G'day, my experiences so far, and thanks

[speedy611]

Hi All,

Firstly, thanks for all the valuable info stored here, the wiki, and for Alex for modding. I've lurked for the last month and found a lot of very useful hints here.

I'm in Sydney, Australia. I'm a IT professional, involved in publishing, so I have a professional and personal interest in e-publishing of all kinds.

I've recently had a sort of eureka moment, and am now reading almost exclusively using Stanza on iPhone. Thanks to comments here I'm also experimenting with Calibre, and FBreader on my netbook.

I've always read avidly. Books aren't that cheap in Oz (compared with the US / UK), and whilst that raises the dilemma of fair remuneration for authors, it still means that I think twice before buying. So, I've been delighted to find gutenberg press, and the ebook stores where things are half to a third of the cost of the dead-tree version, plus no shipping costs.

I've been having fun experimenting with devices too: my wife is trying ebooks for the first time on windows mobile using mobipocket, and I set a friend up with a converted book on her classic ipod.

Aussies may have seen a recent debate in the local papers here, about the merits of e-reading, resulting a few letters in the Sydney Morning Herald about the pros and cons. It's good to see this getting discussed.

I'm interested in the conversations I see on mobileread about screen types and sizes: I've not used a kindle or e-ink, but so far I've really enjoyed the intimacy of the iphone - reading in bed is so relaxing, and the configurability of stanza is fantastic. I love having 50 books in my pocket at any time, and I can't imagine that a bigger screen would make that better. As with all these things, each to their own.

Longer term: I'm hoping to run Calibre, or some homebrew web pages to make it possible to run a home 'virtual' library, so that guests, family etc can browse the available books and grab them to read during their stay. As and when ereaders get cheap enough, I'd get a couple for visitors so they didn't have to travel with books. I already do this via itunes for music, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Thanks for reading, see you around.

Mark

[montsnmags]

G'day, Mark, from another Marc (but one who spells his name the right way ). As an ex-IT Professional, and an ex-Sydneysider, we already have three things somewhat in common (I'd ask you whether you like or know any invisible gibbons, but some people here have told me that new folk are sometimes scared off by my questions, so I won't. Personally, I think they're perfectly reasonable enquiries).

I rarely read on my iPod Touch, though I've found no problems doing so when I have (usually late at night, after playing Gemmed for too many hours and still not feeling sleepy, but sleepy enough to not bother getting the book-light and Iliad/a book out). Like you, Stanza is my poison. With a decent book light ("My kingdom for a..."), I find the Iliad preferable to read on, for the e-Ink and for the size and for the ease of obtaining Public Domain works, but, just quietly to avoid cries of "Heresy!", I honestly prefer pbooks at this stage (partly swayed by the visceral pleasure I get from bookstore-browsing and book-buying ).

Incidentally, for fre-e-books, give MobileRead site itself a try. The books here are often lovingly formatted and corrected, because they're done by people wanting to read a lovingly formatted and corrected e-book.

Welcome, Mark. Please note, only about 50% of my post-content is generally worth listening to (and that's on a very good day). The welcome, however, is genuine.

Cheers,
Marc

[desertgrandma]

Oh, thank goodness. When I saw the signature, I was afraid Marc had gone totally insane.

Welcome to MobileRead, Mark. Stay away from Marc, and any libations he may offer. You've been warned.....

[MickeyC]

Hi Mark and welcome to MobileRead

[speedy611]

Thanks everyone, for the sincere and amusing welcome.

Marc seems perfectly sensible to me. Invisible gibbons are small beer for fans of Iain (M) Banks :-)

M

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by speedy611

Thanks everyone, for the sincere and amusing welcome.

Marc seems perfectly sensible to me. Invisible gibbons are small beer for fans of Iain (M) Banks :-)

M

Hah! Take that, DGMa! In your face! An Iain (M) Banks fan too!

Now can I get you a drink, M?

Cheers,
Marc (it's not a small beer, but it's like a small beer...except for the hallucinations and the time travel and the beachside stopover)

[GraceKrispy]

Glad I clicked on your thread. Welcome to the forum!

(while visions of small beers and invisible gibbons roll through my head... I actually have an Iain Banks book on my sony, but have not yet had time to read it, what with the other hundred or so books in there as well....)

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by speedy611

Thanks everyone, for the sincere and amusing welcome.

Marc seems perfectly sensible to me. Invisible gibbons are small beer for fans of Iain (M) Banks :-)

M

Everyone RUN! Now we have two on the board.

[speedy611]

Yes indeed! Iain messes with your head, so well worth reading. DON'T start with Feersum Endjin - it's far too odd. Eeeeease yourself in with The Business or A Steep Approach to Garbadale. Yes, alright, technically they aren't sci-fi, but they are still well written. They also don't involve gibbons, visible or otherwise. For a real kick, I sometimes read The Business followed immediately by Pattern Recognition (William Gibson).

