.

2) Pricey. I have to pay the same amount for an ebook as I would an actual book? What is making it cost so much? The price of an ebook should be even less than half of its printed counterpart. Hell, it's written on a program, not hundreds of pages with glue and ink!

3) Real books don't run out of batteries. If I end up reading a little too long or with the brightness too high, I may have to stop. Print books don't even have a battery.

4) Harder to read. Even with the gorgeous 4" display of my NX80v, it doesn't measure up to a full page of text on a printed page. Even though the NX can probably squeeze in more text in one screen than one page of the print book, it'll be more of a nuisance.

IMO, ebooks deserve nothing but the shaft. Less features, just as costly, and the only benefit is that you don't have to carry a paperback in your hand. Oohh, excuse me while I cream my jeans at the excitement of doing something the non-traditional way.


A couple of points in response: I'd also like to make the disclaimer that I'm directly involved in ebook systems with the largest distributer in the world. ;-)

1. The publisher determines the contents of the ebook. In some cases, all illustrations are stripped out. But in most cases, they're left in. And as time goes on, they're adding even more features than the printed version. You happened to get an ebook with no pictures - well, that's annoying, but it's also not the usual case.

2. Manufacturing costs for books of *any* sort are very small. The real cost comes from marketing, pre-press work, contractual agreements with agents, authors, and distributors, the overhead costs of running a business, etc. So you can't merely claim that an ebook should be "less than half" the cost. Making that statement shows that you really don't have *any* idea how publishing works in the first place. In the vast majority of cases, books - printed and otherwise - never even earn out their advances - so the ones that do end up making some money are effectively subsidizing the tens of thousands that don't. THAT is where the true costs are, and that's why ebooks and printed books are typically fairly close in price. A "best-selling" run of ebooks typically sells only a few thousand copies. A typical sales figure for any given ebook title would be measured in tens, or hundreds of copies sold. Complaining that ebooks should costs less than print books is like complaining that you should pay less when you see a movie that was made for $10M than one that was made for $200M. The business models just don't work that way.


3. Print books are also heavy, physically large, and you can't hyperlink between items and do incremental searches. ;-) Don't make the mistake of trying to look at ebooks as just some variant of a printed book - they're not. Instead, you need to recognize that they're truly different beasts, and have their own advantages and disadvantages.

4. This is entirely dependent on the device and the reader. I've read dozens of full length novels on my T615C, and have no problem with it whatsoever. As in all things in life, YMMV.

[RunningWoman]

As posted above, I love eBooks. My mom has glaucoma, and I'm considering getting her a CLIE to make reading more comfortable for her, with its configurable display and larger font size. I'm curious if there are any users who are sight-challenged who benefit from electronic reading? I'd appreciate any shared experiences you may care to post. Thanks!

Kim

[JK]

btw. have any of you read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown?
It's just mind blowing!

[javabird]

Originally posted by RunningWoman
Sorry--was interrupted by the cat, and hit send unthinkingly before proofreading the previous post. Terribly sorry for the errors!

Kim

Hey Kim, did you know you can edit your posts? Just click the "edit" button under your message, and you can go in and fix your typos!

[The Mad Dog]

Its very nice to read an ebook at Night!!!
I love it!

[Omnitron]

I love ebooks -- I've always got my PDA around anyway - so pulling up an ebook is a great thing to do. Reading on a widescreen UX is much better than the old square screen.

I used to carry around a lot of paperbacks, especially on trips. Never knew how many I'd get through. Now I can carry a whole library in my pocket and not even think of it... Great when you find yourself waiting somewhere and need something to do.

The only drawback is worrying about battery life...thinking whether you've got enough battery power to keep reading.

[Dags]

I'm about half way through a large novel now (1000+ book pages) and it's fine for me using Palm Reader Pro. I set the background to dark blue and the font to light yellow with a custom tahoma font installed and it's much easier on the eyes than a regular book imo. i've read numerous books on my Clies over the years. I don't use auto scrolling but just page flipping using the jog dial.

