Users of E-Book Devices - I need your help!

PEAL · 07-29-2009, 07:12 PM

Hello

I am a danish student of media science doing my master's thesis in e-books and therefore looking for users of E-Book Devices. If you own or use one - of any kind - I would be very happy if you could answer the following, simple questions.

Please use this link to the online survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...lEaWueWA_3d_3d

Thank you very much for your help!

Peter

Elfwreck · 07-29-2009, 07:57 PM

1. In what year were you born? 1969

2. What's your line of work? Litigation support: Scan, copy, & print legal documents

3. Where do you live? Oakland, California, USA

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Mostly fiction, and many web articles converted to ebooks.

5. When do you use it? Every day. I read on the train while travelling to work, and during lunch, and often for about an hour in the evening.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS-505, and some older Sony Clié PDAs; I have 3 of those with different numbers.

7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love reading ebooks on the portable reader, but they still have a ways to go before being useful business or academic tools. None of them have good annotation support at a price that makes them worthwhile for widespread use.

mgmueller · 07-29-2009, 08:04 PM

1. In what year were you born?
1968

2. What's your line of work?
Sales (outsourcing, offshoring)

3. Where do you live?
Germany, Bavaria, Augsburg (close to Munich)

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
fiction, self-help and development

5. When do you use it?
In the evening, at night and when traveling (plane, train)

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Sony 505, Sony 700, BeBook, iRex iLiad, iRex 1000S, Cybook Gen 3 and have ordered Cybook Opus 3 days ago.

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
I've started reading ebooks on PDAs in 2000. I very much enjoy, having 100s or even 1000s of books permanently with me. I love dictionary support, usually reading in foreign language. eInk in my opinion already is close to perfection. I hate the DRM situation, very much would prefer a single standard format, supported by all devices.
From a business perspective, obviously Amazon and Sony rule, because of selling devices PLUS content, whereas the other suppliers simply lack revenue opportunities and loose ground because of that.

kazbates · 07-29-2009, 08:10 PM

1. In what year were you born? 1959

2. What's your line of work? Elementary School Teacher

3. Where do you live? Northern Virginia, USA

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction

5. When do you use it? Every chance I get. At least 3-4 hours per day.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony 700 and EBW1150, although the Sony is my main reader now.

7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love ereading and hate to go back to reading paperbooks. I started ereading over 2 years ago and have bought only a handle of paperbooks since that time and I spend at least $100 US on ebooks every month.

PhishStyx · 07-29-2009, 11:37 PM

1. In what year were you born? 1970

2. What's your line of work? Writer of roleplaying games & fiction

3. Where do you live? Virginia, USA

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction & roleplaying game books

5. When do you use it? I use both of my all the time, and my DR 1000s has replaced my weighty hardcopy books at the game table

6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Amazon Kindle 1 and iRex DR 1000s

7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love both my e-book readers, but especially the lightweight quick access capability that my DR offers me to all of my game books, characters and other self-produced documents in PDF. And my Kindle allows me to take multiple books on a trip while using minimal weight and space with a high legibility factor in a nice crisp format.

toomanybooks · 07-30-2009, 01:23 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1976

2. What's your line of work?
Bookkeeping

3. Where do you live?
Monterey, CA

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Fiction

5. When do you use it?
All day whenever I have a few minutes to read.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Sony PRS 505 Red

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
I love it. It is perfect for reading novels and short stories. It's a great way to read a 1000 pages plus novel.

Dylrob · 07-30-2009, 03:37 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1985

2. What's your line of work?
Restaurant Host.

3. Where do you live?
Nevada, USA

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Fiction

5. When do you use it?
Whenever I am out and often before bed (though I try not to make a habit of this as often I'll continue reading instead of going to sleep).

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
I do own a Sony PRS-500, however it is broken now. Currently I use my PPC6800 smartphone.

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
The Sony was a pleasure to read on. The 6800 is okay, though I feel cramped by its 3" screen.

Gaurnim · 07-30-2009, 03:50 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1979

2. What's your line of work?
IT services

3. Where do you live?
Lyon, France

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Fiction

5. When do you use it?
When commuting, during the meal break, and before sleeping.
I also use it when I have to wait for an appointment or for any other reason.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
CyBook Gen 3, plus a Palm Tungsten T5.

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
EInk is wonderful. There is still some potential for improvement but it is already very useable.
The Cybook fits my needs. More features is often better, of course.
All those different formats and DRM are a very serious obstacle to the development of the market.

