There is an interesting article by Jeff Scott, called Technology Nobody Uses: Are you buying it just to be cutting edge? (http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/2006/09/technology-nobody-uses-are-you-buying.html), that raises the question of why people want e-book readers. If it's just a gadget thing, then there's never going to be widespread adoption.

I have to confess that I didn't read the whole article yet, so hopefully I don't misrepresent the author's meaning, but I'd like to know what our readers here think.

Are e-ink or other e-book readers always going to be a niche item for fringe tech and gadget fanatics? You know... slightly crazy people like us! Or do you think that e-book readers will be a useful product that can become mainstream? (We'll assume we have decent quality products and book sources, of course.)

Interesting article. Particularly his comment about more folks buying and ripping CD's than downloading because they want the physical token of ownership (paraphrasing).

He Linked a Washington Times article (http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20060816-104356-8999r.htm) that discussed the obstacles to e-books. I think that in the long run, how well e-readers do or don't do, will depend mainly on how well such obstacles are addressed. If they aren't addressed well, then only technophiliacs like us will bother with e-readers, the better they are addressed, the more 'normal' folks will soften to them. :shrug:

The WT article concluded that the best hope was to get kids using them for text books, and then they'll be accustomed to them when they grow up. I'm not sure that having my text books on an electronic reader would have well-disposed me to such devices. I don't recall liking my textbooks too much.

I love to buy new products of technology, but when I make a purchase I usually research the item in question, and use it/them quite often. I've realized over the years that I must purchase items I will intend to use rather than to get the "Electronic Sexuals" as my father likes to call it. While some items I may neglect more than others, overall they all get used, and they never become forgotten.

When there are millions of books out in our world, and a device that is capable of letting huge libraries become digital, it becomes invaluable if you only use it a few times. Take for example Survival books, Medical books, and Think Tank issues. A device like this could save alot of lives if the world becomes chaotic over night :/

This device will motivate more people to become creative, and begin to write good stuff. I can't find any reason to pass this technology up :)

It the world becomes chaotic overnight, where will you charge the ereader battery? To me, this is all a matter of DRM: if the books I want to read are not available, the technology is of no importance. Moreover, a device that is a book reader only and will not fit in a pocket is of limited value to me.

It the world becomes chaotic overnight, where will you charge the ereader battery? To me, this is all a matter of DRM: if the books I want to read are not available, the technology is of no importance. Moreover, a device that is a book reader only and will not fit in a pocket is of limited value to me.


With 7500 page turns on a single charge, I would bet it would be just fine to use, and this device might use traditional batteries? That I'm not sure about though.

The WT article concluded that the best hope was to get kids using them for text books, and then they'll be accustomed to them when they grow up. I'm not sure that having my text books on an electronic reader would have well-disposed me to such devices. I don't recall liking my textbooks too much.

Unfortunately, if all that eInk will do is try to replace the context of reading, then they will fail just as you said. Innovations, such as the Times reader approach, are needed in order to make eInk a viable alternative for text-book reading. Of course, being able to ditch book covers would be a better reason to go eInk and fancy (device everywhere, non-DRM except for some circumstances) books instead of paper :D

Well, if you're a "technocrat" who thinks it is important for a "technocrat" to be erudite(think coup d'etat), then it is quite invaluable technology, reading literature, computer manuals, man pages, ssh into your unix box, writing code, writing books, whatever.
But it is doubtful those who never heard of PG, and more likely couldn't get it to work will actually care.
One would think at least Ministries of Education would be cracking skulls over this technology, and beside hints of interested chinese, never heard anything of the sort.

I think the question of portability, and I mean the ease and durability of the device so that you can just flung it to the back seat of your car on the way to say, a family gathering; sure I'll use it. I also agree that given the change of things today, to be use as an academic text book "shell," makes sense. Study in history comes to mind. But then again, pdf documents on your PC accomplishes the same intent.

I think the question is slanted the wrong way. The term 'e-book reader' leads the thoughts in the wrong direction.

There are different markets for the printed word today. The very short term market is the daily newspaper and the weekly magazine on the one hand, and the printout of the latest version of the report I'm working on on the other. Neither of these will survive more than a few days at the most -- then they'll go into the paper recycling pile. Some of this material is distributed by the web today -- and lifetime of that can be so short that the next minute it's gone, and won't be back. (Lifetime is on the order of weeks)

Slightly longer is the monthly periodical -- some keep National Geographic forever, others perhaps year. Telephone directories belong in this categories, as do the cheapest kind of pocketbooks. Glue-bound material in general belong here: the glue has a life-time which cannot be exceeded. Many corporate documents belong here. (Lifetime is on the order of months and possibly years.)