GraceKrispy (do you have a donut problem? I used to live next door to a krispy kreme, and I'm sure I got fatter just inhaling the smell walking past) : I think you've hit on something interesting: There is a weight, a pleasurable pressureI think in having this amazing collection of books to read anytime, anywhere. One of the things I love is choosing the next book to read from my collection.

At the same time, it's easy to read junk all the time: I ripped through Charlie Hustons stuff (cos it's free everywhere , innit?), and it's fun, but empty. So, need to balance this with solid, weighty fare. (Its like fruit: you need enough, but not too much).

DG: I'd love to hear more of your story - I used to live in the desert southwest, and loved the heat and the starkness. I have a vision of you (completely wrong, I'm sure), wafting around in a kaftan, kindle firmly in one hand.

Now, I hope you'll excuse me, the gibbons are waiting.
M

[speedy611]

Oh, and I should have remembered, way back up the top of this: two words: Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is a wonderful, wonderful book.

Onward.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by speedy611

DG: I'd love to hear more of your story - I used to live in the desert southwest, and loved the heat and the starkness. I have a vision of you (completely wrong, I'm sure), wafting around in a kaftan, kindle firmly in one hand.

Now, I hope you'll excuse me, the gibbons are waiting.
M

"wafting in a Kaftan?" More like "wallowing in the pool"........I think I like you, Mark.

And I do love living in the desert. Actually, you'd never know with all the building, brick walls, grass and pools.

Took a tour of the White Tank Mountains last month. One of those guided Nature Walks. Except for the 103 kindergartners, it was fun. THATS the desert I'd like to live in...Saguaro, clean air, eagles and lots of different cacti. Most people look at that and just see rock and sand. I see a beautiful landscape, loaded with life.

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by speedy611

GraceKrispy (do you have a donut problem? I used to live next door to a krispy kreme, and I'm sure I got fatter just inhaling the smell walking past) : I think you've hit on something interesting: There is a weight, a pleasurable pressureI think in having this amazing collection of books to read anytime, anywhere. One of the things I love is choosing the next book to read from my collection.

No donut problem.... except when someone brings them to me! Then there's a problem. I can't stop eating them. But only the glazed or custard filled.

Actually, the nn is from college, when someone commented decided grace krispy was a great nick-- like rice krispy. Plus, she thought the name fit so well, as I am full of grace (NOT) <--this is me, but imagine the hand is actually a door I'm opening .... and walking into, simultaneously. I think that's talent. It's also a black eye.

but yes, I feel somehow *safe* having hundreds of books in my purse. Safe.

Originally Posted by speedy611

Oh, and I should have remembered, way back up the top of this: two words: Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is a wonderful, wonderful book.

Onward.

I started reading that book, and after about 5 pages couldn't quite get into it. But that's ok- it's a library book, and when I have more time and more brain cells to devote to it, I'll check it out again!

[groovyjoss]

Well this seemed like an appropriate thread to say hello in, on account of I am also australian.

can anyone link me to a thread that explains the best place to buy ebooks in australian dollars?

[speedy611]

Groovy - Hi. Where in Oz are you?

Can I ask if the australian dollar is the main issue? All the ebook sites (ereader.com, fictionwise, etc), take Aussie credit cards, so you can effectively buy from anywhere, even if the books are priced in USD

How do you like your Hanlin?

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by groovyjoss

Well this seemed like an appropriate thread to say hello in, on account of I am also australian.

Oh, no, it's a terrible thread to say "Hello" in! You're underestimating your importance. You definitely deserve your own thread, so you should go right to the Introduce Yourself (<---linky) forum and press the New Thread(<---linky) button. That way, it's all about you, groovyjoss.

can anyone link me to a thread that explains the best place to buy ebooks in australian dollars?

To be honest, I'm not sure what formats the Hanlin likes (that's your device, right?). In Australian dollars...well, there's always Dymocks who offer ebooks in multiple formats (note, I'm in any way recommending them in the slightest, though they are Aussie-dollar). However, is there a reason you want to specifically restrict yourself to Aussie-dollar (Australian) websites? Because, for instance, Fictionwise and Books on Board are fairly popular retailers, and I've used both and been perfectly happy. The MobileRead wiki also has a section devoted to E-Book stores. If you're at all interested in Public Domain/Creative Commons -type works, there's the MobileRead ebooks section where ebooks in multiple formats are freely available. If you've a preference for SF, a very popular book (both e- and p-) publisher is Baen, worthwhile doing a MobileRead search for positive opinions.

So, really, I've left the answer to your question somewhat open-ended. Personally, I'm quite happy buying from Fictionwise or Books on Board when I do buy ebooks, though my experience is generally Public Domain, so buying ebooks is not an often thing for me.

(And, by the way, I'm only joking about the "own thread" thing for your intro. You could though, perhaps should, and let us know who you are, where you live, what books you like, how a gas barbecue works, and whether you eat the red ones last)

Cheers, and welcome,
Marc