So anyone still have the reader noticed during travel?

[jakewastaken]

I'm a college student (an English major at that!) and I bring it with me all over campus. I get TONS of inquires about it and probably give 3-5 demos a day depending on how much I have it out. Sometimes I'm more than happy to demonstrate, but seriously, it gets old fast. When someone is reading it's pretty rude to constantly interrupt them. Some people fall in love instantly, others are very confused. Worse yet are the people who think I'm some kind of traitor - as if the format of the book is literally more important than the text itself, sheesh. Oh no, I stopped supporting the paper book industry, everybody panic...

[xianfox]

While I'm not using a Sony Reader, my iLiad commands attention whenever I pull it out. I can usually spot people checking it out of the corner of my eye. I typically have 1 or 2 opportunities to demo it a day.

It drives my wife nuts when I'm with her.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by jakewastaken

Worse yet are the people who think I'm some kind of traitor - as if the format of the book is literally more important than the text itself, sheesh. Oh no, I stopped supporting the paper book industry, everybody panic...

i've noticed this seems to be a position held by many of the rabid anti-e-books, and i admit i just don't understand it. if it's the book-object which is so important, logically you could give them a telephone directory with a lovely cover, printed on expensive paper, and they would be happy. personally, i don't care how nice the cover is, you won't catch me reading the telephone directory. or at the very least, not the paper version : e-telephone directory is so much lighter on the wrists.

i was very excited this weekend because for the first time i got to demo my lent cybook to a stranger !! my friends know all about it now (one of them has a new hilarious joke : "so did bookeen hire you to their sales department yet ?" (every time she sees me. ) but since it's not mine at first i was quite paranoid about taking it out of my appartment. now i've started carrying it around with me in my bag to read whenever i have some time.

sunday i was having a drink and reading on a café terrasse, and a lady asked if she could share my table because all the others were full. she took out her own (paper) book and we were reading there quite companiably for some time, and then finally she asked me "what is that you're reading on ? is that a screen ?" naturally i leapt at the chance to explain everything. she thought it was a nice gadget and was admittedly impressed with the quality of the screen, but beyond that was quite skeptical. she even asked me "but what is the point of reading on that instead of a paper book ?" (i had plenty to reply to that, you can imagine). she listened to me and didn't reject it out of hand but at the end she patted her paper book affectionately and told me she wasn't ready to switch. maybe in the future. i offered to write down the url of this forum for her and she insisted "no no, thank you, really, i'll remember."

i'm pleased overall though ; she had never heard of e-ink or liseuses or ebooks, and now she knows. that's one more person...

[jakewastaken]

I also forgot to mention that I don't mind one bit if the person approaching me is a cute girl (and at least 1/3 of the people who ask me are)

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i've noticed this seems to be a position held by many of the rabid anti-e-books, and i admit i just don't understand it. if it's the book-object which is so important, logically you could give them a telephone directory with a lovely cover, printed on expensive paper, and they would be happy. personally, i don't care how nice the cover is, you won't catch me reading the telephone directory. or at the very least, not the paper version : e-telephone directory is so much lighter on the wrists.

i was very excited this weekend because for the first time i got to demo my lent cybook to a stranger !! my friends know all about it now (one of them has a new hilarious joke : "so did bookeen hire you to their sales department yet ?" (every time she sees me. ) but since it's not mine at first i was quite paranoid about taking it out of my appartment. now i've started carrying it around with me in my bag to read whenever i have some time.


sunday i was having a drink and reading on a café terrasse, and a lady asked if she could share my table because all the others were full. she took out her own (paper) book and we were reading there quite companiably for some time, and then finally she asked me "what is that you're reading on ? is that a screen ?" naturally i leapt at the chance to explain everything. she thought it was a nice gadget and was admittedly impressed with the quality of the screen, but beyond that was quite skeptical. she even asked me "but what is the point of reading on that instead of a paper book ?" (i had plenty to reply to that, you can imagine). she listened to me and didn't reject it out of hand but at the end she patted her paper book affectionately and told me she wasn't ready to switch. maybe in the future. i offered to write down the url of this forum for her and she insisted "no no, thank you, really, i'll remember."

i'm pleased overall though ; she had never heard of e-ink or liseuses or ebooks, and now she knows. that's one more person...

I know that lady! It could have been me at one time! Until I got it thru my head that they don't replace paper books, but just allow you to carry your entire library around with you at all times!......except those not available just yet........what a concept!

[halljames]

I only got asked once by a woman on the train, I got so embarrased having to talk to a stranger cos I never want to actract attention to myself while reading, in case I get mugged

[jakewastaken]

Originally Posted by halljames

I only got asked once by a woman on the train, I got so embarrassed having to talk to a stranger cos I never want to attract attention to myself while reading, in case I get mugged

This whole scenario has me in stitches.

[acidzebra]

Originally Posted by halljames

I only got asked once by a woman on the train, I got so embarrased having to talk to a stranger cos I never want to actract attention to myself while reading, in case I get mugged

I was reading in the NY subway and this huge thug asked me "yo, wha'that thing you got". I said "It is an electronic book reader. You read books with it".

He lost all interest at that point. I think it is relatively mugger-proof, as long as you make clear that you can read books with it. Unless you get that one mugger who is into literature, then you're hosed

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by acidzebra

I was reading in the NY subway and this huge thug asked me "yo, wha'that thing you got". I said "It is an electronic book reader. You read books with it".

He lost all interest at that point. I think it is relatively mugger-proof, as long as you make clear that you can read books with it. Unless you get that one mugger who is into literature, then you're hosed

[jakewastaken]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

Wouldn't want to stereotype any criminals now would we.