*Steampunk* Coiner Predicts the Death of eReaders

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by carld

Nope, they still make single-purpose handheld electronic games. Battleship is one example, but there seem to be plenty on the market.

Good point! I gladly withdraw my errant nomination.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Sadly, I have to forgo this discussion until some time tomorrow or very late tonight, as I have a reading to do later and need to format one of my books to ePub and LRF to read from on my PRS-950 in a few scant hours.

I did, however, want to ask a few quick questions.

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Originally Posted by Hellmark

Gameboys have gone the way of the dodo. Nintendo discontinued it years ago.

I seem to be missing your point. The Gameboy was succeeded by the Gameboy Advance and the DS, and iterations of the DS are still strong, just as the Wii is the direct descendant of the Gamecube. And while the DS is different in the sense it can be used as a multimedia device in limited ways, it is still a gaming platform primarily, and until only recently was dependent on physical media just like the Gameboy.

BTW: The Gameboy has had a second life as an 8-bit musical instrument for rather a long time. I mention that not in reference to your argument but because I like the idea. How might future funsters modify and use an eInk device?

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Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Scifi authors are often visionaries who have written of things that come to pass. Steampunk writers, not so much.

Staying away from your mystifying statement about steampunk writers in general (how many have you or I actually read?), I have to ask: Why are you drawing a false distinction between science fiction writers and steampunk writers? Steampunk in the original sense is science fiction.

First, Jeter is a veteran science fiction writer who happened to coin the word steampunk in 1987 to describe someone else's work. His best-known books aren't associated with steampunk at all. Besides which, a few of his better cultural/technological guesses have trumped Dick, Gibson and other SF writers (as did his aesthetic, which Dick clearly incorporated).

He's written a few novels that he himself would describe as steampunk, but so have other many other established science fiction writers (most famously, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling in The Difference Engine). He isn't some frighteningly prolific fanhack who embraced the term as a lifestyle or self-definition.

Also: If you're looking for someone who trivializes or opposes the existence of your eReader to go after, you've got the wrong person. Jeter actually reproofs and formats the eBook editions of his novels himself.

I know of other established writers who push their publishers and agents to make eBook editions available, but very few of them insist on doing all the work.

That guy, gentlepersons, does.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

How might future funsters modify and use an eInk device?

I'm thinking an entire wall of eInk screens and an electrical/magnetic "paint can" would make a pretty cool medium for graffiti artists.

Or hi-tech Etch-a-sketches that don't erase when you shake them.

[bZkindle]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm thinking an entire wall of eInk screens and an electrical/magnetic "paint can" would make a pretty cool medium for graffiti artists.

Or hi-tech Etch-a-sketches that don't erase when you shake them.

Yeah, as a canvas... that's a pretty good idea!

EDIT: race you to the patent office!

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Scifi authors are often visionaries who have written of things that come to pass.

Steampunk writers, not so much.

Actually, I think that sf writers overall have a pretty bad track record at predicting things that have/will come to pass. Which is not really bad; that's not their job. SF (like all utopian literature) is really about the present. Or it is about travel and adventure. Which is why it's interesting, although it's also why so much of it can become badly dated. SF mags in the 70's, after the oil shocks, were filled with futures in which energy was short and everyone had to conserve. Basically, the same thing that was in the papers.

I prefer my escapist literature to be escapist.

Although Asimov writing in 1958 (in a future history, as an aside) that the first man on the moon was commander Armstrong in 1970 is just downright weird.

[aktarian]

I think "multifunction trumps dedicated devices" may be true for average user with low expectations.

Smart phones/tablets allow you to take pictures, watch movies, listen to music and surf the net but you get an average output.

You get much better picture and more options even with average camera. If you are satisfied with "I was there" and group photos of people at some party then smart phone is for you. If you are even average photographer you'll get dedicated digital camera.

You can watch movies but you'll be restricted by screen size. If you plan on watching YouTube videos and news clips just to stay in touch then OK. If you want better picture and sound you'll watch them on computer or TV.

Music will be same if you listen it on earphones.

You can surf the net but are again limited with screen size. If you plan on using it only to stay current on social network sites than OK but nobody will use it do do serious work.

Swiss army knife is same. Everything it can do you can do with other tools better, but Swiss army knife has those things in one package and they do job well enough.

I think ereaders will survive because they offer little but require little. It can be used to read books and that's it. But they also cost less than tablets and eink gives better reading experience. And that's how it should stay. If you start adding additional capabilities you end up with poor man's tablet that comes close to tablet capabilities but also their price.

Sure, if you have tablet anyway you'll use it to read books and not buy dedicated reader. If you don't have and don't plan on buying one you'll buy ereader for part of the cost and get what you want in the end.

[jtdolphins]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

As the price of readers comes down, more families can afford to give them to (reasonably responsible) children. The number of those must be comparable to the number of adult "serious readers". And there should be enough public domain reading material of interest to not have to worry about the cost of e-books for a while.

