What to do when you have the money to buy 10 e-readers?

Keloff · 10-27-2011, 04:48 PM

Hi folks,

I'm a fairly old MR lurker (tend to spend more time being twot at), but I've been advocating e-reading for a pretty long time. I teach publishing students here in sunny SA about publishing in the digital environment, with a strong focus on the book sector & especially e-production.

I may receive a grant to purchase 8-10 e-readers to use in a postgraduate course we're developing. My first idea was to order these Kindles, but now I'm reconsidering. Any veterans out there have some advice?

Background:
* Here's an overview of the course.
* We're in South Africa, and Amazons ships here. B&N and Kobo don't and Sony's devices are just too expensive. Shipping & import fees deposit are also pretty expensive and I don't see any bulk order discounts.
* Electronics stores sporadically stock ereaders, but they're heavily marked up and often without a distribution platform.
* I want to have my students experience all the advantages of e-reading. This includes social reading, sharing notes & annotations, wireless access, as well as the stuff readers & content creators struggle with e.g. format conversion, dealing with DRM, etc.

So yeah...my initial idea to target Amazon was because of the accessibility of its devices. I also want students to not -have- to read on their ereader only so that they can understand what the implications of platform-agnostic reading is, so Amazon's range of reader applications is also a plus.

I'm not crazy about Amazon's insistence to stick with their own format, but now that Kindle's moving closer to HTML5, I'm not that concerned. Either way, students will learn the value of HTML, CSS, XML etc. coupled with good design & great metadata. We will focus on EPUB if we can't focus on both, though.

Keloff · 10-27-2011, 04:59 PM

Operational issues:

Amazon.co.uk offers free delivery to South Africa, but I can't buy Kindles from that store... :|

South Africans don't quality for Kindle with special offers, so it's USD$110.

Ereader alternatives:
Use Calibre's emulation facility to compare ereader functionality.

http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/.../41481868.aspx

Pocketbook reader ships to SA : http://www.pocketbook-int.com/welcome-pocketbook

The Gobii LCD ereader is available at our Amazon equivalent, but it's LCD. I don't want a pretend media tablet. :|

On DRM and formats:
- O'Reilly's books are all DRM free and in .mobi + .epub, but I'm not sure I'll get anything there that's written for publishing students quite new to e-media.
- I'm curating material using Instapaper (which can export to EPUB, which can be converted to MOBI/K8). Copyright issues will limit me here, though.

Further reading:
A reasonable SA-centric Kindle site: http://e-reader.co.za/which-e-reader-should-you-buy/

Curated materials (permission(s) received from rights holder):
Pablo's Quick and Dirty ePub Tutorial [Still need to confirm adaptation]

friktion · 10-27-2011, 05:00 PM

ADOPT ME!!! Please ......

CRussel · 10-27-2011, 05:15 PM

Given your location, I think your original plan to order 10 Kindles makes the most sense. If you were located somewhere that had relatively equal access to devices, I'd probably suggest splitting between Kindles and Kobo or Nook. But since neither of them are available in SA, the decision is pretty easy.

susan_cassidy · 10-27-2011, 05:18 PM

I would remind you that most Amazon books with DRM are limited to be on a maximum of 6 devices at a time, so some of the students would have to wait to download and read the book, if they will all be reading the same book. Of course, DRM-free books do not have the restriction.

pokee · 10-27-2011, 06:11 PM

I have a sort of 'out there' suggestion for you. Kobo (in Canada) is a smaller outfit and their WiFi model (while still a tad glitchy for some) is great and affordable. I've owned one for almost a year now. Kobo's customer support has been quite disappointing at times (but no different than most) - a real challenge for them (this is what happens when you sell a lot, but haven't hired enough people to support the product), but they are improving and hiring more support staff every day.

The Kobo ereaders will allow your students to borrow library books, purchase books, access WiFi - plus access some really cool new features of social eReading that Kobo has developed (called 'Pulse' - which connects readers via Facebook to share ideas and notes). The Kobo touch would probably be better for your students (since it has more features than the WiFi model), but it's a bit pricier...