Wahey! 300 posts up. :D

[dwig]

Originally posted by javabird

---
Originally posted by dwig
When, as a school student, I read of Vannevar Bush's "Memex" device, owning such a thing became a dream. We now have a viable form of such a device in today's PDA's. Its proof that his prediction/dream (hypertext, eBooks, electronic imaging, wearable computer interfaces, ...) from 60 years ago was accurate
---

Fascinating. Hard to believe he conceived of this before the existence of computers.

There were mechanical and analog computers by the time of the publication of Vannevar Bush's 1945 essay but digital computers still in the germination stage. TV existed but there were no regular broadcasts; only experimental and limited demonstration broadcasts.

BTW, the reason that I justified the purchase of each of the PDA's I've owned, over the years, was their use as an eBook reader. I don't, personally, have enough use for their other functions to justify the expense. Don't get me wrong, I like and use the PIM functions and have written my own custom specialized calculators for them. Its just that I can do without everything in a PDA except eBooks.

[RunningWoman]

No, I didn't, javabird. Thanks for the tip! Appreciate it!

Kim

[qwertyuiop]

i find that i prefer paperback books than ebooks. they just 'feel right'. dunno why, i just like having a physical paper book to read even though i don't think that there's anything wrong with ebooks

[LupeValenz]

Originally posted by javabird


Hey Kim, did you know you can edit your posts? Just click the "edit" button under your message, and you can go in and fix your typos!

She proably knew that, she just wants to up her post count :D hehe

[DaveTN]

Originally posted by JK
btw. have any of you read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown?
It's just mind blowing!

Yes, It was awesome. Read Angels and Demons, and Digital Fortress too.

Never heard of him before The Davinci Code, but Now I think he is a great author. Can't wait for another book from him.

In my unofficial opinion, I kind of think the "unauthorized" ebooks by Dan Brown that were circulating the various download sites are responsible for the recent surge in his readership and 3 of his books being on the USA Today top 50 list all of a sudden.

David

[javabird]

I often like to read while I'm eating lunch. I have my Clie in a Bellagio case that props up, and I can read with the autoscroll feature in PalmReader. Hands-free.

[anniebluesky]

I love reading on my Clie! It is so much easier than lugging around a book. Today I finished reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Now I get to look over what I have and decide on what to start next! Maybe "To Kill a Mockingbird" or another by Dan Brown. Or "The Lake House". So many choices...

[lordgeejay]

I like reading books and ebooks both. It depends on the situation mostly. On the go, I prefer to have my books in eBook format for obvious reasons. I can take a short walk break off work and be able to steal a few minutes of eBook reading which is embarassing to do if I need to carry a real book along.

But of course, you can't beat the wide selection of real books. I also love the smell of books. I guess it'll be a while before I completely abandon my desire for real books.

Right now though, I'm enjoying the eBooks that I currently have on my CLIE. After I've gone through those, then I'd probably finally read the paperbacks I bought but haven't touched yet.

Nice point about the battery though. Real books don't need 'em. But real books don't glow in the dark. So it's really a trade-off. I tried using one of those small reading lights (that you clip to your book) and the batteries on those die fast. CLIE battery capacity is much much better. ;)

[*YellowRose*]

Originally posted by lordgeejay
I tried using one of those small reading lights (that you clip to your book) and the batteries on those die fast. CLIE battery capacity is much much better. ;) Yeah, I had one of those 'many moons' ago - and a Clie is MUCH MUCH better! :D

[Lee]

Though there are times when I like having the hard copy to read, I too am a big fan of ebooks for my Clié. Many have already given most of the same reason I have for that preference, but there is another big one for me: since I often read lying down and late at night (or even during a lazy afternoon), I can fall asleep. The Clié just shuts off after a few minutes. When I turn it back on, there's my last viewed page. Compare that to a book that you have to pick up off the floor and try to find your place!

Btw, PalmReader, when turned back on, also goes back to the last page viewed. MobiPocket is not the only one. In fact, all the readers I've used do that. And I too like the dark background, light type view. Sometimes I'll open up a few books at a time in different readers/formats, so that I can go back and forth between books without too much trouble. It's quicker that way.

