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Old 07-07-2007, 09:31 AM   #1
Bob Russell
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Reading e-books together with a friend or significant other

Katherine Mansfield said, "The pleasure of reading is doubled when one lives with another who shares the same books." A flurry of recent price breaks for the Sony Reader (apparently both intended and unintended) has me wondering how many of us are actually reading together with a friend or family member. Outside of book clubs or school assignments, does anyone actually do that anymore?

This topic naturally brings the Sony Reader to mind because of the way the Connect store is set up - you can read Connect store books with any of the Sony Readers set up on that same account. Even before the device was released, Sony had envisioned families reading together. Yet, I only know personally of one couple who does that. (They are MobileRead members, of course, and they read Baen science fiction. We discussed the Sony Reader over lunch last year, and they have since bought a pair of the e-ink devices.)

In this fast paced world full of so many entertainment choices, I wonder if the nostalgic idea of reading books together has just faded into a historical curiosity. I hope not.
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Old 07-07-2007, 09:38 AM   #2
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I don't think I could bear to read a book actually WITH someone as the picture shows, Bob . Reading the same book as someone else is a completely different thing. "Book clubs" are a very popular thing here in the UK; in these, a group of people read the same book, say, each month, and then get together and discuss it. Lots of (perhaps most) public libraries run such things, and they are popular in companies too - there's one at the company I work for.
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Old 07-07-2007, 10:24 AM   #3
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My mom is in a very low-key book club-- they read one book a year. (!)

My husband and I and a couple of other close friends tend to try to get one another to read books we've just read and liked so we'll have someone to talk with about them. The frustrating thing there is that generally we've got one copy between us, so we have to pass it around and wait for others to finish it.

So I suppose if we were all on one Connect account or something, we could all be reading new books at the same time, except that the books we're sharing generally aren't available on Connect (SF&F) and one person hates gadgets and another can't see the point of spending money on an electronic reader when we can just buy the book and share that. I think the days of ebook reader clubs aren't here yet, at least for my group.
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Old 07-07-2007, 12:12 PM   #4
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Personally I think only study books can come to this. Books such as the Bible and the Kuran also come to mind.

Here is a concept that would be a first. It would imply a nifty bit of programming though. Mobile read has a time code for regulation. Let's say that an author (Steve Jordan for example ) has a new book and wants to launch it, we could set a reading launch time and a chapter of the book's text could flow at 'X' number of words per second. In that way every one would read the beginning of the story at the same time. That first chapter could entice people to purchase his book(s). Or There could be a series of paragraphs set for different time launches as to organize everybody's time tables around them.
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Old 07-07-2007, 10:18 PM   #5
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Hmm...
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Old 07-08-2007, 12:39 AM   #6
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For us, there are a few hurdles. For one, she reads a lot faster than I do. For another, she's finishing a Dissertation, so only reads stuff related to that, and stuff like People Magazine and cookbooks to take her mind off the other.

But the biggest obstacle is that she won't read any of the things I suggest to her! The nerve!

Actually, there have been a couple of occasions when we could discuss things we've both read (most notably Jane Eyre, and Ender's Game) and the discussions were very interesting. I hope to be able to do more of it in the future, but I'm not reading Robert Elsemere -- gotta draw the line somewhere.
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Old 07-08-2007, 09:34 AM   #7
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I don't know where this idea gets you but it seems that one Sony Reader is as good as another. You can load yours and I load mine. At some point we trade readers. Isn't that like lending a book to a friend?
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Old 07-08-2007, 03:33 PM   #8
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eBooks on DVD Players

Interestingly, one of my authors, Michael Paulson, has been pushing me to experiment with DVD eBooks which would allow a family to read together (on the TV or with a dedicated DVD player). I've posted one of his books in this format, selling it for $10 including postage and DVD media (admittedly more expensive than our eBooks, but media and mailing aren't free), but so far sales have been underwhelming (here's a link for more info: http://www.booksforabuck.com/mystery...eadly_age.html).

I like the idea of families reading together. In contrast to watching TV together, it does give the opportunity for discussion and real interaction. As my wife reminds me though, (when I patiently wait for her to finish the darned newspaper so we can get on with the day), people read at different speeds. Still, it's an interesting experiment and I absolutely agree that being able to talk about what you're reading is a non-trivial part of the fun.

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Old 07-08-2007, 03:43 PM   #9
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Most of us are avid readers consuming text like snow by the sun. Our nature would require a drastic change to tolerate a lull into a story caused by waiting for the other to keep up. Any way my tender half has totally different tastes of subjects. We can't even agree on movies to watch.

They say opposites attract. After 28 years I'm inclined to agree. And I'll keep on reading alone.
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Old 07-08-2007, 08:16 PM   #10
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One of the ideas that I find really interesting about dotReader is that of book communities and a way of sharing comments with other readers as one reads. One could have a more private server, with only friends and family reading the same book(s), or one could connect to a server for a particular book and meet others who also really like that book, and perhaps learn about other authors or works that would be interesting. I don't think expecting people to read together "synchronously" would work as well as "asynchronously." People need to be able to read at their own speeds.
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Old 07-08-2007, 09:01 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami View Post
One of the ideas that I find really interesting about dotReader is that of book communities and a way of sharing comments with other readers as one reads. One could have a more private server, with only friends and family reading the same book(s), or one could connect to a server for a particular book and meet others who also really like that book, and perhaps learn about other authors or works that would be interesting. I don't think expecting people to read together "synchronously" would work as well as "asynchronously." People need to be able to read at their own speeds.
A handy family blog can be created by putting a tiddlywiki on your home computer -- easily changed and edited by anyone.
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Old 07-09-2007, 04:29 AM   #12
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Again, the main problem here is differing tastes.

That is, I primarily read SF, while my SO reads historical, romantic or parenting books.

Once i n a while one read a book by recommendation of the other ("You have to read it, I think you'll enjoy it!"), but it's not the norm.

OTOH, a thread have just been started in a google group we have with some friends in the spirit of book-forum some have explained above. Alas, it's by means of all purchasing the p-book et al (no electronic reading...).
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Old 07-09-2007, 11:20 AM   #13
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Cool Device Timesharing

Both me and my wife love the sony ereader, and have gotten numerous books from PG. Yes, we do have different tastes, but we both browse the other's books. (She has even found me reading her L.M. Montgomery books )

We have shared reading material like in the picture, but that is magazines and shorter stories. We have even developed a method when we are coreading web pages. BUT, I can't see us coreading the ereader as the device is too small for two person reading.

As for now, I am keeping an eye out for a next gen. ereader so that we can each have one. This is partially so we don't have to argue who get the ereader next , but more because having to switch between multiple books on the sony is really laborious. This is all about the UI. If there was a way to easily switch between the books that are 'opened', or do actual page jumping...

That being said, if I lived in the U.S. I would be applying for my sony credit card asap to get my $50 ereader.

And then I would move back to Canada
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Old 07-09-2007, 11:27 AM   #14
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I think reading together is not such a new idea. think about what has been going on in churches for centuries.
I think it's the form of the media that has constrained reading to be a solitary activity.
Currently PCs - PERSONAL Computers are entering the living room. More than half of the new PCs sold are media center PCs that a family can enjoy together in the living room. how soon until we'll start calling these FCs (FAMILY Computer) instead of PCs?
Here on MobileRead there have been ideas about a gian eInk screen that multiple people could read togther (maybe for the bedroom?)
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Old 07-09-2007, 11:41 AM   #15
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If there was a way [on the Sony Reader] to easily switch between the books that are 'opened' ....
Ask and you shall receive: have a look at item #2 in post #1 in this thread.
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