Why are dedicated ebooks readers still popular?

[hollowpoint]

Why are dedicated ebooks readers still popular?

The reasons I still have them are: gives a way to download Kindle books directly to Calibre, saves the battery on primary devices during long reading sessions, and gives me the ability to read outside.

[binaryhermit]

I'd argue it all boils down to "the reading experience is just nicer".

[hollowpoint]

^I get that, probably most here would agree with that. For me tho, I still prefer the reading experience on an Ipad Mini or a large high quality phone screen, vs my PW4 or my former Kobo Clara and Forma. All were fine, and I still use my PW4 for the niche reasons listed. But I like the improved visual rendering (for example: page turn options, font choices, lighting options), quicker response time, better web access and performance, better ebook app features, and access to related useful apps (like OneNote or Evernote) that you get with phones/tablets.

If ebook readers figure out how to vastly improve the 'digital paper' reading experience while still keeping advantages like long battery life, I might reconsider just for the improved visual reading experience.

[John F]

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

Why are dedicated ebooks readers still popular?

The reasons I still have them are: gives a way to download Kindle books directly to Calibre, saves the battery on primary devices during long reading sessions, and gives me the ability to read outside.

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

^I get that, probably most here would agree with that. For me tho, I still prefer the reading experience on an Ipad Mini or a large high quality phone screen, vs my PW4 or my former Kobo Clara and Forma. All were fine, and I still use my PW4 for the niche reasons listed. But I like the improved visual rendering (for example: page turn options, font choices, lighting options), quicker response time, better web access and performance, better ebook app features, and access to related useful apps (like OneNote or Evernote) that you get with phones/tablets.

If ebook readers figure out how to vastly improve the 'digital paper' reading experience while still keeping advantages like long battery life, I might reconsider just for the improved visual reading experience.

From what you say, I don't see why you would use an ereader? What I would do if I preferred reading on a phone/tablet...

As far as calibre and directly downloading, I woukd use Kindle for PC, or download for transfer via USB.

As far as saving battery life, use the phone/tablet and charge the other one. Or buy a dedicated tablet for reading.

So that would leave me with the problem of reading outside.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

But I like the improved visual rendering (for example: page turn options, font choices, lighting options), quicker response time, better web access and performance, better ebook app features, and access to related useful apps (like OneNote or Evernote) that you get with phones/tablets.

If ebook readers figure out how to vastly improve the 'digital paper' reading experience while still keeping advantages like long battery life, I might reconsider just for the improved visual reading experience.

Then look at the performance of Android Eink tablets from Boox, Likebook or even Dasung devices.
There are advantages of the reader and the variability of tablets.

[binaryhermit]

For me it's not an either/or, I have been known to read on my phone at work if I didn't bother to drag one of my Kindles with me that day.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

For me it's not an either/or, I have been known to read on my phone at work if I didn't bother to drag one of my Kindles with me that day.

That's all well and good, but when it comes to reading on any device, you're dodging the question that really matters:







Vim or Emacs?

[binaryhermit]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Vim or Emacs?

Nano. I probably should learn Vim and/or Emacs, but given how much I use a CLI text editor...

[NiMa]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

Nano. I probably should learn Vim and/or Emacs, but given how much I use a CLI text editor...

Nano is pretty good. I've been using it for what, like 3 or 4 years? Emacs is not my force. I use Vim sometimes, it's great too. But I'm more used to typing "nano <insert file name here>" than for Vim

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by NiMa

Nano is pretty good. I've been using it for what, like 3 or 4 years? Emacs is not my force. I use Vim sometimes, it's great too. But I'm more used to typing "nano <insert file name here>" than for Vim

I have fond memories of GNU Emacs on Mandrake when I was running various dualboot systems. Sadly, CLI requires good motor skills, and as mine have declined, the ever-improving Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the absolute ne plus ultra of speech recognition software, has become ever more important. FLOSS has nothing even close, which is the Vim Emacs wars are just a fond memory for me

[ownedbycats]

Q: How do you generate a random string?

A: Put a Windows user in front of vi, and tell them to exit.

As a Windows user, I can confirm this.

[Ekaros]

If I ever get to admin a unix or linux system I will alias vi and vim to ed...

[kandwo]

The two things which modern devices do better than traditional paper books for me are mobility (having my whole library with me at all times) and inbuilt dictionaries. At everything else they are worse. E-ink comes quite close to a book in how pleasant it is to read; an LCD screen doesn't add anything with its additional functionality and staring at the screen for a long period of time is painful. Not to mention the poor battery performance.

I have used my phone for reading on the bus. Nowadays this isn't a problem since I have an e-ink phone

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kandwo

The two things which modern devices do better than traditional paper books for me are mobility (having my whole library with me at all times) and inbuilt dictionaries. At everything else they are worse.

Add for me the ability to enlarge/decrease fonts and much better contrast when compared to mass market paperbacks with their often tiny and faded text (mass market paperbacks were my main reading medium back then, because I had no money nor enough shelf space for hardcovers). Also the option to search for a word or a phrase. Can't do that with a paper book.

Mobility actually isn't a factor for me, as I only read at home. The light weight and comfy one-handed hold certainly are, however.

[hollowpoint]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The light weight and comfy one-handed hold certainly are, however.

Good point. Add that to the reasons I still keep an eink device around. Not only is your typical kindle/kobo lighter than most Android/iOS tablets, they are lighter than most paper books. They are even quite a bit lighter than my Ipad Mini--the mini is 10.9 oz vs the PW4 at 6.4. Being able to hold an ebook reader in one hand during long fiction reading sessions is a requirement for me.