The Wall Street Journal's Lee Gomes gave the Sony Reader a spin, weighed in with his thoughts.

It is a truth universally unacknowledged that reading a book for pleasure involves a lot of hard work. You have to fight to keep it open and pressed flat, and just when you've comfortably arranged everything, you have to turn the page and start all over again. Naturally, you need to do all this without bothering the cat.

You may not appreciate these difficulties only because you've never had an alternative to a book for comparison. The Sony Reader is slim, light and can be held in one hand. To go to the next page, you just nudge it with your thumb.

Yes, there are things not to like about reading for pleasure on a computer screen, even for generic, text-only paperbacks. You have to forgo the stories that books themselves can tell with all their stains and scribbles. And when you're done reading, you don't get to put another trophy on your bookshelf.

In exchange, though, you get to put an entire bookshelf in your pocket.

We surrender charm and tradition; in return, we get convenience and abundance. With computers, it's always the same compromise.

Also, Mr. Gomes mentions that he enjoyed rereading "Pride and Prejudice" on his Reader, which makes me wonder... did he perhaps download it from here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10378)?

Link: full article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118895184627717552.html) (req. sub.)

There's an excerpt of Pride and Prejudice on new Readers.

We surrender charm and tradition; in return, we get convenience and abundance. With computers, it's always the same compromise.

Try: With Life, it's always the same compromise. (I never tire of that "Despite the fact that I think computers are EVIL, this thingy is pretty nice" attitude...)

I love the line about the cat. :grin:

Can someone please post the article? I don't subscribe.

Posting the whole article would be a copyright violation....

Posting the whole article would be a copyright violation....
ok then.. leave out the last word.

That's the excerpt about the Sony (the rest is about the history of ebooks/devices and their notable lack of success)



"My own little test, using the Sony Reader to reread "Pride and Prejudice" suggests it doesn't.

For the first few minutes, I was too aware of the new technology, and had trouble concentrating on the story. But that didn't last long, and I soon settled in, laughing and worrying in all the right places. At the end, I was just as happy for Elizabeth Bennet as I had been when I first read it in paperback.

It is a truth universally unacknowledged that reading a book for pleasure involves a lot of hard work. You have to fight to keep it open and pressed flat, and just when you've comfortably arranged everything, you have to turn the page and start all over again. Naturally, you need to do all this without bothering the cat.

You may not appreciate these difficulties only because you've never had an alternative to a book for comparison. The Sony Reader is slim, light and can be held in one hand. To go to the next page, you just nudge it with your thumb.

Yes, there are things not to like about reading for pleasure on a computer screen, even for generic, text-only paperbacks. You have to forgo the stories that books themselves can tell with all their stains and scribbles. And when you're done reading, you don't get to put another trophy on your bookshelf.

In exchange, though, you get to put an entire bookshelf in your pocket."

I searched for a string from the article via Google and could read it that way, but I don't know if that works for every territory.

The reason why searching for a string for the article can help is because sometimes journalists sell a story to multiple newspapers at once, and not all of them lock down their content.

Parodying an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Troi: Wasn't that a great article in the WSJ?
Worf: It was stimulating.
Troi: Worf - that was one of the most favorable reviews seen about the Reader yet! It talked about it's limitations but found that it's a great device for reading. It had genuine experience of the user over an extended period of time. It even had Jane Austen and that reading it was just as enjoyable as the paper version! And all you can say is that the article was stimulating?
Worf: It was.... very stimulating.
:D

Seriously, it was a really good article - one of the best I've read, and seemed to be very fair about it.

I liked the part where he said that, after the first few minutes, he got over noticing the technology, he settled in and started to enjoy the book. I think that is a great testimonial to the Reader.

Betty

It was a good point about how much easier it is to turn a page. I had almost forgotten how inconvenient a paper book is, because it requires two hands to turn a page

Another good point (that I just thought of). It's pretty impossible to put a paperback down while keeping it open to a particular page. (unless you break the spine, gasp!). So it's nearly impossible to try to read while eating, unless it's hand food :) I always read while eating. With the reader, I just prop it up against anything convenient and read away, using the tip of a finger to turn the page.

Another great feature, you never have to hunt around for something to hold your page, or loose your place.

Parodying an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Troi: Wasn't that a great article in the WSJ?
Worf: It was stimulating.
Troi: Worf - that was one of the most favorable reviews seen about the Reader yet! It talked about it's limitations but found that it's a great device for reading. It had genuine experience of the user over an extended period of time. It even had Jane Austen and that reading it was just as enjoyable as the paper version! And all you can say is that the article was stimulating?
Worf: It was.... very stimulating.
:D

Seriously, it was a really good article - one of the best I've read, and seemed to be very fair about it.

Why do we need to spend 300 credits to purchase this Reader device when we have padds that Starfleet gave us for free?

It was a good point about how much easier it is to turn a page. I had almost forgotten how inconvenient a paper book is, because it requires two hands to turn a page

Another good point (that I just thought of). It's pretty impossible to put a paperback down while keeping it open to a particular page. (unless you break the spine, gasp!). So it's nearly impossible to try to read while eating, unless it's hand food :) I always read while eating. With the reader, I just prop it up against anything convenient and read away, using the tip of a finger to turn the page.

Another great feature, you never have to hunt around for something to hold your page, or loose your place.

When I was in university we had "the fifth food group" which was things you could eat with one hand while studying.

Plus if you're reading a very large book it can really get tiring for your hands after awhile. The paperback I'm reading right now is over 1000 pages. I have to prop it up on a pillow on my lap. The cat is not amused.

Why do we need to spend 300 credits to purchase this Reader device when we have padds that Starfleet gave us for free?

For some reason my PADD can't access the same collection of documents. A Level 4 diagnostic revealed that the duotronic hypermatrixed ODN conduits aren't compatible with this thing called "USB." :vulcan: :huh:

For some reason my PADD can't access the same collection of documents. A Level 4 diagnostic revealed that the duotronic hypermatrixed ODN conduits aren't compatible with this thing called "USB." :vulcan: :huh:
Try reversing the polarity.

Try reversing the polarity.Yeah, that always works. And you call yourself a vulcan? Even Captain Archer knew that! Duh. :laugh4:

Try reversing the polarity.

Yeah, that always works. And you call yourself a vulcan? Even Captain Archer knew that! Duh. :laugh4:

I can't deuw it. I doon't hev the poe-wer! :D

But perhaps some kind of interphasic shift in the warp transducers will help....

Have tried switching off the rotating shield frequencies since last time?

Have you checked the Heisenberg compensator? Since the display uses replicator/transporter technology to display its text, it could play a key role. After all, you need to make sure that the replicated material's quantum state is stabilized before being rematerialized.

And of course the Torkle-Frumple dampener could need re-initialization ....

Just turn it upside-down and shake it. ;)

Just turn it upside-down and shake it. ;)Okay, I'm declaring nekokami the official winner! :rofl:

I can't argue with that!