Did I make a mistake buying this?

[AbFabGab]

Also, check out Public Libraries that offer ebooks.
Mobile read has a page for Ebook Lending Libraries in the Wiki.

[DixieGal]

Expand your reading tastes. Visit bookviewcafe.com.

[kacir]

There are lots and lots of great books you can get for your reader legally without even paying anything.
At the moment I have some 10 books in my "to be read" pile.

When I was younger I used to visit library every week to get fresh pile of books to read. The books used to be very cheap here, yet I was never rich enough to support my reading "habit" by buying books.
So I became an opportunist. I never went to the library with a goal "I am going to get book XY by author ZT and I will not take anything else". Of course, sometimes you find an author and you try to get his next book, but it does not mean that you can not check out another 10 books in the meanwhile. I personally try very hard to get as many of Terry Pratchett's books as possible.

Try to approach the problem of getting books from an angle "let's see what I can get" instead of "I do not want anything except books from this list".

I am not suggesting that you start reading Shakespeare or Harlequin romances, but try to have a look around this forum part: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26

You might start with https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44129 (it looks that at the moment Mr. Morrison's page is down, but try later. The books are worth trying)

Go to the Sony store. They have about 7 books for $0, you might like some of those.

Also have a look at our e-books. Not everything there are old books.

[daffy4u]

Ditto on expanding your reading repertoire Carpethead. You've already opened your mind by purchasing an ebook reader, a new way to read. So why not continue the adventure by exploring different authors. You have everything to gain and little to lose.

[astra]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Expand your reading tastes. Visit bookviewcafe.com.

It is a bad solution. I would call it shrinking reading tastes because of ebook reader limitation. It is one of the biggest problems why many don't buy ebook readers. Because books they want to read are not available in ebook format.

[no.guru]

Many good suggestions here. I purchased a SR 505 just two weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier with it but I'm still a library patron.

eBooks for now, for me, are a vast expansion of what is available for me to read. But I don't see it replacing printed books for me, nor would I want that.

[khalleron]

I can feel for you, Carpethead. Although I was an early CD adopter, I waited years to buy a DVD player because Wim Wender's Wings of Desire wasn't available on DVD. I finally broke over when Fellowship of the Ring extended version was released. Now, I have literally hundreds of DVDs.

An ebook reader can expand your reading horizons the same way a DVD player expanded my film horizons. And if you like SciFi/Fantasy, you're in luck, because this is certainly the most common mainstream genre available in ebook format.

But don't limit yourself - reading is a great adventure. If you stick too close to familiar shores, you're missing the point. It's like buying a boat and leaving it tied to the wharf. Untie that ship and get sailing!

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by khalleron

I can feel for you, Carpethead. Although I was an early CD adopter, I waited years to buy a DVD player because Wim Wender's Wings of Desire wasn't available on DVD. I finally broke over when Fellowship of the Ring extended version was released. Now, I have literally hundreds of DVDs.

heh. wings of desire is the first dvd i ever bought. i did not yet have a dvd player at the time ; i bought one later, in order to watch it.

An ebook reader can expand your reading horizons the same way a DVD player expanded my film horizons. And if you like SciFi/Fantasy, you're in luck, because this is certainly the most common mainstream genre available in ebook format.

But don't limit yourself - reading is a great adventure. If you stick too close to familiar shores, you're missing the point. It's like buying a boat and leaving it tied to the wharf. Untie that ship and get sailing!

that is a lovely analogy.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by khalleron

I can feel for you, Carpethead. Although I was an early CD adopter, I waited years to buy a DVD player because Wim Wender's Wings of Desire wasn't available on DVD. I finally broke over when Fellowship of the Ring extended version was released. Now, I have literally hundreds of DVDs.

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

heh. wings of desire is the first dvd i ever bought. i did not yet have a dvd player at the time ; i bought one later, in order to watch it.

Great to see few fellow Wings of Desire fans I had a VHS copied from TV for years before I bought the DVD. BTW, khalleron, I think it was released on DVD well before Fellowship of the Ring, if I'm not mistaken.

[Gravitas]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Iain M Banks' work is available as ebooks on Waterstone's site:

http://www.waterstones.com/waterston...=&pageNumber=0

I don't know about any of the others you mentioned, but I have that bookmarked as I plan to get them at some point

uh-oh - that right there has just tipped things in favour of me upgrading from my PRS 500 Just checked, the Sony site only has Matter, Use of Weapons and Look to Windward

I love my PRS 500, but I also love Iain Banks' books too (currently have them in paperback but electronic would be so much handier)

[coase]

I don't see why we can't acknowledge that the original poster was right, and made a mistake. I like the Reader a lot, but only because I like reading older stuff and I plan to keep buying the many books I tend to read that aren't in ebook form or that I prefer to keep on my shelves.

Ditto for all those who don't like the limited contrast, or small screen, or lack of color or what have you.

For some people, the Sony Reader is wrong and we should say so. Hopefully, this will push companies to have better Readers and for publishers to be more forthcoming with their ebooks.

[astra]

Originally Posted by coase

I don't see why we can't acknowledge that the original poster was right, and made a mistake.

I totally agree with you.

I love my reader, the best thing I bought in the last 10 years but only because I didn't allow anyone to force me to expand artificially my reading habbits and am able to read on it what I want to read, not what they would impose on me or limit me in my choice.
If someone is not prepared for the fight or is not keen on classics or the latest bestsellers (but not in Sci-fi or Fantasy) or romance, then tough. They have to wait for at least 3 to 5 years and buying ebook reader now is a big mistake.

[netseeker]

I live in a country (germany) where ebooks are still rare compared to pBooks. I'm happy with the Sony anyway. It's a little bit difficult to get all the titles i want but it's possible and more and more publishers are offering german ebooks. Beside that the MobileRead-upload section offers a lot of good public domain titles for free. I never felt that i could have made a mistake.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Gravitas

uh-oh - that right there has just tipped things in favour of me upgrading from my PRS 500 Just checked, the Sony site only has Matter, Use of Weapons and Look to Windward

I love my PRS 500, but I also love Iain Banks' books too (currently have them in paperback but electronic would be so much handier)

Ease of carrying them around, unlikely to fall apart after several re-reads...

And from my point of view... no more annoying cover art changes, and keeping them all together in one place

[BlackVoid]

This is a HUGE problem, the publishers do not really support ebooks. And they think it is fair to price them at the price of paper books. Ridiculous.