Although they don't ship to you, you COULD ask a favour of one of their product guys that lurks the Kobo forum and helps out users quite a bit. He just helped me with a problem I had with an order. I think this area is something he could help out with - maybe requesting to make an exception to ship to you; maybe offering a bulk discount. I am not sure how it would affect the warranty (if they normally don't ship to you), but it doesn't hurt to ask! He is 'JCKobo' here on Mobile Read (see the Kobo forums for some of his recent posts). I think he's involved in product marketing/support/customer service, so he could potentially help you - or at least point you to someone that may be able to help. PM him - he's reponding to PMs today!

Good luck!!!

Bluestar59 · 10-27-2011, 06:38 PM

Hi - you may want to consider the Pocket Book 360+ e-reader or other newer models that Pocketbook International has out. They specifically mention shipping to South Africa on their website:
http://www.pocketbook-int.com/welcome-pocketbook
The PB 360+ e-reader, for example, retails on the US website for US$133 (equivalent to 1056 South African Rand currently). Not sure what the shipping would be, but you can e-mail them to find out. It is well known in Europe, Ukraine, and Russia and supports many formats including ePUB.

GA Russell · 10-27-2011, 10:54 PM

Keloff, the PocketBook 360 was very popular here last year, so I second the suggestion to examine what they have to offer.

I also suggest that you examine Ectaco and what they are selling (particularly) in Russia and Ukraine. I am very pleased with my Ectaco jetBook Lite which has a reflective TFT screen (like looking at your wristwatch, with very black text), but I'm not sure if Ectaco is still selling that model.

One nice thing about Amazon is that their customer support is world class.

Keloff · 10-28-2011, 09:41 AM

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the responses! I'm noting general replies in the reserved post.

Friktion, why don't you adopt me so I can move to Canada where internet is cheap? ^_^

Keloff · 10-29-2011, 06:14 AM

Added an overview of the course, under Background.

speakingtohe · 10-30-2011, 02:44 AM

Probably I am missing the point here, but why buy 10 the same.

If students are studying publishing then they would want to be able to view results on different devices/apps?

Helen

Keloff · 10-30-2011, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Probably I am missing the point here, but why buy 10 the same.

If students are studying publishing then they would want to be able to view results on different devices/apps?

Helen

Hi Helen

You're quite right. One very important lesson I teach them in undergraduate level is that ereaders don't universally conform to the EPUB specification (browser wars #2), so I am going to have them play with different reading apps on their PC/Mac. This doesn't solve the problem of exposing them to different ereader form factors / device capabilities, but our library has a few demonstration units.

Keloff · 10-30-2011, 04:50 PM

Added a section on Curated Materials which I received permission to reuse. I also want to prove that I don't need to a) prescribe expensive textbooks, or b) get bogged down with unnecessary copyright/licensing issues in order to source QUALITY material from the internet - while satisfying rights holders.

TonyToews · 10-31-2011, 07:02 PM

Kobo is really pushing the non USA market as it is a Canadian company and feels the USA market is quite busy. Multiple languages are supported already in the Touch device. Just another factor to consider.

Sigyn · 11-01-2011, 12:15 AM

sadly the only other advice i have to offer is sometimes if places don't offer a bulk discount [and what is bulk may vary by store or item] some offer educator discounts. I would look around and see what the requirements are at places that offer those; for example many book stores used to offer those, craft stores do, etc. So as a teacher buying for a school you should qualify for that if they have them.

