08-27-2004, 09:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Have eBooks Turned A Page?
http://news.com.com/Have+e-books+turned+a+page%3F/2100-1025_3-5326015.html?tag=nefd.lede
"Although revenues remain tiny, industry surveys show encouraging signs of growth in e-book sales over the past year. Publishing executives and analysts say the industry is finally coming to grips with the most significant issues that have stalled e-book adoption to date."
The biggest issue is publishers are figuring out what consumers want. {Gasp!!! 8O } Imagine, doing what consumers want, which is pretty much a friendly DRM model. This statement cracked me up: (No pun intended.)
"Violano said security concerns are one of the main reasons some top publishers offer limited or no support for e-books--particularly of top-selling authors. Printed-word stars like "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling and legal thriller specialist John Grisham have been notable holdouts in the e-book world. "The major obstacle now is availability of titles," Violano said. "Some publishers just don't trust letting their content be available in digital form."
You know who's books I see on forums like alt.binaries.ebook? Those from J.K. Rowling, Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Robert Jordan and J.R.R. Tolkien. People painstakingly scan paper books in with OCR technology, compile it, proof it and post it to the universe if there is no other way to get it. I rarely see stolen ebooks from authors like Dan Brown and Michael Chriton that are more likely to have their books in an ebook format. Dan Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code" has all four of his novels in ebook format.
Of course, Adobe is still living on their own planet claiming that it is still an laptop/desktop world for ebooks. I cannot imagine anything more painful than reading a book on your PC or laptop. Even if you had a svelte Tablet PC, imagine trying to get comfortable lying in bed and somehow propping that thing up? :idontthinkso:
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08-27-2004, 09:09 PM
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Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,878
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I still think a real winning combinitation is Tablet PC's and textbooks! I can understand why textbooks are not released in ebook format ($$$), but I would love to just carry a tablet as opposed to the fifty pounds of textbooks I often have to carry...
Steve
__________________
"My eyes are rolling back in my head so far I can see my grey matter bubbling and frothing from reading this thread....bleh." JD
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08-27-2004, 09:35 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 41
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Have you ever tried books24x7.com? Not exactly textbooks, but "tech" books, and very well done. The downside is you need to have an active net connection to read.
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08-27-2004, 10:13 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 112
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I actually use a Tablet PC in bed (TC1100) with eReader Pro. A very elegant solution and one that is a bit easier on the eyes (plus, it allows me to keep an eye on the baseball ticker in the background).
I continue to keep eReader Pro on my iPaq 415x in order to facilitate on the go reading, but I love the fact that I can put my books on both devices any time I want without activating or deactivating a device.
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08-27-2004, 10:31 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 14
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I agree, I love reading books on my tablet. If I am somewhere where I have to stand often I will read on my PPC, but otherwise I will use the tablet.
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08-27-2004, 10:36 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 68
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by cscullion
Have you ever tried books24x7.com? Not exactly textbooks, but "tech" books, and very well done. The downside is you need to have an active net connection to read.
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Yeah, and the price. It's a great service though ( my job pays for it).
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08-27-2004, 10:40 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 68
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by aerin44
I agree, I love reading books on my tablet. If I am somewhere where I have to stand often I will read on my PPC, but otherwise I will use the tablet.
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So do I, but my Acer C302 gets awful warm. Using it on my lap has probably lowered my sperm count.  ops:
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08-27-2004, 10:40 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 88
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Seems like a VGA PPC would be better for reading. I find that QVGA devices require too many page turns. I get tired of turning the page every couple paragraphs. Maybe I'd feel differently if iPAQ 2200 series came with a scroll wheel (stupid HP design decision).
__________________
Steve
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08-27-2004, 10:56 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 135
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I still have great eBooks at my site and have good traffic even though they are mostly PD. The trick is the DRM method I use.
NO DRM
What a concept :bangin:
Oh, yes, they are still free. When I get the time I'll even begin to publish again, once in a while.
http://esspc-ebooks.com
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08-28-2004, 12:48 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 68
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Biggest underlying problem
The biggest problem with ebooks is the lack of a single universal secure format. It is so annoying to find an ebook I would like to buy and then notice it is only available in Palm's or Microsoft's proprietary format. Until publishers adopt a single universal format that is readable on every ebook reader, I vote to boycott the entire market. I hope others will join the boycott.
Once a standard is adopted and publishers agree to publish every book in both paper and ebook formats, I will worry what is the best way to read an ebook. Until then, give me paper.
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Linear Mode
