Quote:
Originally Posted by allen.gotwald
Azhad,
If I have the time to read 2 books per week (400 or so pages each) I can then assume I'll read 100 per year (that's a lot for me). 2000 e-books on the device would be 20 years of reading for me.
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That assumes that one is only reading linear books (books meant to be read from start to finish) and also assumes that one reads the same book through from start to finish. Not everybody wants to use the Sony Reader for for just fiction, and not everybody reads the same book straight through until they finish it.
For instance, the Reader could be an ideal tool for a lawyer, who would be jumping from reference work to reference work constantly, checking citations and precedents as well as reading weekly newsletters, etc.
Similarly, doctors/nurses could use the Reader for things like the PDR and other reference works.
I can see lots of potential for holding a library of 2000 or even 10,000 books for reference, not for straight-through reading. And it is Sony's lack of ability to envision this sort of usage which will forever keep this sort of device in the hands of hobbyists and geekfreak types who love electronic gadgets (like me!) and will keep it on the fringe.
With a bit more insight, a more useful interface for actively navigating through works in a non-linear fashion, useful links in book indices to allow easy, quick jumping around, this device could become something EVERY professional in EVERY field could make wonderful use of -- smaller than a notebook, easy to keep with you wherever you are, having complete libraries of reference works in a single lightweight device.
What Sony should have called it is the "Sony Linear-Book Reader for those who don't jump around within books or between books very often" and then they would have no problem with the truth in labelling commission.
There's more than one type of book, more than one type of personal reading style, and any device which a company wants to leap off the shelves into everybody's hand should take that into account.