Whats that you have? An E-reader??

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by troykm

i have had my e reader for 3 months and take it with me everywhere i go, at work a lot of people are asking me about it, most are asking stupid questions and im getting tired of showing it to people who ask about it. has anyone else had stupid questions like this?


Can i get the bible on it? (how the hell would i know?!)

-- Say "No, mine is the atheist model?"

Where do you work, in a pub in Collingwood?

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

The following of your comments are highly condescending:

1.)A reader is not a crude computer and has no aspirations to be one. It is meant as a reader and not a computer. Yes, multi function devices will come, but a reader never claims to be more than a reader -- even though some people always hope for that. I myself will buy a multi function tablet once the technology is "right" for reading.

No, it is a crude computer the same way those TI calculators they sell at stationery stores are crude computers. Further, one could say ebook readers try even harder than said calculators in that many of them try to offer features like music playback and photo (haha) viewing, and of course some offer games and other fun features. What's always amused me is that none of the default out-of-the-box readers have a calculator function.

2.)The screen technology is not primitive. It is a different, special technology suitable for reading. The most advanced LED/OLED screens with super high resolution and refresh rates cannot offer the same usability. You make it sound like it is a step back from LCD.

It is primitive. A dictionary should help clear that up.

You are not satisfied, so it is time to get over it and prepare yourself to sit out the next 3 years until something comes along that fills your special needs. Why make it your life's mission to turn people off to e-readers? They are good enough for most people.

Assumptions like this are why I find this site amusing and enjoyable.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Does anyone know the best way to clean a spit-take out of a keyboard?

Shop-vac.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by GhostHawk

I guess I'm the opposite, I LOVE being an ambassador for Ebook readers.

I take mine with me everywhere, hoping someone will ask me questions.
I love to show it off. Although for the most part I have not run into the questions you've run into.

For me they are mostly

A Is that a Kindle?
"No its better than a Kindle"

B What else does it do?
Pictures and Mp3's, but I just read with mine, lots and lots of books.

C How many books can you put on it?
"over 500 at the moment" (that was with my old 512mb sd card, running 4g now)

Yep! Good for you. I've gotten many inquiries about my Sony (usually start by saying, "Is that a Kindle?" as well as my Kindle, and I am happy to answer questions and hopefully get another user on-board the ebook train.

[ardeegee]

I've always had similar problems with dead tree books-- someone always has to ask you if it is a good book (no, it is horrible, I'm reading it just to torture myself) and whatever scrap of paper you are using as a bookmark, someone always-- even in they never touch anything else on your desk or area-- always has to pick it up and look at it.

[Dahak]

Originally Posted by troykm

Does it have an inbuilt printer? (i did not even bother answering that one)

do you have any amusing questions from stupid people when they see your e reader?

troykm :-)

I gotta say... that printer question is a bit of a head-scratcher.

I got my Rocket eBook reader back in December of '99 as an early Christmas present for myself. (I blame an author friend of mine for making me read an entire manuscript on my computer's CRT screen for driving me buying the reader. That was the first and last book I read on my PC.)

Another thread I've posted in today relates to the most common question I ever got regarding it: 'Is that a Kindle?'

Talk about the power of perception. Due to Amazon's sheer advertising muscle, many people believe that the Kindle is the 'original' eBook reader.

[dmikov]

Originally Posted by eGeezer

Sorry, folks, but I agree with the sentiments expressed by LDBoblo and HaggisMacJedi.

You all sound like a bunch of experienced gamers who trash the new players for wanting to learn the game.

Fortunately, some of you have come thru with cooler heads. But I'm surprised some of you are the same people who make this forum such a welcome place for people trying to learn about ereading.

I've seen posts in this forum (from "some of us") asking the same questions, or lamenting that ereaders don't yet have many of the very features you are condemning unknowledgeable people for asking about. No one treats THEM like they just fell off a vegetable truck.

I sort of realize this was intended as a humorous thread, but I fail to see the humor.

At all.

There's no such thing as a stupid question -- only a learning opportunity. I thot that was what this forum was all about.

------------------------ 2nd edit, in the morning light

After rereading the thread, I find that my biggest reaction is to the characterization of the people asking the questions as being "stupid". I don't believe asking uninformed questions makes the person stupid.