Ea · 07-30-2009, 04:34 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1972

2. What's your line of work?
IT development, web applications

3. Where do you live?
Denmark

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Books (primarily fiction)

5. When do you use it?
At home, bus/train, when travelling

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Sony Reader 505, iPod Touch, Hanlin V3

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
The convenience of a reader device (weight, size, portability, I can carry a whole library, bigger font sizes than books), quite overshadows the downsides (contrast could still be better, DRM and no consensus about file formats is a big hassle, no books in Danish (yet)**)

** I'm lucky that I've always preferred English and American authors

Kostas · 07-30-2009, 04:34 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1961

2. What's your line of work?
Engineer

3. Where do you live?
Athens, Greece

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Mostly fiction and news feeds.

5. When do you use it?
Amost every day, mostly at home.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Sony PRS-505, Blackberry Bold

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
I'm a newcomer (1 month). My first impressions is that it's still is an expensive gadget, far from being perfect, but better than I thought when I decided to buy an ereading device.
Pros are obvious (lightweight, huge choice with you all the time, instant buying, eink display is quite good...).
Cons: Technology is still immature (too many freezes on several devices), reading experience not bad but still not as good as on paperbooks, very difficult to have access to content adapted to ereaders (not pdf files) for europeans, even in english language.

sony_fox · 07-30-2009, 04:37 AM

1. In what year were you born? - why do you want to know. 70's

2. What's your line of work? - science

3. Where do you live? - UK city

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) - fiction

5. When do you use it? - daily

6. Which E-Book Device do you own? - Sony 505

7. What's your verdict (quick)? - excellent. can be improved, but very good.

Sweetpea · 07-30-2009, 04:38 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1974

2. What's your line of work?
Software developer, primarily web applications in MS .NET

3. Where do you live?
the Netherlands

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Fiction and recently comic books

5. When do you use it?
Whenever I can, never leave home without your e-reader

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Fujitsu Siemends Pocket Loox 720 (PDA) and the JoinTech JE100 (7" LCD ebook device)

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
I always had a book with me, wherever I went. Now, since I started reading ebooks at around 2001, my book takes less space and contains my entire library. Couldn't live without it anymore, I think...

Lo Zeno · 07-30-2009, 06:15 AM

1. In what year were you born?
1982

2. What's your line of work?
Software developer, web application mostly

3. Where do you live?
Italy

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
A wide array of things... Technical documentation (programming languages), classical books, fiction (mainly sci-fi and Star Wars fiction), fantasy, roleplaying games handbooks, cooking recipes, news feeds...

5. When do you use it?
Whenever I have a moment free, I turn on my device and read.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
Hanlin V3

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
It has its defects, and it's not as pure white as paper. And pictures are awful on e-ink screen. And sometimes .lit ebooks freeze. But still, I'm VERY happy: I can carry all my books with me, and I can read something everytime I have 5 minutes free.

lukasfikr · 07-30-2009, 12:37 PM

1. In what year were you born? 1969

2. What's your line of work? Senior Hydrogeologist/Environmental Geologist

3. Where do you live? Calgary, AB, Canada (originaly from Czech Republic)

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction, Czech books, articles

5. When do you use it? When I have time ...

6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS-700, HP iPaq 210, BlackBerry Pearl

7. What's your verdict (quick)? Great, but with some problems - i.e. languages with "special" accents.

pdurrant · 07-30-2009, 01:42 PM

1. In what year were you born?
1964

2. What's your line of work?
Programming Computers

3. Where do you live?
England

4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.)
Fiction

5. When do you use it?
Every day. While waiting for things. In a spare half hour. Before bed.

6. Which E-Book Device do you own?
CyBook Gen3

7. What's your verdict (quick)?
Very good. Will get a lot better over the next five years.

07-29-2009, 07:12 PM	#1
PEAL Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: none	Users of E-Book Devices - I need your help! Hello I am a danish student of media science doing my master's thesis in e-books and therefore looking for users of E-Book Devices. If you own or use one - of any kind - I would be very happy if you could answer the following, simple questions. Please use this link to the online survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...lEaWueWA_3d_3d Thank you very much for your help! Peter Last edited by PEAL; 08-07-2009 at 07:25 AM.

