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Ereaders are now like toasters or electric skillets. Cheap enough to be disposable and it matters little if one brand name goes away or a new one starts up.
Maintain your library with calibre and keep it backed up.
No kidding.
Are any of these things, not made in China?
That, and the fact that e-readers are unnecessary when you can load a reader app on any smartphone or tablet.
EReaders have a long-term advantage over printed books and magazines because the entire library can go with the reader — including into the john. Regardless, I don’t own one, and it’s just possible that I never will, and I love gadgets and technology. :’)
I certainly hope so.
Amazon was an online bookstore that looked ahead and saw that eReaders would eventually come and cause an existential threat to their company. Their response was very risky but paid off, they embraced the change and completely redesigned their company. They came up with their own eReader, sold books online, but also became an online retailer for far more than just books, including things you can't download. That way they insulated themselves from the damage eBooks or other e-content could do to the company.
Borders was last to adjust to the changes, and they were first to go. B&N adjusted, but not as much as Amazon, and will be the next to go. The one that survived was the one most willing to make radical changes.
Don’t like ereaders - they give me a headache.
I love the convenience of the Kindle. Ebooks are so far superior to traditional books, there is just no comparison. Portability, ability to change font size and screen color, and being able to read in the dark... Its like comparing a printed book to a scroll, or a piece of papyrus...
OTOH, traditional books don’t require infrastructure... ie, electricity at the very least, and in the case of Amazon, internet connectivity for DRM, and their entire ‘cloud’ server backend, just to read the books.
I’m committed to the dead-tree version. It never turns off “unexpectedly,” and strange children don’t come up to you asking if they can play Angry Birds on it. They see that it’s just black text on a white page and diddle off to bother someone else.
I love e-books for novels and other books you intend to read from start to finish. For reference materials and non-fiction where you are constantly looking things up or flipping from section to section I much prefer the old paper and cardboard.
The next chapter? Used book store.
Half the price, permanent copy. Can pass it around.
I have a Sony e-reader. Some advantages compared to a book, primarily space, but more disadvantages. IMO
You pay almost hardcover price, read it once and, and you’re stuck with it.
Can’t pass it around, sell, trade it.
What’s sorely needed is rent-a-book.
Pay a couple bucks, have use of the book for a month. At the end of the month the book goes away.
The public library has a limited number of titles and a waiting list.
Barnes & Noble = Kodak
(before there were e-readers, there was the handwriting on the wall....)
Neither Kodak nor B&N appear to be literate.
Just bought a nook this week- for 80 bucks off the normal price! I’ve been wanting one for some time- but not as a reader. I make small wooden items that require quite a bit of time for finishing- my wife objects to the smell of the finish, so I have to go off somewhere else to do it, and I like to watch tv during this process (about the only time I enjoy tv). So, the nook, with a speaker attached will be perfect for this.
Also, I have a feeling that in a year or so (if it hasn’t already happened), some bright individual will come out with a way to jailbreak nooks, enabling them to used in whatever manner one wishes.