10-27-2011, 04:48 PM	#1
Keloff Electronic media explorer Posts: 64 Karma: 169796 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Device: Kindle (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation), iPad 2	What to do when you have the money to buy 10 e-readers? Hi folks, I'm a fairly old MR lurker (tend to spend more time being twot at), but I've been advocating e-reading for a pretty long time. I teach publishing students here in sunny SA about publishing in the digital environment, with a strong focus on the book sector & especially e-production. I may receive a grant to purchase 8-10 e-readers to use in a postgraduate course we're developing. My first idea was to order these Kindles, but now I'm reconsidering. Any veterans out there have some advice? Background: * Here's an overview of the course. * We're in South Africa, and Amazons ships here. B&N and Kobo don't and Sony's devices are just too expensive. Shipping & import fees deposit are also pretty expensive and I don't see any bulk order discounts. * Electronics stores sporadically stock ereaders, but they're heavily marked up and often without a distribution platform. * I want to have my students experience all the advantages of e-reading. This includes social reading, sharing notes & annotations, wireless access, as well as the stuff readers & content creators struggle with e.g. format conversion, dealing with DRM, etc. So yeah...my initial idea to target Amazon was because of the accessibility of its devices. I also want students to not -have- to read on their ereader only so that they can understand what the implications of platform-agnostic reading is, so Amazon's range of reader applications is also a plus. I'm not crazy about Amazon's insistence to stick with their own format, but now that Kindle's moving closer to HTML5, I'm not that concerned. Either way, students will learn the value of HTML, CSS, XML etc. coupled with good design & great metadata. We will focus on EPUB if we can't focus on both, though. Last edited by Keloff; 11-11-2011 at 02:39 AM. Reason: Added an overview of the course.

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10-27-2011, 04:59 PM	#2
Keloff Electronic media explorer Posts: 64 Karma: 169796 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Device: Kindle (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation), iPad 2	Operational issues: Amazon.co.uk offers free delivery to South Africa, but I can't buy Kindles from that store... :\| South Africans don't quality for Kindle with special offers, so it's USD$110. Ereader alternatives: Use Calibre's emulation facility to compare ereader functionality. http://www.kalahari.com/electronics/.../41481868.aspx Pocketbook reader ships to SA : http://www.pocketbook-int.com/welcome-pocketbook The Gobii LCD ereader is available at our Amazon equivalent, but it's LCD. I don't want a pretend media tablet. :\| On DRM and formats: - O'Reilly's books are all DRM free and in .mobi + .epub, but I'm not sure I'll get anything there that's written for publishing students quite new to e-media. - I'm curating material using Instapaper (which can export to EPUB, which can be converted to MOBI/K8). Copyright issues will limit me here, though. Further reading: A reasonable SA-centric Kindle site: http://e-reader.co.za/which-e-reader-should-you-buy/ Curated materials (permission(s) received from rights holder): Pablo's Quick and Dirty ePub Tutorial [Still need to confirm adaptation] Last edited by Keloff; 11-02-2011 at 02:27 PM.

10-27-2011, 05:00 PM	#3
friktion Zealot Posts: 107 Karma: 11204 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony 700, Kindle 3Wi-Fi, Skytex Primer 7", Kindle Fire	ADOPT ME!!! Please ......

10-27-2011, 05:15 PM	#4
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Given your location, I think your original plan to order 10 Kindles makes the most sense. If you were located somewhere that had relatively equal access to devices, I'd probably suggest splitting between Kindles and Kobo or Nook. But since neither of them are available in SA, the decision is pretty easy.

10-27-2011, 05:18 PM	#5
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I would remind you that most Amazon books with DRM are limited to be on a maximum of 6 devices at a time, so some of the students would have to wait to download and read the book, if they will all be reading the same book. Of course, DRM-free books do not have the restriction.

