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Originally Posted by shousa
You like your ebook reader? 
Then respond to this thread to tell those of us (me included that really loves the IDEA) that cannot commit to purchasing an ebook reader.
Or did you buy it cause you love useless gadgets?! |
I find my PRS-505 indespensible. It gives me one option that nothing else can: Do you remember the old Sierra Online games, where your RPG character would be carrying 500 items, and not look like he had anything is his pockets? My PRS-505 lets me carry 200 books and not carry anything other than a small folder. Unlike a laptop, the battery life is great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shousa
Here are my arguments why all ebook readers now are SIMPLY NOWHERE NEAR GOOD ENOUGH for the average consumer IMHO.
If you have any financial or other ties to Sony, Hanlin, Cybook, Kindle or Irex then please do not participate at all, I want the view of the AVERAGE consumer not seller.
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I've got no financial ties, and I hate Sony.
I remember thinking that tape players were definitely not for the average consumer - the battery life was 25 minutes, and the tapes lasted 45 minutes. That was absurd. Add on the shorter commercial tapes that would not let you copy them, and I gave up until MP3 players came along.
MP3 players were adopted slowly, with some users using Napster, some ripping CDs, and a (very) few buying MP3 tracks. The same progression is occurring with eBooks.
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Originally Posted by shousa
If we take the views that
1) an Ebook reader tied to one ebook store will die because of restrictive DRM
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The PRS-505 that I use has never been connected to Sony's web site, and works fine as a PDF, JPG, RTF reader, & MP3 player.
Connect it to a PC and it works as a card reader.
The software from Sony will never be installed.
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Originally Posted by shousa
2) Ebook readers need more than one ebook store
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I use PDF, RTF, JPG, and MP3 files.
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Originally Posted by shousa
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Originally Posted by shousa
I challenge even one of the forum members to say they actually can use it for all their paperback needs,
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No, I don't. I just read a paper copy of Ken Alibeck(ov)'s "Biohazard."
This is like my continued use of tapes for audio books in my pickup when I had my first MP3 player. I found it easier to borrow a tape from the library and pop it in my pickup's tape deck, than to borrow it, rip it, copy it to my MP3 player, connect my MP3 player to a FM transmitter, and then play it. OTOH, 90% of my audio books were in MP3 formats. MP3 let me do things that tape players never did.
My PRS-505 lets me do things a paperback never will. I can carry every text book for 10 years in a 1 lb package.
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Originally Posted by shousa
including keeping ebooks forever,
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I have a 1TB library that I've built over a decade, that is mirrored and backed up off site. .PDFs that I create don't expire.
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Originally Posted by shousa
buying all the books they want (can only get 1 of Colleen McCulloughs critically famous Masters of Rome Series) the list goes on eg multiple web pages of any reasonable size do not work etc etc etc
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The Copyright laws in the USA don't force anyone to sell anything in any format. That's in the Constitution - Article I.
Of course, anyone who does not allow consumers the convenience of buying what they want in the format they want will loose in the free market. (Remember the recording industry?)
Currently, it's a PITA to publish eBooks due to formats, DRM, etc.
The EU us doing something interesting with standard DRM (which will not work due to standard cracks.) If we did have standard DRM, then more publishers could get into eBooks, as compared to the current format confusion.
Once more publishers get into it, they will be available. This may take decades. Think of the MP3 availability of music.
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Originally Posted by shousa
Are only techno freaks are buying ebook readers now? - I read somewhere Sony had poor sales records, if that is true I bet the CEO wished he had not got up at the annual general meeting with the Sony Ebook Reader touting how great it was gonna be.
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True, the early adopters of eBooks are techno geeks and book geeks. Right now I don't know anyone interested in an eBook who does not have several PCs and massive bookshelves.
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Originally Posted by shousa
Ebook reader = waste of money, can't get the books you want, DRM sucks, can't put webpages on it but can read old public domain stuff plus a very limited range of ebooks only.
Ebook reader lovers respond to this challenge or suffer the loss of face that silence will bring you!!  |
The books you want and the books I want are different. I get the books I want. You could have claimed that the music people wanted was not available form online MP3 stores in the early days of MP3s.
Here's a tip to publishers: If you want to sell books, sell them online. Also, include a CD in the back of the book that has the MP3 audio book and the eBook. The profits from audio books being sold separately pale in comparison to the huge sales advantage you would gain from people knowing that they get the book, ebook, and audio book for one purchase.
Our current model comes from the days of tapes that cost $20 for the media and replication. Today, CDs cost $0.10 each when packaged with a book. Even paperbacks could include mini-CDs.
When every Penguin book (for example) is known to come with a CD, they will get much more popular.
If you don't adapt to the market, the market will pass you by. It may not be fair, but it is reality.
Watermarking will allow you to limit piracy, and catch most idiots. Today's POS systems will allow you to track (by RFID) the individual eBook or MP3 back to one credit card. Track what you can, and send a polite letter from the author (have him/her sign it) to anyone who distributes their copies of your files. Ask Baen about their success in this area.
Andy