There is a difference between stupidity and ignorance. Stupidity is a derogatory term for the inability to learn. Ignorance is a state which can be overcome thru education. (Even those who refuse to learn are not stupid, just holding tightly to their euphoric ignorance)

Yes, many of the questions are humorous in the light of our knowledge, but I would hope that the (mostly demeaning) answers were not the ones actually given.

Well here is my take on it after dealing with a lot of ignorant vs stupid people working in IT.

1. Stupid question is a question that can be answered by the originator if they just spend 3 seconds thinking about it.

There fore it is easy to identify it, if it looks like the question will fill the gaps in the knowledge of the issuer it's from ignorance. If the question just hangs in the middle and violates all common sense laws like "do you have to download books", then it's bona fide stupid remark and you can laugh and make fun of the person. Seriously I would've answered "no you have to retype them in" and walked away fast.
Thank you for that list.

[Terisa de morgan]

Well, I can change "Is that a Kindle?" for "Is that a Papyre?", because I live in Spain Some persons have asked me about the e-reader (few, I suppose the same reason nobody has said me anything or looked weird about my book covers -typical romance-, I don't look very friendly ), but they had questions about capabilities, prices and things like that, nothing else.

[Lirael]

I was really surprised, actually, when I had mine with me and one of my co-workers asked, "Ooh, you have a Sony! Why did you choose that one over Kindle?" so at least they recognized what it was. xD

I don't get really strange questions; mostly, people just ask to look at the screen and then are pleasantly surprised at just how much it looks like a paper book. One of them actually said he'd been thinking about getting one, but thought the screen would be like a computer screen and hurt his eyes - but after learning about the e-Ink screen, he was definitely planning on getting a reader.

[fugazied]

I think the general public expects video on small devices because of the incredible things phones can do.

I get a few inquiries about my DX, I'm always happy to answer them in detail because it means another ebook convert and more money going into the technology. I get the odd question about video but most people know what it is and just want a closer look.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Well, I can change "Is that a Kindle?" for "Is that a Papyre?", because I live in Spain

Hmm... I'm in Spain too, and nobody has mentioned the Papyre to me, but I've been asked "is that the Amazon thingy?" a couple of times

[HaggisMacJedi]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Hmm... I'm in Spain too, and nobody has mentioned the Papyre to me, but I've been asked "is that the Amazon thingy?" a couple of times

So out of curiosity then, what's the Spanish word for "thingy"?

[t-town]

I got kind of a strange reply to my kindle, yesterday my nephew came (not so little nephew) and I was reading on my Kindle. He asks "hey, is that some kind of e-reader?". What a surprise anyone I know knows about e-readers. (ps: I'm in Belguim , Europe so no advertising at all about these things.)

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by eGeezer

Sorry, folks, but I agree with the sentiments expressed by LDBoblo and HaggisMacJedi.

You all sound like a bunch of experienced gamers who trash the new players for wanting to learn the game.

FWIW, most of us who are snarky about stupid questions *here* are not snarky in person.

"Stupid questions," in my mind, aren't the ones like "is that a Kindle" (I refrain from answering, "yeah, it's the special red edition... it goes faster!") or "how much do the books cost?" (I mostly don't care; I don't buy DRM, and fanfic is free.)

Stupid questions are "do you have to download books for it?"... because what *other* options would there be? "Does it have a printer?" ... anyone who knows the very *basics* of how to operate a printer, should be able to glance at an ebook reader and say, "no printer here."

While I try to be polite in person, I'm not going to fret if someone who asked a stupid question gets embarrassed when they realize that thirty seconds of thought would've answered it for them.

All that said--I like being an ambassador of ebooks; I point people to Mobileread and try to tell them that there's more than the Kindle available. (And I get asked questions just often enough that I'm seriously considering changing my transit reading habits; currently, I usually can't show them what I'm reading to show off the e-ink screen. There's no lurid covers on the fanfic I read, but the text certainly makes up for it.)

[katysax]

I commute to work on the train from a distant suburb. There are a large number of regular train riders using Kindles. I'm the only one I've seen with a Sony reader. Many people read on their cell phones. There are a lot of passengers reading paper books. a few laptops, and lots of ipods. Almost no one reads the newspaper any more and very few read magazines.