The very longest life time is with the traditional bound book -- these can last practically forever. (There are books preserved from 800AD, and rarely takes long to find a decent book from the 1500's to buy, as long as you don't care what book it is.) The permanence of books has lead to ... well, 'embellishment' arts and practices, suitable for long-life media, that are entirely wasted on today's newspaper. Noone gives a cheap pocket-book gilt edges, or headbands: they don't last long enough. The term is also overloeaded by a concept of comfort: if a book intended to be read for pleasure is uncomfortable, we have a contradiction.

Now, by calling these devices e-book readers, the province of the books is invaded ... but by association, not because the material to be read belongs to that category. To some extent, I'm sure that their current format influence the apellation: they're in book format for now. And that may bring on the wrong reactions.

I suspect these devices are far more suitable for shorter-term material -- newspapers, printouts, web-data and possibly also some periodicals as well as corporate information. The value is here in the information, not in the medium, and some shortcomings will be accepted because of that. (Another interesting area is that of standards -- this is one area in which specially DRMed media would make sense: say, the POSIX standards on a MMC/SD, or all ISO computer-related standards. I'd like to have the full RFC collection myself, but I hate to have to reformat them to fit the book-sized screen we're stuck to for the moment ...)

The emphasis here is on information and reference, not on books. These devices are really e-readers, not e-book readers. So the question is misleading: why do people want e-book readers? They don't. They may want e-readers -- what they want to use these devices for is not primarily books, but information.

Note: it's pretty obvious, I hope, that gadget nerds are not people in the sense I use the term above.

"We built it, and they didn't come,"

She means: "We overpriced it and DRM'ed it and they didn't come".

I think the question is slanted the wrong way. The term 'e-book reader' leads the thoughts in the wrong direction.

There are different markets for the printed word today. .

Right on!

Books will only be 40% of what I'll use the reader for.

I propose we rebaptize it "ET-Reader" for Electronic Text. Sony loves to call it e-book reader because they're in the market for books...

I think in order for any ereader to be successful in the mainstream the technology has to be easier than it currently is and there has to be ownership of the product. There has to be some way for you to always be able to read the book and not have it dependent upon a device or a piece of reading software. Even Itunes can be burned onto a cd and preserved and used "forever". Ebooks have to be the same way.

@ath: Excellent points! I'd fallen into thinking exactly the way you describe, mostly because I do want one mostly for reading books. Thanks for pulling me back outside that box.

Sony loves to call it e-book reader....

Actually, they just call it the "Reader" :mad:
(sorry, couldn't resist)

@ath: Excellent points! I'd fallen into thinking exactly the way you describe, mostly because I do want one mostly for reading books. Thanks for pulling me back outside that box.



Actually, they just call it the "Reader" :mad:
(sorry, couldn't resist)
We could also call it a "T-Reader" for text reader. Of course it won't tell the future. :happy2:

As a t-reader, maybe Irex could have a model called the T-Rex :happy2:

Seriously "e-book reader" evoques connotations that impress limitations on the device, restricting its depth of market and possibilities as a useful work tool. :shy:

I think the question is slanted the wrong way. The term 'e-book reader' leads the thoughts in the wrong direction.

The emphasis here is on information and reference, not on books. These devices are really e-readers, not e-book readers. So the question is misleading: why do people want e-book readers? They don't. They may want e-readers -- what they want to use these devices for is not primarily books, but information.

The thing with eBooks like the iLiad is that they are good for reading all markets for the printed word.

You can read your morning newspaper on it. Then, during the day, you can use it to read your reference manuals. In your leisure time, you can use it to read your novels.

So I agree that, today, there are different markets for the printed word. But with eBook readers, those markets are combined.

I have to disagree that people don't want eBook readers. While we certainly want electronic readers for information, we also still want to read books anywhere at a moment's notice.

For years, I have read books on my Palm. I probably will still read a few there because of how pleasant it is to be able to read a few screens of a good novel while I wait for my manager to ramble on during a meeting.