07-29-2009, 08:04 PM	#3
mgmueller Member Retired Posts: 3,308 Karma: 13024950 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets	1. In what year were you born? 1968 2. What's your line of work? Sales (outsourcing, offshoring) 3. Where do you live? Germany, Bavaria, Augsburg (close to Munich) 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) fiction, self-help and development 5. When do you use it? In the evening, at night and when traveling (plane, train) 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Sony 505, Sony 700, BeBook, iRex iLiad, iRex 1000S, Cybook Gen 3 and have ordered Cybook Opus 3 days ago. 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I've started reading ebooks on PDAs in 2000. I very much enjoy, having 100s or even 1000s of books permanently with me. I love dictionary support, usually reading in foreign language. eInk in my opinion already is close to perfection. I hate the DRM situation, very much would prefer a single standard format, supported by all devices. From a business perspective, obviously Amazon and Sony rule, because of selling devices PLUS content, whereas the other suppliers simply lack revenue opportunities and loose ground because of that. Last edited by mgmueller; 07-29-2009 at 08:08 PM.

07-30-2009, 04:34 AM	#9
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	1. In what year were you born? 1972 2. What's your line of work? IT development, web applications 3. Where do you live? Denmark 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Books (primarily fiction) 5. When do you use it? At home, bus/train, when travelling 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony Reader 505, iPod Touch, Hanlin V3 7. What's your verdict (quick)? The convenience of a reader device (weight, size, portability, I can carry a whole library, bigger font sizes than books), quite overshadows the downsides (contrast could still be better, DRM and no consensus about file formats is a big hassle, no books in Danish (yet)) I'm lucky that I've always preferred English and American authors Last edited by Ea; 08-12-2009 at 07:22 AM.

07-30-2009, 12:37 PM	#14
lukasfikr Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Cowtown, Alberta Device: Sony PRS-650, Kindle 3, Apple iPad/iPhone 4	1. In what year were you born? 1969 2. What's your line of work? Senior Hydrogeologist/Environmental Geologist 3. Where do you live? Calgary, AB, Canada (originaly from Czech Republic) 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction, Czech books, articles 5. When do you use it? When I have time ... 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS-700, HP iPaq 210, BlackBerry Pearl 7. What's your verdict (quick)? Great, but with some problems - i.e. languages with "special" accents. Last edited by lukasfikr; 07-30-2009 at 12:51 PM.

07-29-2009, 07:57 PM	#2
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,185 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	1. In what year were you born? 1969 2. What's your line of work? Litigation support: Scan, copy, & print legal documents 3. Where do you live? Oakland, California, USA 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Mostly fiction, and many web articles converted to ebooks. 5. When do you use it? Every day. I read on the train while travelling to work, and during lunch, and often for about an hour in the evening. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS-505, and some older Sony Clié PDAs; I have 3 of those with different numbers. 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love reading ebooks on the portable reader, but they still have a ways to go before being useful business or academic tools. None of them have good annotation support at a price that makes them worthwhile for widespread use.

07-29-2009, 08:10 PM	#4
kazbates Wizard Posts: 2,627 Karma: 406616 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Northern Virginia Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2	1. In what year were you born? 1959 2. What's your line of work? Elementary School Teacher 3. Where do you live? Northern Virginia, USA 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction 5. When do you use it? Every chance I get. At least 3-4 hours per day. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony 700 and EBW1150, although the Sony is my main reader now. 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love ereading and hate to go back to reading paperbooks. I started ereading over 2 years ago and have bought only a handle of paperbooks since that time and I spend at least $100 US on ebooks every month.

07-29-2009, 11:37 PM	#5
PhishStyx The me that I am Posts: 413 Karma: 1078 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: In my house! Duh! Device: Kindle 1 & DR 1000s	1. In what year were you born? 1970 2. What's your line of work? Writer of roleplaying games & fiction 3. Where do you live? Virginia, USA 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction & roleplaying game books 5. When do you use it? I use both of my all the time, and my DR 1000s has replaced my weighty hardcopy books at the game table 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Amazon Kindle 1 and iRex DR 1000s 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love both my e-book readers, but especially the lightweight quick access capability that my DR offers me to all of my game books, characters and other self-produced documents in PDF. And my Kindle allows me to take multiple books on a trip while using minimal weight and space with a high legibility factor in a nice crisp format.

07-30-2009, 01:23 AM	#6
toomanybooks Addict Posts: 302 Karma: 1039424 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Ipad, Ipod Touch, KIndle Fire	1. In what year were you born? 1976 2. What's your line of work? Bookkeeping 3. Where do you live? Monterey, CA 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction 5. When do you use it? All day whenever I have a few minutes to read. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS 505 Red 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I love it. It is perfect for reading novels and short stories. It's a great way to read a 1000 pages plus novel.

