[SteveHoward999]

Originally Posted by ctitanic

does it bother you ... tired eyes ...

Not in the slightest. I wear glasses all the time because I am short-sighted. But my near vision is fine so typically I read on my devices without wearing glasses - and that includes when I have MS reader set to it's most tiny on my E830 set to true VGA.

[SteveHoward999]

Originally Posted by ctitanic

does it bother you ... tired eyes ...

Not in the slightest. I wear glasses all the time because I am short-sighted. But my near vision is fine so typically I read on my devices without wearing glasses - and that includes when I have MS reader set to it's most tiny on my E830 set to true VGA.

[buzzard]

Well I want to thank everyone here because you've inspired me to buy/read my first ebook. I've found that as long as its a good book I can read it even while sitting in front of the TV at night, a major accomplishment for me. Most of my reading has been my 20+ magazine subscriptions and internet "stuff" but the ebook has taken me back many years to when I read hard copy books all the time.

Not to seem negative but I'll have to wait and see if I keep this up or stop because I'm back to work later next week. :roll:

[bmurphy]

I think that this has been a good thread... there have been many different opinions- 8) Well, why not?
I think that the true dedicated reader (or e-reader)... has moved to a slightly larger screen, and still is on an unconverged device - (that is my experience). I'm on a farm... and a small island- so I don't need to do GPS (I know where I'm going- in fact it's usually only 6km!) so I don't need that for my HTC Advantage, and only if I'm expecting a delivery- do I take my phone with me- so that isn't needed in the Advantage- But it is absolutely great with the 5" screen- and I've used a TrueVGA hack (that was recommended on forums), so I have control of even MSReader. I read on my UMPC laptop- or the Advantage, depending on where I am in the house, or car or ferry.... or waiting in the bank... and I don't have to worry about what the cover is showing about my preference- largely SF/ Fantasy. I passed my Axim to my son (I didn't think I'd ever), and the Advantage is my alarm, as well as my appointment reminder- if I don't enter it- it often slips by! :lol: All I could find of one book- was AAReader, and that I read on my UMPC- it doesn't work well on the WM6 platform-
All that to say that I'm a dedicated e-format reader (well, who wouldn't be if the trip to a decent bookstore is a all day affair?)

[mysticzzz]

I Almost exclusively read Ebooks, as does my wife and 2 children. As you get older it is nice to be able to adjust your font size. My wife has problems with her arms holding a book for very long, and the ebooks are great for her. I read 2 or three ebooks a week, and when i ocassionally read a paper book, i findmyself missing my pda. I use mobipocket exclusively, i gave up on microsoft reader.

[Russ Smith]

I went essentially paperless several years ago and ebooks were a part of that. I'm a voracious reader and ebooks allow me to take advantage of that virtually anywhere. I can't carry a pile of paperbacks with me, but I can carry the equivalent of same for those long lines at the checkout (and now at the "returns" desk ) or anywhere else I've got a few moments. Unfortunately, there are still some authors (or their publishers) that ignore or refuse the ebook route, forcing me to return to the printed page.

[bmurphy]

Originally Posted by Russ Smith

I went essentially paperless several years ago and ebooks were a part of that. I'm a voracious reader and ebooks allow me to take advantage of that virtually anywhere. I can't carry a pile of paperbacks with me, but I can carry the equivalent of same for those long lines at the checkout (and now at the "returns" desk ) or anywhere else I've got a few moments. Unfortunately, there are still some authors (or their publishers) that ignore or refuse the ebook route, forcing me to return to the printed page.

I agree that there are some publishers that have ignored the ebook route! I have inquired from the author that I wanted, and it depends on the publisher- so I've gone to the publisher and made a request- also to the stores... Fictionwise is especially good about getting requests. I've found several authors that I wouldn't have if I had stuck to paperbacks (Australian authors- for one- I see now that paperbacks of that particular author are available, but I was a couple of years ahead of that!)

[Sheena]

Although my response to the poll was "more than half", it's almost 100% except for graphic novels & manga & some tech manuals, but the issue is availability, not preference. I recently upgraded from an iPaq 2210 to the HTC Advantage & as much as I enjoy all the extra features, the only reason to cough up all that $$$ was because of that gorgeous huge VGA screen. My old eyes are very grateful.

On software, I use uBook almost exclusively. Whatever books I get that are DRM'd get promptly zapped down to html or rtf, so I'm still buying them on lit format since it's the only one I know how to zap. ops: I'll give you a call, Steve.

For hardware, I welcome things like the Kindle because the future will certainly be digitized. No, I don't intend to buy one, it's too big, too expensive, too plain (feature-wise), etc, but anything that can hook people into ebooks is a step in the right direction. As has been discussed here already, personal preferences go from the tiny to the very big, there's room for all. I eagerly await the waterproof floating screen that can follow me to the bath. :lol:

In any case I expect for everyone the #1 reason for ebooks is the size/space convenience. Lots of choices without carrying around pounds of printed stuff. Oh, and God knows I could recover oodles of extra space in my tiny apartment if I could digitize the hundreds of books filling every shelf, box & corner. And yes, I've bookmarked Mark's guide, but I want a way to scan without destroying the books, even if it's slow & painstaking.

Publishers may be afraid of people copying their stuff for free, but those of us that bought books before still buy them today & will still buy them tomorrow. I certainly would buy more ebooks if the availability & prices were better since I wouldn't have to worry about where the hell I'm going to put them.

Rosie

[dwswager]

I have returned to the PPC fold with an Asus A696 after giving up my Ipaq 3630 some years ago. I am currently reading two ebooks on my PPC Ludwig Von Mises' Beauracracy and Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. I download free texts and convert to MobiPocket format. I read ebooks because I can steel 10 minutes here and there and I normally have my PPC with me.

I am thinking of purchasing my first commercial ebook and would love to be able to buy more but:

• We need two formats: high def and low def and both need to be readable by all software and hardware devices. When we buy a book, we should be able to read it on any device.

• Universal selection. Torques me not to find a particular book I want available, especially in the format I need. That is a double whammy.

• We need a decent solution to the copyright issues. Maybe an ICANN like universal registry for devices or something.

• Price. I know goods are not priced on production costs, but there should be major savings in ebook publishing versus paper. Especially not having to schedule production runs, over stock, storage, shipping and handling. The incremental cost of ebooks is almost $0. I have a hard time popping the same price for a digital file as for a hardback book. Maybe it's just psychological, but there it is.

[SteveHoward999]

Originally Posted by dwswager

We need two formats: high def and low def and both need to be readable by all software and hardware devices. When we buy a book, we should be able to read it on any device.

Why high and low definition? The books are stored as text, not images. The only images are 'cover' images, and any pictures that might be included in the books. For story books, the jpg images are usually small enough and of sufficient quality for mobile and desktop use.

I also think that when we buy a paper book we should have an option of getting an electronic version too. Many text books already do this - most commonly software titles (e.g. Flash Bible), at least in my own experience.