In my vision of the future, I pick up my eBook reader as I leave for work. It had downloaded the latest version of the local news paper just before I picked it up. While traveling to work, I can read the news - maybe even get a refreshed version before I get to work using an open wireless network. While at work, I consult it for information because all my technical manuals are there - a button push away, text searchable. At lunch, I turn to the latest novel that I downloaded from Fictionwise. Back to work and more technical manuals. Then I get to read some more of my novel, or maybe a different novel, on the way home. (Yes, I can, and frequently do, read several books at once - swapping between each on every chapter or so.)

So, while you are right in that people want these devices for information, you are wrong about people not wanting them for eBook readers. We want them for both reasons - and eBook readers can (at least pretty well) deliver. All we need to do now is to get companies to make the content we want.

In my vision of the future, I pick up my eBook reader as I leave for work. It had downloaded the latest version of the local news paper just before I picked it up. While traveling to work, I can read the news - maybe even get a refreshed version before I get to work using an open wireless network. While at work, I consult it for information because all my technical manuals are there - a button push away, text searchable. At lunch, I turn to the latest novel that I downloaded from Fictionwise. Back to work and more technical manuals. Then I get to read some more of my novel, or maybe a different novel, on the way home. (Yes, I can, and frequently do, read several books at once - swapping between each on every chapter or so.)


This is interesting and something I've wanted to do for a long time.
But yourself being an Iliad user, have you started implementing these features or are you still far away? I know the paper and wireless features are not there yet, but how is your implementation of the Iliad at work?

This is interesting and something I've wanted to do for a long time.
But yourself being an Iliad user, have you started implementing these features or are you still far away? I know the paper and wireless features are not there yet, but how is your implementation of the Iliad at work?

I can use wget to "mirror" web sites to my SD card to put into the iLiad. For the most part, this works well, depending on how the web site is set up. I have my local weather report and the ACM Tech News working.

Books in open formats are no problem. A few clicks in OpenOffice and a Save As PDF, and I have a book all set for the iLiad.

Reference books, however, are a problem since they aren't in an open format. I suspect that as more eInk readers are available and the demand for reference eBooks goes up that places like O'Reilly will make an option for iLiad PDF available.

Right now, my iLiad is on from 8:30am until 4pm. I snatch page reads during pauses in my work (mainly waiting for our steam-powered mainframe to get me the data I need) and while at break and lunch.

...steam-powered mainframe....We just got a "new" VAX two years ago.

They're trying desparately to get the app moved from MUMPS to ORACLE before they can't get VAX parts anymore :tongue3:

I'm glad I'm not on that project.

I'm w/ Jorgen on this... First the readers are priced as high as The Market Will Bear, DRM'd and with a preferred content i.e. .lit .rb dot.whatever (as long as it provides lock-in).

The e-Ink isn't going to make a better reader; it can't do backlights and res. is pretty low. Possibly cheap (in the future) but, we've seen how many readers were sacrificed to the short-sighted marketing plans. e_ink is good enough for a primary-purposed reader IF the price matched ability. I have my doubts that it will any time soon.

As for the myth that available books aren't available...hmmm... I've got many thousands and have no problem converting most to usable format (for my Hiebook). The skeptics should first refer to their use of eBooks -then weigh in. Seems from what I've read in the blogs, there's two types: eBook readers and eContent users.
The eBook readers in this scenerio are happy reading chapter-books & novels. Small device. Nothing special...maybe some color.
The eContent user is (like rlauzon) downloading massive stuff, integrating and, really, a Power User.

My feeling is that eBooks *Have* caught on. But, while the human user has remained the same--the number of digital gagets available and ever increasing. Combined with ever-increasing complexities of using the plethera of features is daunting. Pricepoint and simplicity may make the difference.
And, what' s more, it's an American/ European problem. Am I wrong? Go to www.ebay.cn -And check out the Chinese eBook price points. THEY'RE Cheap! and there's a bunch of competing brands. Most will do .txt .html .doc and most are expandable.
//

The e-Ink isn't going to make a better reader; it can't do backlights and res. is pretty low.Um, honico? I'm not trying to be a jerk, really I'm not, but have you seen an e-ink screen? I mean with your own eyes, not a picture (which just can't capture it).

It's about 170 PPI, the pixels are each about 153 microns in size. VGA resolution in a 6" diagonal space (or SVGA in an 8") isn't really all that low rez. The display looks like laser printing. :smile:

And the back-light thing is kind of a red herring. E-ink is both opaque (like paper) and reflective, (also like paper). It's whole point is that you don't need a backlight to see it, so you're not staring into a light source to read. All of that makes me happy. :happy2:

General consensus amongst those who already have e-ink readers seems to be that the lack of a backlight is a trade that they're jubilant to make to get the quality of the e-ink display.

