I'm still absolutely loving my Sony 505, but I seem to have found a point of frustration... depression, I dunno, over the whole thing.

No one around me seems to really *care* about the thing. :(

The best I've gotten are comments along the lines of, "huh that's pretty cool," followed by a change of subject - and that's the *best* I've gotten. More often I get things like, "how much did you pay?! why the hell would you do that instead of just picking up a book? Who cares if it holds a whole library, it's not like you need all those at the same time."

/sigh

I'm just venting and certainly not looking for some "solution" to really a non-issue. I figured people here would understand my plight. ;)

if it's any consolation, i think e-ink is *brilliant.*

Heathens! Its not about what you need, it is that you can :wink:

Seriously, I've ran into people who've asked me the same thing at times.

And unfortunately, I'm the only one in my group of friend who actually enjoys reading. So I can fully sympathise with you, in trying to explain the utility of a library in you pocket to people whose idea of reading (in my case) consists of facebook.

My Answer? (whatever good it does)

I read 3 to 4 pages a minute. So I end up finishing most books in a couple of hours.

I used to around 3 to 4 books in my backpack daily, so that I would have something to read on my downtime.

So If I can carry around a small library with me in my pocket, I can read whatever I'm in the mood to read whenever I want. :bookworm:


And don't ask about International flights. On 20 hour journeys, I've carried 8 to 10 books a few times. :book2:.

Still, with E-book readers, seeing is believing, and most people don't get it until they actually sit down and use it.

A good example of this is my mom. While she barely uses a computer , once i explained the concept of the reader, and showed her how to use it, she fell in love with it.

Now I can't get it away for her even if I wanted to. And when I do need it so I can load some new books for her, she will be waiting so that she can get back to her reading. And she does enjoy the utility of being able to several books at the same time.

Yes, there- there. Earth wuvs you t h i s much. (Anyone, anyone?)

I have had two wonderful reactions, both of which involved pretty waitresses scooching in next to me to have a demo. Yes, I have a thing for pretty waitresses. They are pretty. They bring you food. What's not to love? And if you've never had the pleasure of having one scooch, then brother you haven't lived.

Perhaps you're reading in the wrong places. (Hint: look for pretty waitresses.)

for a mind as large as yours, you really don't seem to have very many tracks...

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." -Robert A. Heinlein

"'We got ourselves a reader. What are you reading for?' Not what are you reading but what are your reading for? So I don't become a f***ing Waffle House waitress." -Bill Hicks

"You might be able to make something completely foolproof but nothing is idiot-proof." -Spider Robinson

People have a tendency to overlook the amazing things they encounter in their lives and just move on to the next thing. Because it doesn't have full color touchscreen with 5 TB of memory, they refuse to be impressed. One person couldn't believe that it doesn't read the book to you, as in converting a text file to an audio file. Well, it is called a Reader, isn't it? Why doesn't it read then?

It all falls back on that first quote, or to simplify it more, the majority of people you encounter in life will probably have a lower intelligence than the people on here, by default. I have found that readers tend to be more intelligent and have the ability to hold an intelligent conversation. Then again, that may just be the people I have encountered.

lesser-known advantages : good for chatting up purposes, as evidenced by Taylor's contribution and revfish, who is clearly trying to butter us all up collectively. you do feel smarter now, at the *very* least, right ?

for a mind as large as yours, you really don't seem to have very many tracks...

You misunderstand me. There are a vast number of tracks. At some point, though, they all run through the same ah... tunnel.

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." -Robert A. Heinlein


It all falls back on that first quote, or to simplify it more, the majority of people you encounter in life will probably have a lower intelligence than the people on here, by default. I have found that readers tend to be more intelligent and have the ability to hold an intelligent conversation. Then again, that may just be the people I have encountered.

Here, Here !

It does tend to be self selecting group at times.

And that my friend, is the power of the INTERNET.

<Runs away in furry underwear shouting BY THE POWER OF THE INTERWEBS>

You misunderstand me. There are a vast number of tracks. At some point, though, they all run through the same ah... tunnel.

hmm... for some reason Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint just popped into my head...