[Stumper]

I love ebooks. Just the fact of not having to carry around another bloody book is just to handy. The big plus is reading at night and not bothering the wife with the light on. One draw back though. I find board meetings are a terrible place to read someone is always asking stupid questions.

[Drunken Macleod]

Being an avid reader (one novel per day)I was skeptical when a few friends told me how nice it was to be able to read on a pda. Then I picked up an nr70 on ebay and tried it out. After 4 or 5 books, each with a different reader I was sold. I had finally settled on using TealDoc, until recently when i tried out Isilo. to me they are pretty even with isilo winning out due to the fact that i can take webpages with me also., i read pretty fast, so i don't really use any of the extra little features (find, bookmarks,etc. ) as long as i can adjust the font i'm happy. Ive read somewhere over a hundred books since the end of september. I finally read a bunch of the classics that i'd always put off on my younger days, and now i wonder why :) I definitly wouldn't go back to reading paperbacks on a regular basis.

[Prozak]

Well I DLed those free dickens books from fictionwise in a palm.doc format and I also got palm reader and the first thing I noticed that I didn't like is that the text isn't justified to the right. Just seems sloppy for a book to be in such a format, is it normally like this though?

[Lee]

To justify to the right would mean stretching/condensing the text to fit the line. Studies show that it's actually easier to read without doing that. For what that's worth... Anyway, I don't find it annoying in the least.

[Prozak]

Originally posted by Lee
To justify to the right would mean stretching/condensing the text to fit the line. Studies show that it's actually easier to read without doing that. For what that's worth... Anyway, I don't find it annoying in the least.

If that is true, then I wonder why books are still printed with the text justified to the right. Do you know?

[Lee]

At one time, it was thought that it improved the look of it, but you might notice that in many novels and texts these days it is no longer done. Also, in a book where a single line is longer, it doesn't change the look of each character very much. Have you ever seen a narrow newspaper column where the right justification is done? It makes some words look goofy, all stretched out to fill the line or crammed in together to make it fit. With a pda, I think it would have the same look. Also, I think that the increased complexity of writing apps. for a pda to make it justify to the right wouldn't be worth it. Just my 2 cents.

[ebook junky]

Picture one: settling in for a good read with a lap full of print book. Along comes beloved kitty getting into lap vying for space with the heavy print book. Pages flap over and place gets lost. book falls out of lap. Either that or kitty gets mad and leaves to go sulk. No one is happy.

Picture two: settling in for a good read with CLIE in one hand. Along comes beloved kitty for a good lap sit. Kitty settles in and there is even a free hand to rub kitty's ears with. Everyone is happy.

[BillsClie]

Am an avid reader - right now with 3 books "going" concurrently. Have downloaded at least a dozen books/story collections on the Clie, but just can't get motivated to read them. Enjoy the "old" paper and glue books - for whatever reason. (Maybe because the content is more current - can't convince myself to buy a current e-book when they seem expensive and haven't convinced myself I'd read them).

[DaveTN]

Another advantage of reading ebooks on your clie in the dark is that after you are done reading for the night, you can use it as a flashlight to navigate across the bedroom to the bathroom without stepping on the dog or running into the post at the end of the bed...ouch. :eek:

David

[exiii]

My experience? Well, I bought two copies of the last Dark Tower book. One digital, one paper. I only opened the paper one to look at the illustrations.

Digital is the way to go unless there are essential figures or illustrations, in which case it sucks.

[Unregistered]

LOL DAVID. Thats a funny avatar.

[DaveTN]

Originally posted by Unregistered
LOL DAVID. Thats a funny avatar.

Thanks :D

David

[alsa]

I still think it's easier and faster reading on a narrower but longer screen rather than on a wider screen a la UX. Hence, I like reading on a longer NX screen much better. Anyone else feel the same way?

[itu2000]

only at uninteresting meeting, i read e book, real book on bed.