Format or eReader?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

So eReader device or e-Reader device would be (barely) acceptable? At least as far as avoiding possible confusion?

I would interpret the term "eReader device" to mean "a device that supports the eReader book format", just as an "ePub device" would be "a device that supports the ePub book format".

[orwell2k]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would interpret the term "eReader device" to mean "a device that supports the eReader book format", just as an "ePub device" would be "a device that supports the ePub book format".

I see your point, but I still think it's a bit of a narrow interpretation. But we'll agree to disagree...

[HarryT]

I'm not disagreeing with you at all; just pointing out the room for misinterpretation which exists.

[GhostHawk]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

I would love to know how everyone decides how they buy their eBooks regardless of being free or paid for.

A few questions:

• When buying/searching for eBooks do you search by format or by eReader?
  
  Author I'm interested in, or specific author/title.
  
• Do you know what format/s your eReader can read when searching or do you expect all eBooks to be read by your eReader?
  
  I know what my Ereader can read yes, but its really not an issue for searching out new books. I know what formats I can easily convert from. With my Jetbook either it supports it, or its an easy convert from .lit or whatever to what it will read. I don't expect my reader to read them all, although it does read most, and I truly enjoy that about it.
  
• Before you bought your eReader did you know about software to convert a format to your eReaders format? If you didn't would you have liked to have been informed by the retailer?

Yes and I had said software installed. In my case the library of ebooks came first, the reader to read them away from the PC come after. In an ideal world, yes it would be nice to be informed by the retailer what other options are out there. But wasn't really necessary for me.
Thanks

I'll take this one step farther. My favorite sites to download books have them available in a variety of formats. Letting me choose which format fits my needs best. My very favorite site even lets me adjust font and size before downloading the book in question.

Also back to your original question, I accept that I am the exception not the rule. I'm not reading on Kindle or Sony, I wanted a reader that would read as many formats as possible, so I went with the Jetbook. For me it was a good fit. A lot I think depends on what you read, and what your willing to spend for a good book. Most prefer to spend money, for me money is short, but time I have an abundant supply of.

[dmaul1114]

I bought my Kindle for the convenience of the Kindle store and new I'd be wed to that format since I'm not willing to break DRMs.

So I just get books there and from Feedbooks with their Kindle guide. Which is fine for me as I'm a very casual reader with mainstream interests.

And I love the ability to get samples of the books in the Kindle store. I hear of a book that sounds interesting, I go to Amazon.com and send the sample to my Kindle so it's there when I'm deciding what to read next.

[xianfox]

* When buying/searching for eBooks do you search by format or by eReader?

A little bit of both. I originally bought an iRex iLiad V2 because much of my reading was in PDF format. While not a huge fan of MobiPocket, at least I could convert to/from it. My second reader was a Sony PRS-700 as I was transitioning away from PDF to reflowable format and wanted to standardize on ePub. In deciding which way to go for my next reader I narrowed the choices down to the Nook (due to it's ePub support) and the Kindle (for its read-aloud support). In the end I elected to go with the Kindle as I can still convert to/from Mobi/ePub. I know the Kindle's read aloud feature isn't the greatest, and DRM'd books I purchase from Amazon may or may not allow it, but living in a house with 2 teenagers means I am frequently trying to read in an environment that's hard to concentrate in. I'm hoping the read aloud feature helps me concentrate a bit more. I had a fairly recent experience reading a book and listening to an audiobook simultaneously.

* Do you know what format/s your eReader can read when searching or do you expect all eBooks to be read by your eReader?

I know what formats are available for my chosen device to read. I don't necessarily expect all ebooks to be available for it, but I know due to its popularity, many publishers start with a Kindle format at present.

* Before you bought your eReader did you know about software to convert a format to your eReaders format? If you didn't would you have liked to have been informed by the retailer?

Yeah, I've been using Calibre for a while now, and various other utilities prior to that.

[Ocean]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I bought my Kindle for the convenience of the Kindle store and new I'd be wed to that format since I'm not willing to break DRMs.

So I just get books there and from Feedbooks with their Kindle guide. Which is fine for me as I'm a very casual reader with mainstream interests.

And I love the ability to get samples of the books in the Kindle store. I hear of a book that sounds interesting, I go to Amazon.com and send the sample to my Kindle so it's there when I'm deciding what to read next.

This.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

I would love to know how everyone decides how they buy their eBooks regardless of being free or paid for.

A few questions:

• When buying/searching for eBooks do you search by format or by eReader?
• Do you know what format/s your eReader can read when searching or do you expect all eBooks to be read by your eReader?
• Before you bought your eReader did you know about software to convert a format to your eReaders format? If you didn't would you have liked to have been informed by the retailer?

