e-books and e-readers: post here

[haven]

Let's start a new thread to hold news about e-book software and e-reader hardware.

There are several new e-reader products being announced in time for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Maybe most important is the reader from Skiff. It's the biggest model yet, supposedly optimized for newspapers and magazines. No word on pricing yet.

Skiff Reader
1600 x 1200 11.5-inch touchscreen
4 GB memory (3GB available for content)
Wi-Fi and 3G via Sprint

 

[Hltoppr]

My wife got me a Kindle for Xmas...and while a tad sceptical at first...I haven't been able to put it down!

-H-

 

[jcbrandon]

E-book reader history

How 'bout a little e-book reader history?

I used to work for a start-up company called Softbook Press. We produced and sold an e-book reader device and distributed content for it. It had a leather cover, a grayscale display, an internal modem for dial-up connections over a plain old telephone system, weighed 2.9 pounds and offered about five hours of battery life. It sold for about $600. Ten years ago.

The Softbook reader came out nine years before the Amazon Kindle. It was ahead of its time and got swallowed up in a complicated deal with another early e-book company and TV Guide.

There is still a bit of information floating 'round the Interweb about these pioneer e-books:

http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=15&TBToolID=1116

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Softbook_Reader

http://www.teleread.org/2009/02/13/...achines-revisited-a-few-lessons-from-history/

Now excuse me while I head out to the shed to check the water in my steam engine

 

[Hltoppr]

LOL...the first book I downloaded on my Kindle was entitled...."When Technology Fails"

I found it amusing....:elkgrin:

-H-

 

[PhulesAU]

kindle
kindle
kindle
Especially with multiple readers on 1 account.

 

[haven]

More about the Skiff Reader

More about the Skiff Reader
http://www.skiff.com/skiff-reader.html

Price not announced, will be sold by Sprint stores as well as from the Skiff web site

11.5-inch touchscreen
greyscale only (color to come sometime later)
1600 x 1200 resolution = 174 ppi
.. (Kindle DX 150 ppi, iPhone is 160 ppi, Droid phone 265 ppi)
screen based on thin flexible stainless steel foil by LG

device dimensions 9 x 
11 x 0.28 inches, 17.625 oz
.. Kindle DX 7.2" x 10.4" x 0.38"" and 18.9 ounces

Reader's housing is magnesium
uses Marvell Armada 166e "reader on a chip"

4 GB memory (3GB available for content)
SDHC card slot (capacity up to 32 GB)

Wi-Fi
3G contract through Sprint

Li-Ion battery
battery life: one week of average use
recharge time: 3 hours

built-in speaker with 3.5mm output jack

Skiff Store to sell content from multiple publishers
books, magazines, newspapers, blogs
.. including dynamic update capability

Hearst Corp. is funding the Skiff project

Hearst has two major newspapers (SF Chronicle, Houston Chronicle) and publishes 25 magazines, including Popular Mechanics, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and The Oprah Magazine. Presumably all will be available to Skiff owners by subscription.

 

[targa88]

Not really clear on the advantage of purchasing a e-reader/Kindle vs the versatility of a net book?

 

[haven]

Each approach has advantages. Here are a few I can think of.

The netbook has the advantage of running general purpose applications as well as the e-book reader software. And the LCD is color. The disadvantages include much shorter battery life, a screen that is almost illegible outdoors, and a screen orientation (landscape) that makes for lots of scrolling to read a book or newspaper. The netbook is heavier and may be more expensive.

The e-book reader is a one-trick pony, but it does that trick very well. The portrait orientation is more like a book. The low power screen is designed to work well outdoors. The screen is much higher resolution than the typical laptop, so it's easier to read for long periods without eyestrain, and a wide range of fonts can be displayed in all their glory. The battery lasts for days without recharging.

The e-book reader is a lot lighter than a computer, so it's easier to hold in one hand, prop up in bed, carry in your briefcase, and so on. And the e-book reader is probably less expensive than a general purpose computer.

The reader manufacturers are looking for the right combination of features that will reach the mainstream public. So expect to see a wide range of configurations, ranging from 4.8 inch screen (fits in a pocket) to 12 inch screen (seems more like a magazine).

I think the key ingredients are color display, legible outdoors in full sun, multi-touch features, and some sort of internet access for regular web browsing, not just visiting the e-book seller's store. Convertible and slate computers are pretty close to this target already, needing only lighter weight, better screen, better battery life and cheaper price!

So it's an open question if dedicated e-book readers will survive, or become some form of ultralight general purpose computer.

