E-Books vs. Dead-Tree Books: An Alternate Dialogue

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by carandol

I suppose the answer to that is that it won't be long before there are are mobile phone/PDAs with fold-out e-paper screens for when you want to read; they're almost here already. The mobile phone with inbuilt movie projector is just around the corner too.

As it happens...
http://www.reuters.com/article/email...63412420080121

The only problem with the multifunction device that you use for reading, watching movies, communicating via phone/email/im, keeping contacts and appointments, researching, writing, taking photos, and recording your band's latest album -- is that your whole life grinds to a halt when the dog swallows it!

You must have a very big dog.
______
Dennis

[carandol]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

You must have a very big dog.

I don't have a dog at all -- for precisely this reason!

An author friend of mine is currently searching high and low for his life's work, which was on a USB stick with a cord attached -- being interesting and dangly, the cats have taken it away somewhere to play with.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by carandol

I don't have a dog at all -- for precisely this reason!

An author friend of mine is currently searching high and low for his life's work, which was on a USB stick with a cord attached -- being interesting and dangly, the cats have taken it away somewhere to play with.

"Ooooohhhh! String!"
______
Dennis
Who has had both cats and dog simultaneously. Kitten decided dog was Mommy. Dog was very confused...

[Cthulhu]

Regarding multi-functionality, am reminded of the phrase

Jack of all Trades, Master of none.

Before I got my new Treo, tried reading on old 650. Granted, for short bits and certain "intimate" actvities it was OK, but really, when I read I want to enjoy it.

Dedicated devices shave their place and their benefits.

The Readius indeed looks promising. I'll not part with my Treo anytime soon though, despite the many headaches it brings.

As for e-v-p books? I'll be quite happy when my bookshelves are traded in for artwork or chotchki display cases. Books are information, not trophies.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Regarding multi-functionality, am reminded of the phrase

Jack of all Trades, Master of none.

Before I got my new Treo, tried reading on old 650. Granted, for short bits and certain "intimate" actvities it was OK, but really, when I read I want to enjoy it.

I started reading ebooks on a Handspring Visor Deluxe, with a 160x160 low-res grayscale screen. I began with technical refernces, but discovered I could read and enjoy fiction as well. Next device was a Visor Pro, which had a faster processor and more RAM, but the same screen. After that came a Tungsten E, with a 320x320 hi-res color screen, and then my current Tapwave Zodiac 2, with a 320x480 hi-res color screen.

I enjoy reading on all of them. If I hadn't, I wouldn't still be doing it.

I'd like a larger screen, with higher resolution, and I'd accept a larger size, but I wouldn't accept less functionality.

If someone put out a device that does what mine does, in a Sony Reader or similar form factor, but with color and touch screen capability, I'd get one. You don't carry one in your pocket, but I don't carry my PDA in my pocket now.

There's simply a limit to how many devices I'll carry. I don't want a converged device because I don't care for the compromises the form factor imposes. The screen on a smartphone is too small for some of the things I'd do with it, but a device with a large enough screen is too large to be a useful phone. I have a tiny low end Nokia phone. It places and receives calls, and can share an address book with my PC and PDA. That's fine by me: that's all I want it to do. I have a PDA that is combo PIM, MP3 player, video player, photo viewer, games device, pocket reference on everything, and ebook reader. It does all of them well enough to suit my needs.

I'll carry a cell phone and a PDA. I won't carry a phone, PDA, and ebook reader.

Dedicated devices shave their place and their benefits.

The Readius indeed looks promising. I'll not part with my Treo anytime soon though, despite the many headaches it brings.

As for e-v-p books? I'll be quite happy when my bookshelves are traded in for artwork or chotchki display cases. Books are information, not trophies.

Depends on the books. Some of my signed first editions are indeed trophies.
______
Dennis

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I'll carry a cell phone and a PDA. I won't carry a phone, PDA, and ebook reader.

______
Dennis

That's where our philosophies differ, Dennis. You're obviously happy with a combined PDA and bookreader and have a separate phone. I've chosen to go with a combined phone and PDA (an "HTC Touch" Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone) and have a separate bookreader. I want to always have my PDA and phone in my pocket, and have a paperback-book-size bookreader.

That's a decision I reached after many years of reading on PDAs - most recently an HP iPaq 4900 with a 4" 640x480 screen.

We all have to find what's right for us personally in these things. Personally I'd never go back to reading on PDAs now I've experienced larger-screen eInk devices.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's where our philosophies differ, Dennis. You're obviously happy with a combined PDA and bookreader and have a separate phone. I've chosen to go with a combined phone and PDA (an "HTC Touch" Windows Mobile 6 Smartphone) and have a separate bookreader. I want to always have my PDA and phone in my pocket, and have a paperback-book-size bookreader.

That's a decision I reached after many years of reading on PDAs - most recently an HP iPaq 4900 with a 4" 640x480 screen.

We all have to find what's right for us personally in these things. Personally I'd never go back to reading on PDAs now I've experienced larger-screen eInk devices.

We're similar in that we have two devices. Would you willingly carry a third?

I'm glad you have a solution that fits your needs, and HTC makes some very interesting products. I'm afraid I'm likely allergic to Windows Mobile, but I might be tempted by an HTC product running Android.