Disheartening aint it.

I encounter it too from people who willingly splash out on Plasma TVs, state-of-the-art surround sound hi-fi and other luxuries. Others who spend a large part of their income on gambling and drinking.

On holiday a few years ago I was having dinner with eleven other holiday makers. The discussion turned to reading and each and every one of those 11 guests proclaimed that reading was a waste of time. I tried to defend my great passion but the tide against me was too great -- plus they shouted louder than me.

Do these non-readers lose their comprehension skills so they don't know what they're missing?

I am glad my daughter is a bookworm and takes after me in this respect.:bookworm:

You've got to be kidding me right? I get so many "what is that" it's making me ill. When I drop what I'm reading and explain it to them, they ask "where can I get such a wonderful device"?

I have not had one person question what I paid for it but "where can I get one"?

It is a spectacular device and most people with half a brain want one. I write off the rest as jeolous and unknowing.

To have such a wealth of entertainment at your finger tips is brilliant. You are not the one to question your purchase, you are the one to celebrate such a marvel of technology. Rejoice in your decision to splurge in the reading world for you are the one to be prasied for such an intelluctual decison.:thumbsup:

likely many of those people don't read books at all

Slightly losing faith in my PRS 505 myself. I still read it everyday and have no real complaints about the device. I'm just not sure it's any easier than going to a bookshop every once in a while. Now if it had internet connectivity like the iPhone then that would be another story.

Stone him! STONE HIM!

Actually, I'm at my bookstore about twice a week anyway. I'm bi-formatual.

I'm still absolutely loving my Sony 505, but I seem to have found a point of frustration... depression, I dunno, over the whole thing.

No one around me seems to really *care* about the thing. :(



That's interesting. I've had people comment on the Reader almost everytime I use it. They're always bothering me (forcing me to take out my headphones that are there as a deterrent) to ask me about it. I've had people get really excited about it the more I talk about it. When I tell them about what we can get with libprs500 (now Caliber) they even get more excited. Maybe you just live in an area that doesn't know anything gadget/electronics? Only you can answer that one.

No one around me seems to really *care* about the thing. :(


So what? You didn't buy it to show off, did you?


More often I get things like, "how much did you pay?! why the hell would you do that instead of just picking up a book? Who cares if it holds a whole library, it's not like you need all those at the same time."


How many of those people are paying $800 a month to drive a big ass SUV that seats 6 or more and gets 15MPH that they commute to work with only one ass in the whole thing?

Please!

(No offense to you if you do that. But, to each his own.)

Tell them you got it to reduce the use of trees to create books and reduce green house gasses.

BOb

Holy cow did I ever generate some furor with my fairly tongue-in-cheek original post. :D

I hope everyone realizes I'm not *really* upset here hehe, but I do appreciate the great response overall! You are all very right in your take on it all, too. Most of those I've talked to briefly about my 505 have been those that really don't read much these days, either by choice (blasphemy I say!) or from being crazy busy with babies or what have you. I have found a couple people that have had an interesting reaction after having really truly looked at the device. The more they think about it the more intrigued they seem to be. I think it's exactly as we've all said before, in other threads, the whole point of an e-book reading device is that it *isn't* super-freaking-wizbang-kewl and instead disappears to let you enjoy your book. Again, that's the whole point! :)

I've read maybe 400 or 500 pages on mine so far and it's been very pleasant. I'm thoroughly enjoying my current book and the device is just a nice portal into whatever I happen to be reading. At the end of the day there's not much else I would ask of such a device.

* WARNING: I'm about to make giant sweeping generalizations with little to no basis in fact and entirely fueled by my own personal prejudices. *

One point brought up in this thread is about the general mindset and, let's be honest, intelligence of people who never read by choice. I hired a guy about a year ago that was really motivated and dedicated to whatever we set him to... for a while. Turns out he *never* read a book in his life that wasn't forced on him and even then hadn't really read a book all the way through since hey there are cliff's notes and such out there. Guess what? He turned out to be amazingly immature in a business sense and flaked out after a few months. He's no longer with us. This kind of speaks to my view of the complete non-reading masses and I think my absolute favorite quote was already brought up earlier in this thread by revfish and it's so good I just have to quote it again for emphasis:
"'We got ourselves a reader. What are you reading for?' Not what are you reading but what are your reading for? So I don't become a f***ing Waffle House waitress." -Bill Hicks

* The Emergency Alert System has canceled the giant sweeping generalizations warning. *

Shadowplay
Two points.

