An e-reader skeptic converted - Commentary: The battle of the e-readers is just beginning

John Dvorak's Second Opinion - Marketwatch ^ | John Dvorak

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- I'm a little more conservative than most tech writers when it comes to hot trends that may not be hot nor be trends.

I freely admit to some skepticism when e-readers made their debut highlighted by both the Sony Corp. book reader and the Kindle from Amazon.com Inc.

The trend was confirmed by Apple Inc.'s iPad, but I need to be more adept at spotting the trend when it is beginning and in the wild.

I missed the signals, twice. You look to the public-at-large to spot trends, not to pundits.

Two examples come to mind. First, I was on a flight to Michigan around the time of the first Kindle announcement and was roaming the aisle of the jet when I saw one of the flight attendants reading off of an e-reader, which turned out to be the Sony device.

I asked her how she liked it and had to listen to endless raves. She loved to read. The reader had a ton of her books and she could picks and choose what she wanted based on her mood. It worked great. It was lightweight. She went on and on.

Then I find a friend of mine -- who is not even much of a reader -- with a Kindle. All he could do was talk about how great it was.

This sort of public review should not be ignored. These are not tech geeks who buy everything and think anything with a transistor in it is God's gift to mankind. These are real people.

So the e-reader is here to stay in one form or another.

[zeugma]

You might want to check into Calibre. It is free and can be used to convert to and from a variety of formats.

Calibre rocks. They have a version for Linux, OSX, and Windows.

[Nickname]

“A book may be downloaded from Amazon to a limited number of devices at the same time. The limit ranges from one to six devices, depending on an undisclosed number of licenses set by the book publisher. When the limit is reached, the users have to unregister some devices in the Manage Your Kindle page in order to add new devices.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle#File_formats

Here’s a link to the Reading Apps for the PC and other platforms:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_352814142_11?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=1KVZQX2P25ZS9HTQ6DE6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1271837462&pf_rd_i=133141011

[Defiant]

Get an ipad or kindle for ebooks. Both do a good job, ipad costs a little more, but it does so many other things. For reading on your laptop, you need to get safari.
It has a reader function that displays text in a format that is like an ebook, very readable. Firefox has a puffin like that, called readability, but it is not as slick.

[Defiant]

Somehow my smartphone transformed the word addon to come out puffin.What’s a puffin?

[paulycy]

Puffin.

[NewMexLurker]

For me, the absolute requirement for any eReader is some form of eInk. Not everyone feels the same, but for me the difference between reading a book on an eInk screen versus reading a book on a standard CRT/LCD emissive screen is amazing.

If I wasn't such a fan of eInk, I'd probably get an iPad. And when a decent tablet with an eInk option becomes available (which it will), I might switch from my dedicated eReader.

[Swordmaker]

Now THAT has got to be the longest delay I have seen on a duplicate post I’ve ever seen on FR. Two hours and about 20 minutes after the original posting!!! Where was that hanging fire in the cloud???? I was in bed, asleep, when that posted! What gives????

[jacquej]

I have gone through all sorts of eReaders since they first came out, including the Kindle, which I gave to my sister once I got the basic iPad.

The iPad wins for the following reasons. I like to read in bed at night, and the Kindle is hard to read that way, unless you have a much better light than the little one they sell. The iPad is perfect for that.

I can sync books between my iPad, my iPhone, and my laptop, having a copy on each.

I can sync & listen to an Audible book on all three as well. I like to knit while I listen, so I can be productive while listening.

I can shop around for the best price on a book I want to read, seeing if Amazon, Apple, eReader, or any other seller is cheapest. The apps are available for just about any version.

I can check my email, look something up on the net that I am reading about, and take notes. I can listen to all kinds of radio stations on my iPad, like Coast to Coast AM, when I can’t sleep at night. Love the “Iheartradio” app!

And, I can watch movies, tv shows, etc. on my iPad, and take my knitting patterns along in “GoodReader”, a pdf app.

There is more, but you get the picture. I really find the iPad the best, so far. And, like all Apple products, it is easy to use, easy to keep updated, and beautifully designed.

[novemberslady]

*

[Vinnie]

I was concerned about reading from an Lcd screen.
But you can change the ‘page’ color to several shades of a sepia like color that tones down the brightness . Easy on the eyes.

I really like my iPAd. Normally I read in bed for 30-60 min before lights out.

If I was going to read by the pool I’d get something w/ e-ink.

[Vinnie]

Coast to Coast AM, when I can’t sleep at night..

Sounds like my wife.
Are you getting C2C podcast or a freebie way?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

ROFL... It’s all magic ...and a gremlin somewhere in the innards of the handcrafted system.

[jacquej]

I downloaded the app named “iheartradio”, and can listen to all sorts of radio stations that are broadcasting it from all over the country.

So, it is freebie, and excellent, because we live in a bad reception pocket, and can never get it reliably at night.

[SunkenCiv]

Wow, SM pinged something by John Dvorak...

[’Civ peeks between slats of the blinds, checking for the other six seals...]

[SunkenCiv]

additional:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2562658/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2572435/posts

[CheneyChick]

Ha ha ha, awesome!