You're correct about all the books that are available, what's not available, which we're feeling the absence of, is newly realeased material. :sad:

What we're hoping is that the much more usable displays, with much better battery life, will break through to more of the reading public, and in turn increase the demand for e-texts, so that more first run material becomes available.

Will it work? Dunno. But the current confluence of circumstances and technology is quite encouraging, certainly more promising than it's been in a long time. :beam:

I find it interesting how all over the place critics/skeptics of an E-Text reading device are. "No backlight?! I want to read in bed!" Yes, but reading with a backlight is ultimately uncomfortable and mayhaps a bit damaging to optic nerves, and other sensitive built-in equipment. "It will never replace the smell and feel of a book." Um, that's why there's no backlight....books don't have backlights. Every time I visit my wife's very small house and the very large bookcase I made, I think of two things 1. How cool would it be to have the info/data in all that paper in a digital format, and 2. Man! am I a lousy carpenter.

For my two cents, I most likely will not buy a reader for a while, but I want one. Reading _Last of the Mohicans_ on my Treo 650 is nice when I'm ....um...indisposed...but I'd much rather take my pick of 20 books the size of my dog-eared copy of _On the Road_. Anybody know why there's no e-text version of that book? Or am I simpleton who has no idea how to use google? And just like the bag phone became the palm Treo, and the big silvery boombox morphed into the iPod, someday, we'll all collect our readers, chock-a-block with RSS Feeds, and shuffle the kids off with their permission slips and homework on their iLiads

being an Iliad user, have you started implementing these features or are you still far away?

I'm an Iliad user since about a week.
I subscribed to my newspaper (www.taz.de) as zipped html/pdf a week ago and I read it on the iLiad. There's room for improvement but it works good.
The weekly newspaper I'm subscribed (www.zeit.de) only has a massive (120MB) PDF-Edition yet, so it's not usable, yet - especially without reflowing and stuff.

I read Charles Stross' "Accellerando" Novel on my iLiad within some days. I formatted it using PDF-LaTeX within 30 Minutes and it was a very good reading experience though it's about 400 pages a about 40 lines.
And it's one of the best novels I read within the last decade.

I bought some non DRM-encumbered PDF-books of the "Pragmatic Programmers" during the last years and I use them on the iLiad. One of them ("Agile Web Development with Ruby on Rails") has been updated 3 times within the last week and just downloading the new edition to my iLiad was exactly the reason why i bought the device. It works perfectly.

Some days ago I took the minutes on the iLiad in a multi hour meeting of a organisation I work for in my sparetime.
When I got home I just copied the 38 Pages png-files to my Powerbook, typed the extract and sent it by email with the original notes. Smooth!

I'm very happy with the device, It became an essential tool within a week.

AND I spent a lot of the time sitting outside in the sun instead of reading inside on a notebook-display. This is VERY convenient.

#!chris

I forgot to add that reading in the bathtub works perfectly, too.
Just put the device in a plastic bag, no wet page turning anymore...

I ... Anybody know why there's no e-text version of that book? Or am I ...

Find it Here ( http://www.xero79.com/docs/On-The-Road.txt)

Cheers!

honico
//

Um, honico? I'm not trying to be a jerk, really I'm not, but have you seen an e-ink screen? ....And the back-light thing is kind of a red herring.

I've seen only some produced last year, not for the Iliad or Sony--not impressive. Granted, the specs mentioned are good. But, the res. issue is really a moot one and not the major thrust. Text can be pretty scrappy and still be fine...if picture-less.
For me, the purpose of a backlight is to read where there is no available/ insufficient light. In bed, on the couch, in the unlit car-seat at night...it really won't matter how amazingly reflective the screen is. No light = No read. The add-on clip lights are...cute... Very cute looking glare creaters. And, no, I haven't used a clip-on light. I did however just use my small led flashlight on my Hiebook and decided it was a ''don't do''. -Referring to the Glare Factor, that is.
So, a built-in light is a must-have for me.
//

"No backlight?! I want to read in bed!" Yes, but reading with a backlight is ultimately uncomfortable and mayhaps a bit damaging to optic nerves...
Is this actually true, though? I know people say it, but is it true? Theoretically, light should be light, and whether it bounces off the screen or comes through it shouldn't matter. I suspect it's not thebacklight part that matters, but the type of light, particularly whether it flickers or not. That is, comparing an incandescent-bulb lamp to a flourescent backlight isn't a fair comparison. Which makes me wonder: do (O)LEDs flicker? Would they be easier on the eyes for people who find backlights annoying?

