How E-Books Will Change Reading And Writing (NPR)

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

I want to comment on the "scroll, scroll, scroll" statement. I heard the broadcast and perhaps I didn't hear it correctly but I assumed he meant that readers of ebooks read very linearly - in fact, I think he uses that word doesn't he? And that's what I do when I read on my Sony. I don't often look back the way I frequently do with a pbook. And I don't glance ahead to see what's coming. I thought when I first got my Sony that I would do a lot more bookmarking and checking back to previous chapters but it's not easy to know what page to go to and you can't just thumb your way through it the way you can with a pbook. So reading has become very linear for me with ebooks. Sure, I pause and contemplate as often as I ever did with pbooks, but I'm now a fairly strict "scroll forward" reader.

Just so you know (if you don't already) you can put multiple bookmarks in a book, and if you go to the menu page for the book, you can see all of your bookmarks.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Just so you know (if you don't already) you can put multiple bookmarks in a book, and if you go to the menu page for the book, you can see all of your bookmarks.

Yes, and I have done that occasionally. But I was recently reading a pbook and found myself doing what I do a lot with pbooks: frequently going back and rereading passages about particular characters or events. With an ebook, I never know at the time I first read it which pages to bookmark to do that. So I would have to do a tremendous amount of guessing of what page to find something again. Thumbing just doesn't work with ebooks and I do miss it.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Robertb

Others might also consider that "paper is not naturally white". It has to be bleached white. Paper Mill Sludge contains 32 known carcinogens and this sludge is going to cost all of us in the wallet to attempt to mitigate. Whether you care about the environment or not... paperback books are steadily going up in price while eBooks are steadily going down in cost. Of course all of us know paper comes from trees and they are growing more scarce too. Then there is landfill or lack of it. Finally, try carrying 8,000 paperbacks around with you! You can easily carry 8,000 eBooks!

The fact of the matter is that "savoring" paper books entails "savoring" a whole lot of other not-so-nice problems!

<snort>

Before you play the environmental card in support of ereaders, you might want to look at the environmental cost of semi-conductor manufacturing. It is not green,and can't be.

You might also consider that electronic devices are classed as toxic waste, requiring special disposal. I had to help close down a facility a few years ago with a lot of computers, terminals, and other gear. We had to hire a licensed contractor to haul away the gear we didn't want to keep. We couldn't just throw it in the trash. Paper, on the other hand, can be recycled, and is, and if it isn't, it's biodegradable.

And you might remember that all of those electronic devices require electric power, and consider how that is produced, (Like, I believe the majority of electrical power in the US still comes from coal-fired plants.) and consider the environmental impact of that

And paper is a renewable resource. Paper manufacturers maintain forests where they grow their raw material. And wood gets used for a lot of other things besides making paper. How many houses have you seen that don't have wood framing? Or furniture that doesn't have wood in the construction? We aren't going to run out of trees any time soon. Wood has too many uses to permit that to happen.

You might just discover that in a "green" contest, paper wins.
______
Dennis
Who is firmly in favor of ebooks, and has about 4,000 of them, but does not consider saving paper a major reason for using them.

[neilmarr]

***Nothin' new under the sun...who did this back in the 1800's?***

Yeah, Penny. But these snips are daily, sometimes twice daily. And Dickens and Doyle were notoriously ham-fisted with new technology. N

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

***Nothin' new under the sun...who did this back in the 1800's?***

Yeah, Penny. But these snips are daily, sometimes twice daily. And Dickens and Doyle were notoriously ham-fisted with new technology. N

Are you saying they had trouble texting?

[PennyPie]

Today people are accustomed to small snippets...15 second commercials, rapid changing camera shots in film/tv, a hectic lifestyle. Maybe small doses is what modern people like...we aren't, as a whole, a relaxed sort of creature any more. Busy, busy, busy....

Are you saying they had trouble texting?

Kennyc....you slay me!