Personally, I'd like to have a device that performed the functions of my PDA in a larger form factor. I'd love a larger screen. A screen that just isn't big enough is the biggest reason I'm not interested in a smartphone.

If someone would make a device in a package along the lines of a Cybook or Sony PRS-505 that supported color and did what my PDA does, I'd grab it.
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Dennis

[Cthulhu]

Dennis:

Sounds like you might one of the fifteen people who would actually buy a Palm Foleo.

Personally, I will be very surprised if there are still dumbphones available in another ten years.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping that in that time Kindle & the PRS have colour.

Oh, nearly forgot:

Death to the tree-killing acolytes of papyrus! A hail our electronic Overlords!

;-

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Dennis:

Sounds like you might one of the fifteen people who would actually buy a Palm Foleo.

Nope.

I was one of the folks that thought Palm should never have invested the time and money to produce it, and thought that killing it was the right thing to do.

Palm wore Treo blinders, and designed and positioned the Foleo as a companion product to the Treo, only really useful if you had a Treo.

Silly of them. Folks who have Treos who could use something like this probably have a laptop. If they have a laptop, why would they buy a Foleo? It can't replace a laptop, and they sure as hell won't carry both when they travel.

They needed a device that could be useful if you didn't have a Treo.

If Palm had produced a device in the Foleo form factor, with Linux under the hood ala the ASUS eee, and which oh, by the way, integrated seamlessly with a Treo if you had one, I'd have bought one in a heartbeat. I like the ASUS eee, but I'd like a device like that with a larger screen and keyboard even more.

Palm had made noises about possibly revisiting the Foleo once they get their Linux based upgrade to Palm OS done, and could run the same OS on both platforms. A device like the Foleo running the same OS as the Palm handhelds has a lot of potential. We'll see if they are bright enough to do it.
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Dennis

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Personally, I will be very surprised if there are still dumbphones available in another ten years.

Do you mean a cellphone that's just a cellphone (with no PDA functions)? They'll be around. Not everyone needs or even wants to carry around a device the size of a smartphone. When I pick out a cellphone, I try to get the smallest one I can. My phone is one of the things that's always in my pocket, along with my keys, wallet, pens, and flash drives. My last cellphone was the Nokia NGage QD. It was a nuisance to carry so I usually left it sitting in somewhere.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Do you mean a cellphone that's just a cellphone (with no PDA functions)? They'll be around. Not everyone needs or even wants to carry around a device the size of a smartphone. When I pick out a cellphone, I try to get the smallest one I can. My phone is one of the things that's always in my pocket, along with my keys, wallet, pens, and flash drives. My last cellphone was the Nokia NGage QD. It was a nuisance to carry so I usually left it sitting in somewhere.

My cell phone is a tiny low-end Nokia. It places and receives calls. That's all I want it to do. I have a PDA to cover the other functions, and don't mind carrying both.

No "converged" device I've seen interests me, because making it small enough to be a usable phone makes it too small for much of the other stuff I do.
______
Dennis

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Oh, nearly forgot:

Death to the tree-killing acolytes of papyrus! A hail our electronic Overlords!

;-

Purely in the interests of mindless pedantry I feel compelled to point out that papyrus is actually made from reeds, not trees .

[Cthulhu]

Harry: In my defense, I said "Acolytes." So I meant the people who have over the years enhanced/changed the process of murdering helpless vegetation all in the name of having somewhere to leave their memoirs.

Was attempting to be cheeky, but I can see how melding the two media of written text could be a bit confusing.

;-

@ Dennis & Nate: Am not trying to pick a fight, but have you seen the new Blackberry's? They are not much larger than a Razr, though maybe with bigger thighs. Even so, a number of regular phones re being loaded with additional applications, like GPS, streaming music. I really believe that most cellphones will evolve be convergent with PDA's.
I can see your point. My Treo 755 is a bit chunky, but I like a sturdy girl who can get work done. My phone has made my job much easier on a number of occasions.

As for people's personal choice of convergence? I suppose that we must agree to disagree.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

@ Dennis & Nate: Am not trying to pick a fight, but have you seen the new Blackberry's? They are not much larger than a Razr, though maybe with bigger thighs. Even so, a number of regular phones re being loaded with additional applications, like GPS, streaming music. I really believe that most cellphones will evolve be convergent with PDA's.
I can see your point. My Treo 755 is a bit chunky, but I like a sturdy girl who can get work done. My phone has made my job much easier on a number of occasions.

Yes, I've seen them. Same fundamental problem for me: I want a bigger screen.

My current PDA was procured when my old Tungsten E was in the process of dying. My specs for a replacement were simple: faster processor, more RAM, larger screen. Especially larger screen. The TE had a 125mhz CPU, 32MB or RAM, and a 320x320 screen. The Zodiac has a 200mhz CPU, 128MB or RAM, and a 320x480 screen.

If I could get something in the form factor of the ASUS eee that did the same things my PDA does, I'd happily switch. Bigger screen, and real keyboard. But it would be way too big to use as a phone.
______
Dennis

[DaleDe]

Yea, I see AT&T just announced a palm phone with 2.2 inch screen. No matter how good the resolution and it s 320x320 the size is too small.

Dale