And yes, count me as a read-in-the-dark fan. I find it comforting to read my eBookwise in the dark with its just-enough internal light and not require external inefficient light sources blasting light all around the room.

Is this actually true, though? I know people say it, but is it true?

From what I've read, it's not a "backlight" as such, it's focusing for long periods of time at an emissive source. So any type of screen or light that actually emits light rather than reflecting it. Lights mounted in a device are reflective, but LCDs and CRTs are emissive. The people complaining about backlights, though, don't seem to mind whether they're really truly emissive backlights, just that the device provides its own light source.

Part of the problem is also due to screen flicker as the screen is redrawn - this isn't a big deal in LCDs or any screen you might find on a portable device, but is a problem with CRTs.

Another factor is the contrast ratio - low-contrast screens are harder to stare at for long periods of time. Sunlight on LCDs or CRTs can reduce the contrast so that you strain your eyes trying to view them.

None of these factors are present in an e-ink screen, but there's also problems with low-resolution displays - the brain might interpret something low-resolution as being "out of focus" and continually try and refocus your eyes or cause you to squint and get headaches. I guess this could be a problem with an e-ink screen. Probably not with text, but perhaps looking at images.

I'm not an eye doctor or anything, though. This is just what I've read about :-)

It the world becomes chaotic overnight, where will you charge the ereader battery?

Note to self: Self, rig up a solar cell charging unit for the Sony PRS.

One text that has been in my Palm the longest and now (thankfully) resides in the Sony is the ISO 9000 Specs. Many of the PDF documents have been easily converted to RTF. That was the easy part, formatting was hard. Now there is a macro by Stingo elsewhere (can't find it at the moment) that makes that a snap in Word.

As for it being a gadget, that was what my Father-in-law called the cell phone, what my Grandfather called the TV and what my Mother called the microwave. It is also what my wife called the first microcomputer I got back in the 70s.

If it makes life easier, more enjoyable, and richer then I don't care if its called a gadget, a tool, a fad, a utility, or whatever.

From what I've read, it's not a "backlight" as such, it's focusing for long periods of time at an emissive source. So any type of screen or light that actually emits light rather than reflecting it. Lights mounted in a device are reflective, but LCDs and CRTs are emissive. The people complaining about backlights, though, don't seem to mind whether they're really truly emissive backlights, just that the device provides its own light source.

Part of the problem is also due to screen flicker as the screen is redrawn - this isn't a big deal in LCDs or any screen you might find on a portable device, but is a problem with CRTs.

Another factor is the contrast ratio - low-contrast screens are harder to stare at for long periods of time. Sunlight on LCDs or CRTs can reduce the contrast so that you strain your eyes trying to view them.

None of these factors are present in an e-ink screen, but there's also problems with low-resolution displays - the brain might interpret something low-resolution as being "out of focus" and continually try and refocus your eyes or cause you to squint and get headaches. I guess this could be a problem with an e-ink screen. Probably not with text, but perhaps looking at images.

I'm not an eye doctor or anything, though. This is just what I've read about :-)

Spent a solid 4 hours reading a book last Friday with out any sore eyes.

Well, my two cents - why either/or? I think the readers are both a gadget and useful. BUT, I doubt that as many will find them 'useful' as people did the Palm when it was introduced. However, as airlines keep getting more restrictive on the amount you can take on board, the number of people finding readers useful could go up.

Some airlines in Europe, in theory at least, allow only 7 kilos in carry on baggage. A computer + case at around 4 kg, a magazine and a hardback book and you are probably at the limit. Bits don't weigh much and provide an alternative to paper that looks very good in that context. If I were in marketing at iRex or Sony, I'd be working with US & European airlines to loan readers to business class passengers on long haul flights. Preload a number of popular titiles...

Bottom line is those who are readers will read; whether scrolls, pbooks, ebooks or whatever. Nonreaders won't read regardless of media.

No, Sony's reader will not be the ultimate mechanism on which to read, just like my slide ruler (archaic calculating device for you youngsters) was not the ultimate calculating device. But I could not have gotten by without it at the time. I feel the same way about the Sony reader (and about my Palm TX) - I couldn't get along without it at this time. In ten years or thirty years, I may look back & wonder why. Maybe I'll have a direct mental link to a World Central Computer that will make any form of in-my-hand book obsolete.