07-30-2009, 03:37 AM	#7
Dylrob Murderous Mustela Posts: 10,141 Karma: 47366760 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The other land of schnitzel and beer Device: iPad M1 Pro, Kindle Paperwhite	1. In what year were you born? 1985 2. What's your line of work? Restaurant Host. 3. Where do you live? Nevada, USA 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction 5. When do you use it? Whenever I am out and often before bed (though I try not to make a habit of this as often I'll continue reading instead of going to sleep). 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? I do own a Sony PRS-500, however it is broken now. Currently I use my PPC6800 smartphone. 7. What's your verdict (quick)? The Sony was a pleasure to read on. The 6800 is okay, though I feel cramped by its 3" screen.

07-30-2009, 03:50 AM	#8
Gaurnim Final Five n°42 Posts: 789 Karma: 3599 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lyon, France Device: Cybook Gen3	1. In what year were you born? 1979 2. What's your line of work? IT services 3. Where do you live? Lyon, France 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction 5. When do you use it? When commuting, during the meal break, and before sleeping. I also use it when I have to wait for an appointment or for any other reason. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? CyBook Gen 3, plus a Palm Tungsten T5. 7. What's your verdict (quick)? EInk is wonderful. There is still some potential for improvement but it is already very useable. The Cybook fits my needs. More features is often better, of course. All those different formats and DRM are a very serious obstacle to the development of the market.

07-30-2009, 04:34 AM	#10
Kostas Still wondering why Posts: 253 Karma: 800 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Athens, Greece Device: PRS 505, (BlackBerry Bold ?)	1. In what year were you born? 1961 2. What's your line of work? Engineer 3. Where do you live? Athens, Greece 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Mostly fiction and news feeds. 5. When do you use it? Amost every day, mostly at home. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Sony PRS-505, Blackberry Bold 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I'm a newcomer (1 month). My first impressions is that it's still is an expensive gadget, far from being perfect, but better than I thought when I decided to buy an ereading device. Pros are obvious (lightweight, huge choice with you all the time, instant buying, eink display is quite good...). Cons: Technology is still immature (too many freezes on several devices), reading experience not bad but still not as good as on paperbooks, very difficult to have access to content adapted to ereaders (not pdf files) for europeans, even in english language.

07-30-2009, 04:37 AM	#11
sony_fox Zealot Posts: 109 Karma: 84 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Manchester Device: Kobo Auroa H2O	1. In what year were you born? - why do you want to know. 70's 2. What's your line of work? - science 3. Where do you live? - UK city 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) - fiction 5. When do you use it? - daily 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? - Sony 505 7. What's your verdict (quick)? - excellent. can be improved, but very good.

07-30-2009, 04:38 AM	#12
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	1. In what year were you born? 1974 2. What's your line of work? Software developer, primarily web applications in MS .NET 3. Where do you live? the Netherlands 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction and recently comic books 5. When do you use it? Whenever I can, never leave home without your e-reader 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Fujitsu Siemends Pocket Loox 720 (PDA) and the JoinTech JE100 (7" LCD ebook device) 7. What's your verdict (quick)? I always had a book with me, wherever I went. Now, since I started reading ebooks at around 2001, my book takes less space and contains my entire library. Couldn't live without it anymore, I think...

07-30-2009, 06:15 AM	#13
Lo Zeno Addict Posts: 202 Karma: 4379 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Italy Device: Hanlin V3 (with lBook firmware & OpenInkPot)	1. In what year were you born? 1982 2. What's your line of work? Software developer, web application mostly 3. Where do you live? Italy 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) A wide array of things... Technical documentation (programming languages), classical books, fiction (mainly sci-fi and Star Wars fiction), fantasy, roleplaying games handbooks, cooking recipes, news feeds... 5. When do you use it? Whenever I have a moment free, I turn on my device and read. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? Hanlin V3 7. What's your verdict (quick)? It has its defects, and it's not as pure white as paper. And pictures are awful on e-ink screen. And sometimes .lit ebooks freeze. But still, I'm VERY happy: I can carry all my books with me, and I can read something everytime I have 5 minutes free.

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07-30-2009, 01:42 PM	#15
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,495 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	1. In what year were you born? 1964 2. What's your line of work? Programming Computers 3. Where do you live? England 4. What do you read on your device? (fiction, newspapers, articles ect.) Fiction 5. When do you use it? Every day. While waiting for things. In a spare half hour. Before bed. 6. Which E-Book Device do you own? CyBook Gen3 7. What's your verdict (quick)? Very good. Will get a lot better over the next five years.