New to the Forum and ranting already!

[Elsi]

This year, I have read about 40% on my reader(s) and 60% in paper books. I'm a member of a book swapping group and must do my part to keep the paperbacks moving on their way.

While the e-Ink screen has a slightly lower contrast that ink on paper, that's not a problem unless I'm in an area with low lighting -- like my sister's living room. As long as I make sure there's plenty of light, I don't have any problem with my reader.

Because one of my readers is a Kindle, and because I live in the USA, I can get almost any recently published book at close to a reasonable price. For SF and fantasy, Baen's Webscription site will keep me supplied with more than I can read in two year's time. And, the 3-5 free books supplied each month by publishers like Random House and Harlequin means that I really don't have to worry too much about having something to read.

I still frequent used book stores -- and even spend money for new books when the mood strikes. If the book is one that I want to use in my book swapping group, I buy paper. If it's one that I want to read but not swap -- and particularly one that I think my sister, daughter, or niece would want to read -- I buy an electronic copy. (My sister, daughter, and niece are all on my Kindle account so we can share the books.)

This past week, my hubby drove us from TX to VA and I packed a small box of paperbacks to read along the way, but when we take off from Dulles airport on Wednesday heading to Ireland, I'm only going to have my electronic readers with me. I'll get back to the paperbacks when we drive home to TX at the end of September.

I'm sorry that you're having trouble finding electronic books to buy. There've only been a very few that have not been published in electronic format -- at least of the books that I'm interested in buying. On the other hand, I find it truly annoying when I find a recent release published for the Kindle, think I might enjoy reading it but it's the 4th or 9th of a series, and then discover that the earliest books in the series are not available for the Kindle. It's a nuisance to have to hunt down a used paperback so I can read into the series.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

"ugly HTML files" - so convert it, it takes about 2 minutes

Convert to what exactly? ePub? That's what I meant by "ugly HTML files". To typeset the books I do for my reader, I normally spend at least a couple of hours before I have an adequate PDF.

"low contrast monochrome" - I do not know what you are referring to. The PRS-700? Because other readers are high contrast.

All e-ink devices have low contrast. I have a PRS-505 which is reputed to be top-end in the contrast category, and every e-ink device I've seen has been a pathetically low-contrast affair...I can hardly tell the quality difference between a 505 and a 700 because although I can see the 505 looks punchy juxtaposed with the 700, they're both pathetic when viewed in isolation.

"extremely slow response times" -- ?? Page turning on my PRS-505 is faster than turning a paper page.

Not being disabled, I find this completely untrue, but that's beside the point. Global and semi-local navigation with these devices is the real joke, even though single-page turning is pretty pathetic too.

"availability issues, DRM issues, price issues" - that, I agree with. Add to that eBabel and poor software from the manufacturers. Oh my. Some basic conversion tools to native formats should be included with any eReader.

I'd say apart from the devices themselves, the rather irritating ways that publishers and producers are trying to leech this bandwagon is the worst part of the whole ebook situation nowadays. It's like the companies have replaced their designers and marketers with lawyers and short-sighted economists.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sheesh, why bother.

My primary motivators for purchasing my first reader a couple of weeks ago is that VAST amount of public domain CLASSIC LITERATURE available and the ability to check out new releases from the library.

That's enough for me.

Not everyone lives where there is a large quantity of English books available, and shipping gets quite expensive.

I read some classical literature on my reader, but I discovered that if I like the book, I normally just end up trying to find a proper paper version of it.

I think the saving grace for me isn't the availability, and certainly not the quality, but the thickness for packing in a bag (and saving shelf space in theory, if I didn't keep buying the superior paper copies of the ebooks), and the ability to hunt through my digital library after I finish a book so I can start a new one almost instantly. I'd think it great for having a collection of quick materials like magazines and newspapers for casual entertainment while waiting somewhere, but ebooks still are pretty awful for those applications as well.

I'm a believer in the concept and potential; I'm simply dissatisfied with the execution thus far.