I actually made this case a month or so ago at a homeschool meeting. We are out of bookcases again! Instead of hunting the library or used book sales, get a ereader, I recommended the 99$ Kobo, and download the free books. I am a guy who likes tech and the only guy in the group.

It took awhile for the idea to sink in as it was something most of the moms had never thought about. Once they realized that there are a LOT of public domain books the idea started taking hold. I also went over checking out books from the library, which is why I recommended the Kobo. Now they are seeing it as a very good alternative as they looked into it.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Nonsense. I'd rather see a child of mine playing something like Final Fantasy Tactics (it teaches math, strategy, and the fact that sometimes your opponent is a cheating...) than one of the eleventy-billion Twilight knock-offs that I strongly suspect were churned out by a novel-writing computer as opposed to an actual human being. .

One of the best games EVER! Totally agree!

I thought it was supposed to be a room full of Monkeys not computers?

[anamardoll]

@jtdolphins,

That is a really cool idea. I was homeschooled for awhile and I would have LOVED an ereader for my text books.

Totally self-promoting here, but if the moms want a "how to get library books" video to refer to if they forget your instructions I HAVE MADE ONE. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn4IaEzBeys

Dunno how useful it will be, but I made it for MY mom, so there's that.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jtdolphins

I actually made this case a month or so ago at a homeschool meeting. We are out of bookcases again! Instead of hunting the library or used book sales, get a ereader, I recommended the 99$ Kobo, and download the free books. I am a guy who likes tech and the only guy in the group.

It took awhile for the idea to sink in as it was something most of the moms had never thought about. Once they realized that there are a LOT of public domain books the idea started taking hold. I also went over checking out books from the library, which is why I recommended the Kobo. Now they are seeing it as a very good alternative as they looked into it.

I'm glad that you are out there raising awareness. I hope it works out well. Keep us informed.

Well, for homeschooling, you also get to pick the textbooks. You might want to look into the CK-12 series. I haven't read any of them, so I have no recommendations one way or the other. But they have been recently written, and the price (free) is right.

There is also the hundred year old "Calculus Made Easy" by Thompson. Many love it and many hate it. I haven't read that yet either.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jtdolphins

I recommended the 99$ Kobo, and download the free books. I am a guy who likes tech and the only guy in the group.

I also went over checking out books from the library, which is why I recommended the Kobo. Now they are seeing it as a very good alternative as they looked into it.

I don't know whether it will work with library books, but you might also consider the Pocketbook 360. It can read Adobe DRM epub. I think the 5 inch screen and hard snap on cover would make it great for kids.

It's also a bit pricier, but maybe you can get a quantity discount, though that might apply to other e-readers as well.

[anamardoll]

I LOVE my PocketBook 360.

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Actually, I think that sf writers overall have a pretty bad track record at predicting things that have/will come to pass. Which is not really bad; that's not their job. SF (like all utopian literature) is really about the present. Or it is about travel and adventure. Which is why it's interesting, although it's also why so much of it can become badly dated. SF mags in the 70's, after the oil shocks, were filled with futures in which energy was short and everyone had to conserve. Basically, the same thing that was in the papers.

I prefer my escapist literature to be escapist.

Although Asimov writing in 1958 (in a future history, as an aside) that the first man on the moon was commander Armstrong in 1970 is just downright weird.

Arthur C Clarke was one sf writer who really did get a lot of future tech right! He even predicted the tablet computer (in "Imperial Earth" I think?). I must have a look at some of his older books as they are full of little technical "bits & pieces". He had a background in science and a knack of turning theory into real-life tech.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

On the one hand, I do think Jeter's looking at it from an overly American-identified POV, hence the reduction of the market to those two stores.

He's not doing a very good job of it. He's leaving out other shops in the USA that sell ePub. He needs to also realize that eBooks are not just an American thing. They are world wide and world wide, ePub is the clear leader. Amazon's Mobipocket is 2nd place.

Though he could possibly be correct about multifunction devices taking over from single use readers. Especially if the price is cheap enough vs. the eink readers. That would be a real shame as no other device used for reading eBooks has even close to the battery life of an eink reader. And for the long haul, that is important. Yes, the iPad2 gets about 10 hours of battery life, But there have been times when I've been away from a power outlet for more then 10 hours and the iPad2 would have been dead before I got to a socket.

[jtdolphins]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I don't know whether it will work with library books, but you might also consider the Pocketbook 360. It can read Adobe DRM epub. I think the 5 inch screen and hard snap on cover would make it great for kids.

It's also a bit pricier, but maybe you can get a quantity discount, though that might apply to other e-readers as well.

I forgot to talk about the pocketbook. It was written down because of the cover but it wasn't one I knew a lot about. Our library promotes the nook, so I covered that along with the kindle. For homeschool families price is a huge factor and sub 100 seemed to be a good price. I had a kobo at the time, which I really liked.

I hadn't thought about getting a group discount. B&N do have specials for homeschool families. Thanks for the idea.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Actually, a lot of people have traded their huge flatscreens for Netflix on netbooks and ultralights, just as they chose eInk over luxurious physical libraries.

Or they just buy a blu-ray player that streams netflix to their big screen TV.