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I haven't been able to watch the movies yet (blocked while I'm here at work) but one comment did get me thinking. I'm not sure why, but I like buying eBooks much better when I'm buying a specific book. Browsing in an eBook store seems almost painful compared to browsing in a brick & mortar store.
Somehow I feel certain that it doesn't have to be that way, that it's just a matter of the 'state of the art'. Sort of like the (minor) frustration I have when reading an eBook. Basically it's too difficult to flip back & forth thru the pages trying to look something up.
Examples:
A book with a map at the beginning. For the first few chapters, at leasat, I keep flipping back to the map to see where the places that are mentioned exist in relationship to each other. Or a list of characters.
This can be done with links-but that takes work, usually on the author's part. Maybe some day there will be software to create these links automatically. Then it'll be a question of whether or not the readers want every single name in a book to be underlined. Seems to me that could be distracting-I'd rather leave it to somebody's judgement as to which & how often names should be linked.
A book with a progressive plot. I guess that's the best way to explain it. Say on page 20 it mentions that Dave is Charlie's son. Then it doesn't mention Charlie for another 80 pages & when it does, it expects you to remember who he is. Sometimes it's not important-other times I flip back & skim thru until I find where it mentioned Charlie, then refresh my memory before resuming my reading.
Yes, all that can be done in an eBook-setting bookmarks, etc. But it's just too difficult. (For one thing, bookmarks are permanent. What I need for this is the electonic equivalent of sticking your finger between the pages to keep your place. Once you return to it the 'bookmark' disappears.)
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