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Old 11-19-2009, 11:44 AM   #13
calvin-c
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chobo2 View Post
Is that book made for the kindle? Since I am guessing books that are made to be on the kindle are checked to make sure it looks half decent at least.
If you read more threads on MR you'll find many saying that you're wrong. Mostly in the idea that they're *checked* to make sure they look good. As I understand it (I don't have a Kindle) if the source is well-written (from a technical standpoint) then the conversion produces a decent-looking book. But AFAIK nobody actually checks the output to see how good it looks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chobo2 View Post
Hmm that really sucks. How about converting pdfs(even though I hear that is hard to do). Is there some good format that will work with computer books.
As others have mentioned, the basic problem with technical books on ereaders is the size of the screen. Even in full 8.5"x11" technical books I often find graphics that are too full of detail for me to read them. Often I copy/enlarge them (usually onto 11"x17" because I've got a copier that can do that).

With a large enough screen PDF should be a decent format-but I can't find an ereader with a large enough screen, for me, so I read technical books either on my workstation (28" screen) or, if I need them to be mobile, on my laptop (17" screen).

BTW, I don't understand your comment "I don't like reading them on computers, they go obsolete pretty fast". The only difference I see between reading them on computers vs reading them on ereaders is mobility & display. I would certainly agree if you're talking about reading treebooks-anything that requires frequent updating is, IMO, best obtained electronically.
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