In the meantime, I love my Sony reader --- but still want improvements. :thumbsup:

Bottom line is those who are readers will read; whether scrolls, pbooks, ebooks or whatever.

You forgot to mention the back and side panels of a cereal box :)

Now there is a macro by Stingo elsewhere (can't find it at the moment) that makes that a snap in Word. Here you go:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8793

:grin:

sorry folks, i'm an idiot.

i was confused, and posted
the wrong thing on this page.

i've now removed it from here,
and will post it where it belongs.

but while i'm here, i'll say that
i agree _totally_ with the position
that we need to think more broadly
thank books alone, in order to get
the critical mass that can make
_e-publications_ of all stripes fly...

-bowerbird

You forgot to mention the back and side panels of a cereal box :)

ROFL -

Village Reader - I use to have a teacher that used to say a real reader would read cereal boxes.

(At that time, I was also reading ketchup labels.)


Betty

All I can say is that you all work way harder than I do. I admire that! The thought of loading up documents and other work-related stuff on my Sony Reader so I can take it home, actually sickens me! Teasing, no offense meant! I guess I am way more lazy than you guys/gals. :)

I love to read novels and short-stories on my device. I love the fact that it is a "gadget," as well and being a sci-fi fan, it is just seems cool for me to be able to do this. And to tell the truth, I read more as a result of this sorta ebook revolution.

It's hard to explain. I read massive amounts of fiction when I was a teenager (I'm 37 now) but somehow, as I got older, life got busier and I really didn't buy paperbacks any more. Then, because of the cool factor, I wanted to try out the ebook situation. First using various PDA's for a while, then an eBookwise and now a Sony Reader.

So it was the cool gadget part that got me interested, but the actual content of what I was reading that made me stick with it. I had forgotten just how much I really LOVE a well written novel--it just takes me away and lets me escape.

Now of course, I can do that with a paperback, but honestly, I can "try" out a lot more titles via ebook technology than I would in Barnes and Noble. I have read books that I would never have thought to buy and now I feel sorta stupid that I missed out on so much good fiction throughout my life.

I mean, I would never have bought a book like Edgar Rice Burroughs "The Land that Time Forgot" because it would seem so old-fashioned. But I just "tried" it because of the free text on Gutenberg, and I really, really enjoyed it. I am a child of the '80 so I was reading Star Wars, Star Trek, things of that nature when I was younger--none of this "classic" nonsense! Boy did I miss out on a lot of good stuff

Now, as an adult, I still like that stuff, but because of sites like Gutenberg and Manybooks, I have experimented a lot more--Burroughs, Poe, Dickens, Wells, etc. Of course, this probably says more about my lack of culture as a result of growing up in a small farming community in the middle of nowhere! I never read the classics even when I was in high school.

And the cool factor allowed me to test out some new reading, and I'm hooked again. On a really laughable note, when I confessed to my co-workers that I had only recently read the book "A Catcher in The Rye," and never even really knew what it was about until I read the ebook, they looked at me like I was an alien for not knowing anything about such a well-known book (here in the USA anyway).

So for me it's a combination of usefulness and geekiness. I am only a mid-level geek though, I don't mind messing around for an hour or so, trying new formats, messing with conversion, seeing what it can do. But when you guys start talking about programming, hacking, taking it apart--um I get pretty lost.

Don't get me wrong though, it's because of you all that makes devices like this so cool. I mean, if the big company guys don't do it just right, you all go out there and write something or figure out some work-around. Amazing!

Sorry I rambled, but on a side note: My son is 16 and ebook reading is a way of life for him. He isn't impressed by it like I am, but he is totally comfortable with it and prefers it to other means. To him, it's more convienent to have so many books on one small device. He is totally frustrated that his school textbooks weigh down his backpack so much. And he has actually been asked to stop reading his ebook in class (they had freetime and were able to read any book they wanted) because his teacher never heard of ebooks and thought he was playing with some handheld gaming device. He even showed it to her and explained that he was reading, but she just didn't get it.

It's the attitude of people like her--can't be bothered to listen, scared of paperbooks dying, etc-- that make it difficult for ebooks to become standard. So it will be very interesting to see how much change the upcoming generation well make, because they have low tolerance for people who are afraid of technology. Not sure if that is good or scary, but it's the reality. :)