Format.
I know what my reader can use.
Yes, I knew, and I also knew that the retailers wouldn't have known. Most retailers are staffed with idiots who know just enough about the product to try and sell it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Book Depository

Hi Jon,

thanks for being upfront. A lesson learnt there I think. "Readers" is a lot shorter to write then "dedicated devices/readers" as Steve mentioned so I think we shall start writing it like that from now on. Thanks Steve for the backing too.

Jon, how do you prefer to write eBooks? There are so many different ways we have seen: 'e-books', 'ebooks', e books'.

We prefer eBooks (hence the reason for writing eReaders. It just made sense at the time).

I prefer to call the books eBooks and I refer to the devices as readers unless they are Sony and then they are Readers. And as for paper books, I call them pBooks unless I am trying to refer specifically to a specific pBook format.

I don't like it when brands are used as a generic for whatever it is aka eReader to mean dedicated reader when eReader is not that.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I bought my Kindle for the convenience of the Kindle store and new I'd be wed to that format since I'm not willing to break DRMs.

So I just get books there and from Feedbooks with their Kindle guide. Which is fine for me as I'm a very casual reader with mainstream interests.

You can also get multiformat (mobi/prc) books from Fictionwise.com, from Baen's Webscriptions, and from Smashwords. Most of the non-DRM ebook stores sell .mobi/.prc ebooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

I see your point, but I still think it's a bit of a narrow interpretation. But we'll agree to disagree...

It's not narrow. I think it's the way it should be. eReader has a meaning and to try to give it yet another meaning, that's wrong. Let eReader have the meaning that it means and use other words/phrases to say what you mean. Less confusion that way for sure.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

You can also get multiformat (mobi/prc) books from Fictionwise.com, from Baen's Webscriptions, and from Smashwords. Most of the non-DRM ebook stores sell .mobi/.prc ebooks.

Yeah, I knew there were some other .mobi sources out there. I just haven't had any need to use them with my casual/mainstream reading interests

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not narrow. I think it's the way it should be. eReader has a meaning and to try to give it yet another meaning, that's wrong. Let eReader have the meaning that it means and use other words/phrases to say what you mean. Less confusion that way for sure.

It has meaning among a niche with in a niche--the more tech oriented among the eReader device early adopter crowd.

That niche will have no impact on what word is used to label these devices when they go main stream. Hell, I'm on this site and didn't know eReader meant any particular format and thought it was just a generic term for this category of products.

And a couple friends/colleagues have used the term eReader when talking about wanting one, but not finding one that really fit their needs/budgets (fellow academics who needs A4 PDF support and markup for a reasonable price). So the term seems to be spreading as the generic term to refer to all ebook devices.

And again, the tiny niche of very knowledgeable early adopters won't have any sway on what term catches on. Hell, most of the early adopters probably just have a Kindle or Sony reader and don't even know the name of book formats etc. as they just buy it and use the attached store and that's it.

[JSWolf]

You call it an eReader and someone is going to see B&N selling an eReader format eBook for less then the other guy and buy it and find out the reader won't touch it.

[dmaul1114]

All this format non-sense has to be sorted out before the devices can go mainstream anyway.

Multiple formats don't work in the mainstream--see Blu Ray killing off HD-DVD etc. So buy the time eReader devices are mainstream, it will be moot as there will be one format for books that's won out and no one will have to worry about knowing the names of formats etc.

Otherwise, they'll remain niche market devices as they're just to complicated for mass success now--beyond people buying a Kindle or Sony and only getting books from the attached store--in which case calling them eReaders won't confuse the owners anyway.

And in your example, only knowledgeable folks are going to be shopping around in different stores anyway. The less knowledgeable probably just stick with their devices attached store anyway as there's little chance they have anything other than a Kindle or Sony reader if their just a casual user since that's all that gets advertised heavily in the media. With the Nook to come and join them soon on that front.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

All this format non-sense has to be sorted out before the devices can go mainstream anyway.

Multiple formats don't work in the mainstream--see Blu Ray killing off HD-DVD etc. So buy the time eReader devices are mainstream, it will be moot as there will be one format for books that's won out and no one will have to worry about knowing the names of formats etc.

Otherwise, they'll remain niche market devices as they're just to complicated for mass success now--beyond people buying a Kindle or Sony and only getting books from the attached store--in which case calling them eReaders won't confuse the owners anyway.

eReader devices will handle eReader format. But as we know now, most eink reading devices do handle ePub. So as far as formats go, if it's not ePub compatible, it's going to lose in the long-run.