10-27-2011, 06:11 PM	#6
pokee Fanatic Posts: 569 Karma: 199759 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Kobo WiFi, Kobo Glo, Kobo Vox, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Tab2	I have a sort of 'out there' suggestion for you. Kobo (in Canada) is a smaller outfit and their WiFi model (while still a tad glitchy for some) is great and affordable. I've owned one for almost a year now. Kobo's customer support has been quite disappointing at times (but no different than most) - a real challenge for them (this is what happens when you sell a lot, but haven't hired enough people to support the product), but they are improving and hiring more support staff every day. The Kobo ereaders will allow your students to borrow library books, purchase books, access WiFi - plus access some really cool new features of social eReading that Kobo has developed (called 'Pulse' - which connects readers via Facebook to share ideas and notes). The Kobo touch would probably be better for your students (since it has more features than the WiFi model), but it's a bit pricier... Although they don't ship to you, you COULD ask a favour of one of their product guys that lurks the Kobo forum and helps out users quite a bit. He just helped me with a problem I had with an order. I think this area is something he could help out with - maybe requesting to make an exception to ship to you; maybe offering a bulk discount. I am not sure how it would affect the warranty (if they normally don't ship to you), but it doesn't hurt to ask! He is 'JCKobo' here on Mobile Read (see the Kobo forums for some of his recent posts). I think he's involved in product marketing/support/customer service, so he could potentially help you - or at least point you to someone that may be able to help. PM him - he's reponding to PMs today! Good luck!!!

10-27-2011, 06:38 PM	#7
Bluestar59 Member Posts: 11 Karma: 15640 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: none	Hi - you may want to consider the Pocket Book 360+ e-reader or other newer models that Pocketbook International has out. They specifically mention shipping to South Africa on their website: http://www.pocketbook-int.com/welcome-pocketbook The PB 360+ e-reader, for example, retails on the US website for US$133 (equivalent to 1056 South African Rand currently). Not sure what the shipping would be, but you can e-mail them to find out. It is well known in Europe, Ukraine, and Russia and supports many formats including ePUB.

10-27-2011, 10:54 PM	#8
GA Russell Ticats win 4th straight Posts: 7,694 Karma: 31487351 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	Keloff, the PocketBook 360 was very popular here last year, so I second the suggestion to examine what they have to offer. I also suggest that you examine Ectaco and what they are selling (particularly) in Russia and Ukraine. I am very pleased with my Ectaco jetBook Lite which has a reflective TFT screen (like looking at your wristwatch, with very black text), but I'm not sure if Ectaco is still selling that model. One nice thing about Amazon is that their customer support is world class.

10-28-2011, 09:41 AM	#9
Keloff Electronic media explorer Posts: 64 Karma: 169796 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Device: Kindle (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation), iPad 2	Hey guys, Thanks for all the responses! I'm noting general replies in the reserved post. Friktion, why don't you adopt me so I can move to Canada where internet is cheap? ^_^

10-29-2011, 06:14 AM	#10
Keloff Electronic media explorer Posts: 64 Karma: 169796 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Device: Kindle (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation), iPad 2	Added an overview of the course, under Background.

10-30-2011, 02:44 AM	#11
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	Probably I am missing the point here, but why buy 10 the same. If students are studying publishing then they would want to be able to view results on different devices/apps? Helen

10-30-2011, 04:50 PM	#13
Keloff Electronic media explorer Posts: 64 Karma: 169796 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Device: Kindle (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation), iPad 2	Added a section on Curated Materials which I received permission to reuse. I also want to prove that I don't need to a) prescribe expensive textbooks, or b) get bogged down with unnecessary copyright/licensing issues in order to source QUALITY material from the internet - while satisfying rights holders.

10-31-2011, 07:02 PM	#14
TonyToews Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 351398 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kobo Vox and Glo	Kobo is really pushing the non USA market as it is a Canadian company and feels the USA market is quite busy. Multiple languages are supported already in the Touch device. Just another factor to consider.

11-01-2011, 12:15 AM	#15
Sigyn Junior Junior Member Posts: 87 Karma: 32996 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: none	sadly the only other advice i have to offer is sometimes if places don't offer a bulk discount [and what is bulk may vary by store or item] some offer educator discounts. I would look around and see what the requirements are at places that offer those; for example many book stores used to offer those, craft stores do, etc. So as a teacher buying for a school you should qualify for that if they have them.