Glad to see Amazon Kindles gradually overtake Sony Readers

[=X=]

Originally Posted by elcreative

And don't forget the lowest power, portable, random access reading device... the paperback...

Sound s intriguing what's a paperback and can I load my eBooks on it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by viviena

(Before somebody jumps in to say that they can also sideload books from other vendors and can load their own MOBIs on the Kindle, etc., Amazon would still rather have people buying from their store. Not even the fact that it doesn't support EPUB, but rather that the Kindles don't support reading DRM-protected MOBIs also suggests to me this.)

If you are like the masses out there who do not strip DRM or even know it can be done or even how to do it, then you are locked into Amazon for eBook with DRM. So for the average person, Amazon is locking you in on most eBooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bic

This survey of 2800 people may explain the difference in forum members.
http://www.investorplace.com/24258/a...reader-market/

Current (as of Nov. 8) device used to read e-books:
47% use a Kindle
32% iPad
5% Sony
4% Nook

Which of the following eBook Readers will you most likely buy in the next 90 days? (asked November 8)
42% iPad
33% Kindle
18% Other/Don't KNow
4% Nook
2% Smart phone with e-reading capability
1% Sony

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20...#ixzz16umqs9SL

Now how do we know these numbers are not skewed? It depends on who took the survey. I can ask 100 people and if 75% of them own a Sony, the numbers will be different. Same as if 75 of 100 own a Kindle or a nook. So theses sorts of surveys are not really accurate enough to matter.

[gardenstate]

one of my favorite books in college was -- how to lie with statistics. As the previous poster indicated, your sample population has to be chosen carefully to not skew the results.

For the best indicator of ebook sales, we would need unit sales data from each of the manufacturers - Amazon, Sony, B&N and others. This info would be hard to get.

The ipad is a great device for "media consumption" but its LCD has a short battery life and does not do well in direct sunlight. In addition, it is much heavier than the Sony and other ebooks.

By the way -- how would you load ebooks onto the ipad? No usb ports. Would you have to go through an Apple-related vendor?

[gardenstate]

found it... ebooks to ipad

http://www.gilsmethod.com/how-to-acc...s-for-the-ipad

[mrscoach]

I think it was Mark Twain (I could be wrong) that said "there are three types of lies; Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics". That is how my elementary statistics professor started off our classes, anyway. He just wanted us to know that statistics were able to be manipulated and that we would be working on ways to NOT present false 'facts' from accurate statistics. Or he could have been teaching us TO manipulate the statistics, I forget after all this time.

So I agree, the stats are completely skewed.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by gardenstate

The ipad is a great device for "media consumption" but its LCD has a short battery life and does not do well in direct sunlight. In addition, it is much heavier than the Sony and other ebooks.

By the way -- how would you load ebooks onto the ipad? No usb ports. Would you have to go through an Apple-related vendor?

It is actually very easy to load books into the iPad (assuming it is like the ipod Touch). You can do a lot of it via wi-fi (using Calibre and Stanza, for example) or even drag and drop books into an iPad hooked up to iTunes. It is easier to load books into the iPad than it is into the PRS-350.

But I agree with you that the iPad as a dedicated reader is lacking. The weight, size, short battery life, and difficulty reading the screen in the sun make it less than ideal.

I think eventually, a color screen of some sort may dominate the market. Something like the Nook color, but with longer battery life and ability to read in the sun. Seems like color e-ink would work, if they could only make it more vibrant.

[kartu]

Do you guys know that amazon's Kindle SDK is meant only for apps that are supposed to "serve active content" to cover amazon's wireless costs?

PatNY

It is easier to load books into the iPad than it is into the PRS-350.

I had some "experience" with ipod touch, as a result, I would never ever touch anything with apple logo on it, or trust any review site, that says something nice about them. You can't even access your own (non-drm) stuff on it. You can't even add any stuff from "other" PC without overwriting entire mem. This is a "feature" every damn reviewer should have been mentioning with big red flashing letters. (rumors are, the sites that dare to say something not very nice about mentioned company, are instantly blacklisted. With recent drama on anandtech, related to nvidia abusing "powers" in a similar way, I tend to believe them)

"Easier to load"? Please, give me a break

[Halk]

I agree with you on Apple, I won't give them a coin, but what happened with Anand and nVidia?

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by kartu

You can't even access your own (non-drm) stuff on it. You can't even add any stuff from "other" PC without overwriting entire mem. This is a "feature" every damn reviewer should have been mentioning with big red flashing letters.

"Easier to load"? Please, give me a break

Kartu, if you are sideloading books into a Touch, they are merely "copied" over from your hard drive. So there shouldn't be a need to "access" your own non-drm books on the Touch later. But if for some reason you mistakenly delete the originals from your PC's hard drive and have no way to get the book again from the original source, you can use a third-party utility to access the Touch's internal storage.

As for things from "other" PC overwriting the entire memory, I have no idea what you are talking about. Do you mean you tried to sync with another iTunes library on another PC? If so, of course it will overwrite your current content if it is a different iTunes library. I have never tried to do that, nor do I know of anyone else who has ever tried to do that or wanted to do that. If you merely wanted to copy some books or music from someone else's PC, the best way to do that is to transfer the content to your PC via a thumb drive and then sync with your own iTunes library.

I still maintain loading books onto the iPad is the easiest way there is, assuming use of Calibre and Stanza and wi-fi.

[doreenjoy]

We're number three!
We're number three!

[lack]

iDevices work like that. People who use them must first grasp the "sync" paradigm.
It doesn't make sense to some people. But it also makes sense to a LOT of people.

Cupertino doesn't want you messing inside their devices. Why is that any iDevice I know never sport external memory card?
They tie content with app. No more is peeking your own content (file manager) to see if it's there. You launch the app, then hope it can see your content on the inner iTunes library, then it can open it.

It is just apple. People love it, people hate it.
Their user seems to love the idea. Other not so happy user also copes him/herself and be content with it.

The remaining just hate them to no end.

Me? I don't hate Apple, I just hate iTunes.

PS:@kartu: Yea, please do tell us what happen with anand and nVidia..

[babs_johnson]

I heart my Prs-950. Regarding Ipads, it just screams planned obsolescence. I bought the first gen ipod touch and I refuse to upgrade. Its not all bad I still use it frequently. However it lacks bluetooth, external volume control, speaker and wont run the current Ios. All I can say to those who bought the first gen Ipad is SUCKERS!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by gardenstate

By the way -- how would you load ebooks onto the ipad? No usb ports. Would you have to go through an Apple-related vendor?

It's all about the apps, iTunes syncing and wireless downloads as others have noted. In many cases, it's really no more difficult (or different) than importing books into the Sony Reader Library and syncing with your ereader. Apple even lets you sideload non-DRM EPUBs and PDFs into their Apple iBooks app. Here is a very interesting article at zdnet's Mobile Gadgeteer Blog that explains the specifics and why the Apple iPad just "became the BEST universal ebook reader now available" to quote the author. [Note: the author's opinion, not mine. The iPad is too big and heavy for my preference as an ereader.]

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-gad...results-rivers

[doreenjoy]

I had an iPad for a couple of weeks this summer. I found it a little mystifying how to load books onto the device, even though I'm familiar with iTunes and I use the Sony Library.

YMMV.