Calibre + epub = I buy a reader!

veysey · 08-28-2009, 03:38 PM

Greetings all!

When Sony announced their new readers a month ago, I was prompted to re-examine the whole e-ink idea. I've long been a scientist and techno junkie, but am late to the party for a few reasons.

First, I have a tablet PC (latitude XT, flawed, but I find it indispensable), and had been doing most of my e-reading on that. But Sony's announcement made me realize that they've come down in price, and that there was this thing called epub.

Dug through the specs, and loved it - it sensible and open. I'm one of those linux/stallman/blah blah types, but really I like to think that when I buy a book (e or otherwise) that I can do what ever I want with it. I control it, can move it, convert it, etc. Epub can support nice open books, and I hope the market converges there. I had been relying on text, pdf (ugh), and html ... but I hate having multiple files in html ...

Once I found epub, I found calibre, which is even better! It puts me in control since I can switch around most formats. I cannot be trapped or beholden to a company (I'm looking at you, Amazon!) And the recipes are gravy. All praise to Kovid!

Calibre led me here, and while I've found MR forums to be helpful, I'm extremely impressed with all of the TLC that has gone into producing a nice collection of public domain ebooks. Those touches - quotes, contents, etc - make such a difference to the reading experience.

I'm planing on getting a reader ASAP, and am excited that the time has finally arrived. Quite possibly the 505.

Thanks to all the contributors who makes this such a great community.

- J

zelda_pinwheel · 08-28-2009, 03:49 PM

welcome to the forum veysey !! you're right, ebooks are really coming into their own lately, it's a very exciting time ! and if you are intersted in making your own epub books, take a look at our epub forum to learn all about the format and definitely check out sigil ! it's a dedicated epub editor develloped by yet another very talented mr member, valloric. it's still in alpha but it's already a really great app and it will be improving a lot in the coming months ! we should see the new version as soon as valloric gets back from his holiday.

i see you've already discovered our ebook upload forum so i'll just say happy reading to you ! and jump into any of the discussions, we're always happy to see new people getting excited about ebooks (and epub !!).

veysey · 08-28-2009, 04:04 PM

Cheers Zelda!

I have already tried Sigil, and definitely liked it! I had had some problems manual unpacking and reassembling epubs, and Sigil was great. For such an early version, it's quite usable. I'm sure it'll just get better.

I'll definitely jump into the forums, and hopefully contribute to the epub formatting endeavour as well.

Thanks for the welcome.

rlparker · 08-28-2009, 05:21 PM

Hi J, welcome to MR!

And consider yourself very lucky because you have been personally greeted by our very own royalty, Queen Zelda!

MickeyC · 08-28-2009, 05:56 PM

Hi J and welcome to MobileRead

owlrigh · 08-29-2009, 04:04 AM

Welcome! I'm new, myself, and so far this place's been a fountain of useful information!

Verencat · 08-29-2009, 09:51 AM

Welcome to Mobile Read, J!

You are in for a ride - enjoy!

Superlucky · 08-30-2009, 01:10 AM

Welcome. I highly recommend the PRS-505. I love mine.

kazbates · 08-30-2009, 09:01 PM

Welcome to MobileRead, J!

Happy Reading!

08-28-2009, 03:38 PM	#1
veysey Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 144 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Washington DC Device: Sony ?	Calibre + epub = I buy a reader! Greetings all! When Sony announced their new readers a month ago, I was prompted to re-examine the whole e-ink idea. I've long been a scientist and techno junkie, but am late to the party for a few reasons. First, I have a tablet PC (latitude XT, flawed, but I find it indispensable), and had been doing most of my e-reading on that. But Sony's announcement made me realize that they've come down in price, and that there was this thing called epub. Dug through the specs, and loved it - it sensible and open. I'm one of those linux/stallman/blah blah types, but really I like to think that when I buy a book (e or otherwise) that I can do what ever I want with it. I control it, can move it, convert it, etc. Epub can support nice open books, and I hope the market converges there. I had been relying on text, pdf (ugh), and html ... but I hate having multiple files in html ... Once I found epub, I found calibre, which is even better! It puts me in control since I can switch around most formats. I cannot be trapped or beholden to a company (I'm looking at you, Amazon!) And the recipes are gravy. All praise to Kovid! Calibre led me here, and while I've found MR forums to be helpful, I'm extremely impressed with all of the TLC that has gone into producing a nice collection of public domain ebooks. Those touches - quotes, contents, etc - make such a difference to the reading experience. I'm planing on getting a reader ASAP, and am excited that the time has finally arrived. Quite possibly the 505. Thanks to all the contributors who makes this such a great community. - J

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08-28-2009, 03:49 PM	#2
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	welcome to the forum veysey !! you're right, ebooks are really coming into their own lately, it's a very exciting time ! and if you are intersted in making your own epub books, take a look at our epub forum to learn all about the format and definitely check out sigil ! it's a dedicated epub editor develloped by yet another very talented mr member, valloric. it's still in alpha but it's already a really great app and it will be improving a lot in the coming months ! we should see the new version as soon as valloric gets back from his holiday. i see you've already discovered our ebook upload forum so i'll just say happy reading to you ! and jump into any of the discussions, we're always happy to see new people getting excited about ebooks (and epub !!).

08-28-2009, 04:04 PM	#3
veysey Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 144 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Washington DC Device: Sony ?	Cheers Zelda! I have already tried Sigil, and definitely liked it! I had had some problems manual unpacking and reassembling epubs, and Sigil was great. For such an early version, it's quite usable. I'm sure it'll just get better. I'll definitely jump into the forums, and hopefully contribute to the epub formatting endeavour as well. Thanks for the welcome.

08-28-2009, 05:21 PM	#4
rlparker Ars longa Posts: 1,179 Karma: 17404 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: north carolina, usa Device: Kindle K1, K3 wifi	Hi J, welcome to MR! And consider yourself very lucky because you have been personally greeted by our very own royalty, Queen Zelda!

08-28-2009, 05:56 PM	#5
MickeyC Grand Sorcerer Posts: 16,732 Karma: 12185114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida Device: iPhone 6 plus, Sony T1, iPad 3	Hi J and welcome to MobileRead

08-29-2009, 04:04 AM	#6
owlrigh Bibliomanist Posts: 99 Karma: 26 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Australia, somewhere Device: [past:PRS-700, PRS-505, PRS-T2] Now: Kobo Glo HD, Samsung G7 Edge	Welcome! I'm new, myself, and so far this place's been a fountain of useful information!

08-29-2009, 09:51 AM	#7
Verencat Wizard Posts: 2,615 Karma: 96491 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Montreal, Qc Device: xxx	Welcome to Mobile Read, J! You are in for a ride - enjoy!

08-30-2009, 01:10 AM	#8
Superlucky Fanatic Posts: 581 Karma: 5952 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: PRS-505, PRS-350	Welcome. I highly recommend the PRS-505. I love mine.

08-30-2009, 09:01 PM	#9
kazbates Wizard Posts: 2,627 Karma: 406616 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Northern Virginia Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2	Welcome to MobileRead, J! Happy Reading!

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