1. The best I've gotten are comments along the lines of, "huh that's pretty cool," followed by a change of subject - and that's the *best* I've gotten. More often I get things like, "how much did you pay?! why the hell would you do that instead of just picking up a book? Who cares if it holds a whole library, it's not like you need all those at the same time."
If it makes you feel any better, I have gotten the same type of reaction. no one ever asked me about the reader. I have cornered a few colleagues in the college, they were impressed but ....the price and I am not sure how much they read. Maybe, maybe...when it is available in Waterstone they will be more interested because they would not have to buy it from the USa with zero warranty.

2. Generalisation ...
My wife doesn't read books. She is not interested. As a matter of fact she never was. On the other hand she has 3 degrees and she is a lot more intelegent than me. Why? Reading. In high school she was studying history, geography, biology, English!. Now she is listening to news on radio, or reading all sort of news on the Internet. Me? I read fiction..I read it in a high school instead of studying history, English!, biology, geography...I read it now instead of IT books that I must read and I cannot keep up with any civilised conversation about politics, history or anything like that because I have no knowledge of the subjects. She can do it although she is not book reading fun...

Holy cow did I ever generate some furor with my fairly tongue-in-cheek original post. :D...

Shadowplay, you really should go looking for the Vent and Rant thread. You can vent and rant to your heart's content there, and all you'll get is "Yo! you go, girl!" and "Tell it to the man!" and "I'm sorry, I didn't know this room was taken" (that last was from one of those non-reader type people - they couldn't comprehend the sign on the door).

Personally I like:

Q: Why do you need to take all those books with you on holiday?

A: Because you suck!

(My wit fails me at the most inopportune times)

FWIW, I've "amazed" several friends with the Iliad. The absolute wonder was ecstasy to behold (also I suffer from delusional memory recall).

Cheers,
Marc

hmm... for some reason Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint just popped into my head...

Ah. Hitch was so unsubtle at times. A "happy ending" in multiple definitions of the term. Maybe it's just that I prefer his more downbeat conclusions (Vertigo, the Birds).

Everyone at work who has seen me reading on the 505 has been amazed at the quality of the text and the style of the device. I don't think I've heard a negative comment yet. I do work in higher education though, and a lot of my colleagues are highly educated, with professors, doctors (including the medical type!) and research bods; and hi tech stuff always goes down really well with them - especially anything they can see as having a potential impact on education and learning.

I whip mine out almost daily here where I'm surrounded by a thousand engineers with advanced degrees and almost no one ever comments - on my Sony 500, that is. I couldn't care less about that but I was really surprised. I think I overestimated the intellectual curiosity of my colleagues. Then again, they are engineers. I wonder if any of them reads.

EDIT:
Okay, having read that slam of engineers it's clear to me that it was unfair. My semi-educated guess is that on average engineers with advanced degrees read less for pleasure and general curiosity than scientists or nonscientists with advanced degrees. But, of course, that won't be true of all engineers so I should not have made such a sweeping accusation. My apologies.

No one... and I mean NO ONE... has ever stopped and asked me about my reading on my PDA. Including people on the train, reading their paperbacks and hardbacks right next to me. Sometimes I feel like there's something about what I'm doing that makes people pointedly avoid asking me about it. Maybe they're afraid of hearing how good it is. Or maybe geeks frighten them. Maybe I look too old to be playing with toys. Maybe it's my deodorant... :chinscratch:

I think at this point, most everyone has heard about the readers, and either are interested or aren't... and it's pretty much just the people who are already thinking of getting one, and see yours up-close, who ask about it.

It's interested for me just how many people *haven't* heard of e-book readers at all and I have to back up to explain the whole concept. ;)