[radius]

Originally Posted by Timboli

P.S. For the record, no simple flap covers pass muster for me. If it is not full protection both front & rear, plus sides (device inset from edge), then it doesn't even appear on my radar. The cover has to be like thick (let's say 2mm) cardboard, only tougher than cardboard, waterproof (as in splash proof, obviously not immersion), and while heaviness is not a big issue for me, my general rule of thumb, is anything lighter than a standard hardcover novel, can pass muster ... I am always willing to trade off a weight though for improved protection.

Ah, I would have called that a case instead of a cover. I believe most of Mobileread would as well.

I read one handed on the bus and every extra ounce is a nuisance. So is any extra mechanical complexity. There is no way I would read a hardcover novel in those conditions either.

In fact, I read outside of the house at least twice as much as I do at home, always without protection. I have never damaged a screen.

And honestly, I can't abide slippery phones, tablets or ereaders ... not only do they feel b-grade, but you are just asking for trouble. I can savor the feel of my covers and grip them easily and ruggedly, without fear of cracking the screen.

What is b-grade about the materials used for electronic devices? They are typically made from glass and aluminium with some textured plastics. That is no worse than the vinyl, or cloth of many ereader cases. Even hardcover books are usually just cardboard and cloth. I don't know about your reading budget, but I don't have a library full of leather bound books with embossed, gold leaf covers

A book should be an experience in my view. It should open up, and have both a left and right page (right being where the device sits). It should feel nice, smell nice, and definitely look less like some tech toy as possible ... got enough of those. In short, an ebook should be as much like a traditional book as possible.

So as many know, there are people who listen to music and then there are those who love music. It is the same for books. Some dive in deep for the whole multidimensional experience, and some are just happy swimming in the shallows.

I find this very condescending. It is fully possibly to love reading and books without loving the physical artifact of a paper book; those readers can be just as much book lovers as someone who caresses and smells each book lovingly before opening it with reverence. And you can also love both. Do all books, like old pulps or hack romance novels for example, even "deserve" the luxury book binding treatment?

It's fine for you to feel that the essence, or Platonic ideal of a book includes certain feel in the hand and certain smells, and even certain memory evocations, but that would not increase ebook and ereader adoption in my opinion. Cost is the overwhelming driver. Adding the features you want is technically feasible, but would not work in the mass market because it adds cost. If customers were really all that bothered about the physical feel of books, then hardcovers would dominate book sales and they don't.

Maybe there is a market for high end ereaders with the features you'd like, but so far we have seen that price is more important by far for the average reader.

P.S.S. If someone spills a drink on the coffee table (etc) where your book is sitting, and it is a physical book, then at worst, you have wrecked one book. An ereader on the other hand, without a decent cover, is an expensive door stop ... not to mention the issue of where it may be your only one.

Here I think you are looking at the physical ereader as being equivalent somehow to physical books. That's not the way I see it at all. My ereaders are more like magical portals that allow me to scry into my *REAL* library which exists nowhere and everywhere at once. And a ruined reading device does nothing to harm any book in my library.