 

[haven]

http://gizmodo.com/5441425/guardian-waterproof-case-allows-me-to-get-my-kindle-wet

At CES, Guardian introduced a waterproof plastic case for the Kindle.
It's water tight to a depth of one meter, so be careful in those Japanese
soaking tubs! The case has a flexible panel over the keyboard area so
you can enter commands while reading in the shower.

Joking aside, this looks like a reasonable precaution if you're likely to
be using the Kindle in areas of high humidity.

 

[preacherman]

I have a Kindle with the world 3g and it is the bomb....

Works all over the world, books in seconds, and saves me LOTS of space in my travel bag.

Me likey....

 

[chuck45]

My wife got me a Kindle for Christmas (the small one) and I love it. I was a bit skeptical the first time I saw one around a campfire but everyone that had one spoke so highly of it that I decided I'd like to have one.

The reading experience is better than I thought it would be. After reading five books on it since Christmas I think I may like it better than reading an actual book. It looks like the only physical books that I'll be buying are the ones I really want to markup, create a personalized topical index for, and highlight. For novels and general reading the kindle is great. I vascilated between the small kindle and the DX but decided to go small because it would be easier to handle when reading in bed etc.

I'm enjoying reading current books for a reasonable price and not having to wait for the paperback to come out. I also like being able to download a book, instantly, if while I hear it discussed on a talk radio program.

I am a big time blog reader and you can subscribe to blogs and have them delivered outmatically to the kindle while you travel.

I love it! FWIW I'm not into all purpose devices. I like discrete devices that do one thing extremely well.

 

[haven]

Amazon increases publishers' share of revenues

Amazon's Kindle was the clear winner in sales this past holiday season. But more e-book competitors are appearing, including the expected announcement by Apple next week. To keep publishers interested in the Kindle platform, Amazon just announced a new scheme for sharing the purchase price of an e-book.

Under the new plan, publishers will receive 70% of the revenue, minus a small amount to help pay for Amazon's costs of downloading the book. That's quite an improvement over the 50% or so that publishers receive from Amazon today. The result: More publishers will choose Kindle, and Kindle customers will have a wider range of publications to purchase. This agreement sets a new standard that other online e-book stores (Barnes & Noble, Borders, iTunes, etc) will have to match.

There are conditions associated with the new plan. First, the price of the e-book must be 20% lower than the lowest price of a physical copy, regardless of where it's sold. Second, the price of the e-book has to be less than $9.99. Third, the e-book can be sold in any country where the publisher has rights to sell the physical book. Fourth, publishers have to agree that the e-book can be presented in all ways the Kindle technology is capable of.

This last point is interesting. It might have something to do with a recent ruling that e-book readers can't be required in classrooms unless blind students have equal access. Universities including Case Western Reserve U. in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City, Reed College in Portland, and Arizona State in Tempe AZ had plans to give Kindles containing course materials to their students. The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind brought suit on the grounds that blind students would be at a disadvantage. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The Department of Justice agreed. As a result, the colleges have agreed to halt plans to use the Kindle for the time being.

The colleges' decision is a blow to Amazon, which has big plans to sell the Kindle to the education market. Anybody who has purchased college course books recently knows the exorbitant price of academic textbooks. Every primary and secondary school district spends a fortune each year to buy, catalog, store, and distribute textbooks. Purchasing e-book readers and distributing content electronically would be a lot cheaper for students and taxpayers.

So it's important for Amazon to be able to sell Kindles and e-book content to schools. One way to satisfy the concerns of blind students and their advocates is for e-books to be presented through text to speech translation. This new agreement with publishers will assure that the e-book content can be presented in many ways.

 

[henrinaiara]

go for kindle mate

 

[C Red]

Just got my Nook yesterday. So far I love it. Seems easy too read so far. Very easy to navigate. I do feel like it needs a cover to protect it. It is nice that you can read any book that Barnes and Nobel sells while you are physically in one of the stores. I have a couple of long flights in a week, so I will get a lot of chances to use it.

 

[BKCowGod]

My iPhone has Stanza and a direct connection to Project Gutenberg. All for free... I love the sharp screen, and the fact that I don't have to carry a second electric device with me.

I would highly recommend Stanza for anybody with an iDevice - I've played with Kindles and Nooks and Crannies and even the aforementioned Softbook (I even had an ebook reader on my Newton, remember those?) and at the moment I don't see the benefit of the standalone product.

But even more than that, I love walking into Recycle Bookstore and paying $2 for a trashy Frederick Forsyth novel and knowing that if I drop it in the bathtub I'm only out $2.