WSJ: You Can Enjoy a Book On a Mere Cellphone (Hit Spacebar Now)

[chrissy]

An article on reading books on a Blackberry is in the WSJ today:

You Can Enjoy a Book On a Mere Cellphone (Hit Spacebar Now)
April 16, 2008; Page B1

Until a few weeks ago, my assumption had been that a useable electronic book would need to resemble a Gutenberg book as much as possible, with, for example, pages of screen text about the same size as pages of print. I had heard reports that Japanese commuters were using cellphones to read books. But I figured that was sort of the thing only Japanese commuters would ever see fit to do.

The Sony Reader, however, turned out to be a gateway device. Once you've experienced its great rush of convenience, choice and portability, you just have to have more. It's then that you cross the line and start downloading British novels onto a BlackBerry.

Actually, the logic of reading a book on a BlackBerry, or its kin, is pretty straightforward: You have the thing with you, so you might as well make the most of it.

And it's not what you're thinking. Your thumb doesn't fall off turning teeny-tiny digital pages thousands of times to get through even the most fleeting novella. In fact, the ergonomics almost beats that of books.

The device cradles in your palm and shows you a few dozen words at a time. By default, your thumb is resting on the keyboard and you simply nudge the space bar to move on to the next page. (At least with the Mobipocket software I use.) You quickly stop thinking about it as turning pages and more as taking another effortless step down a path.

The biggest drawback to the experience involves the sheer proximity of the Internet and the constant temptation it provides for the aforementioned thumb to wander away from the realm of timeless literary art toward a cheap, quick-information fix in the form of email or blogs. This is one of the cultural problems of our time and I don't have much to offer in the way of solutions, save to nag everyone about steely self-discipline.

You can try any of this yourself at virtually no cost. The software you need is free and versions are available for most of the popular mobile devices. Do a Web search for "e-books" and you'll get pointed in the right direction.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1208...38118045.html?

Can anyone here share their experience reading books on a Blackberry?

[TadW]

Thanks chrissy. But you left out the best part (emphasis mine):

Prices are all over the map. A digital best seller might cost just a few dollars less than a print version, though growing lists of out-of-copyright books are available free of charge. Alexander Turcic, whose mobileread.com blog follows the industry, says the selection is improving. In fact, nine of this newspaper's current top-10 fiction best sellers are available at sites such as fictionwise.com.

[chrissy]

Good point, TadW! If this already happens when I read the article on a regular screen, I wonder what will happen if I start reading books on my BB...

[alia]

Exciting! I haven't read on a Blackberry, but I have a PalmTreo that I really like. Can't be beat for convenience. I love my Cybook, but I really only use it while traveling... my phone is always with me.

I was really happy about this article because while not everyone is willing or able to shell out $400+ for a reading device, EVERYONE has a phone. And the more people who read eBooks, the more the selection improves for us (so yay!). I wish they'd mentioned BooksOnBoard for the eBook retailer though... their site is much friendlier for first time users (they literally walk you through every step of downloading books, uploading them to your devices, etc here: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=tutorials). I'm all about accessibility. And cheap prices

[JSWolf]

And while you read on your cell phone, you then run down the battery so when you need to make or receive a call, you cannot. Good luck!

[Lemurion]

I have an eBook reading program on my regular Nokia (6126) it only handles text files but it's a higher resolution (though smaller) screen than my partner's Treo 750.