Have e-Readers been superseded by Tablets and Phones

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by Catlady

You don't seriously think having to open different apps is somehow more difficult for the average person than stripping DRM and converting, or than having a supply of different e-reader devices, as rcentros suggested, do you?

I don't think it's difficult, I think it's annoying. I don't want to have to try and remember every time if I'm reading my book on my Kindle app, my Kobo app, my Overdrive app, my Google books app, etc etc.
DRM'ing books is not difficult but it is complicated to get set up. After that it's easy. Besides, I wasn't referring to the average reader but to myself who is fairly proficient with computers.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Catlady

You don't seriously think having to open different apps is somehow more difficult for the average person than stripping DRM and converting, or than having a supply of different e-reader devices, as rcentros suggested, do you?

I think it could be. I mean if you get books from B&N & Kobo then you use things like Adobe Digital and Nook for the PC and Amazon uses Kindle for PC so there is some back and forth there just on a computer, but if the book is DRM free or you strip your copy (for your own use only of course) then you can read your books in whatever format you want instead of switching all the time. Far easier to load up a book in one set format than having to switch apps depending on format of a given book. Faster access too. If I leave an epub of "Call of the wild" as an epub then I either need a 2nd reader (which is expensive) or I have to take the time to convert the book before loading it to my Kindle (for reading on the go). Sometimes a person doesn't have that much time to waste. Far faster to convert ahead of time and just have to load the book than do things on the fly.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Catlady

You don't seriously think having to open different apps is somehow more difficult for the average person than stripping DRM and converting, or than having a supply of different e-reader devices, as rcentros suggested, do you?

I think people are confusing "difficult/easy/convenient" with "I prefer not to." I'm with you, though. For the person who doesn't care about DRM stripping or ebook formatting minutiae, or personal ebook library preservation, and just want to read the dang books (but still prefer to occasionally bargain-hunt), the multi-app one tablet approach offers tons of convenience and scads of purchasing flexibility. Not to mention easy/quick access to retailer exclusive books and exclusive periodical subscriptions.

Heck I even CARE about DRM-stripping and personal ebook library preservation; and I STILL sometimes get lazy and just download the cheapest copy I can find (in-app store browsing) and just read it in that retailer's reading app. Heck, if I never balked at different editions of print books (and I didn't), I'm not likely to kick up my heels much at ebooks that present themselves slightly different; visually. I've long since given up on trying to "fix" even hideously formatted periodicals, and just choose to read them in whichever app makes them magically appear on my device with no foofing around. I'm not getting married, I'm reading a book.

[Nabeel]

I'm astigmatic. I must admit I'd never heard before that it caused a problem with backlit devices: but this might explain why I find reading my Sony comfortable.

Thank you for the information!

N.

[Jessica Lares]

I think having to plug the Kindle into the computer to push in a PDF is hard enough.

I strip my DRM off my books, but if Marvin didn't exist, I probably wouldn't.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Catlady

You don't seriously think having to open different apps is somehow more difficult for the average person than stripping DRM and converting, or than having a supply of different e-reader devices, as rcentros suggested, do you?

By owning a Kindle and a Nook, you have most of the ebooks -- sold in the U.S. anyhow -- covered. Kindle format, Nook format and DRM-free ePub and mobi formats. No Calibre necessary.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by rcentros

By owning a Kindle and a Nook, you have most of the ebooks -- sold in the U.S. anyhow -- covered. Kindle format, Nook format and DRM-free ePub and mobi formats. No Calibre necessary.

By owning a tablet, no Calibre necessary. Plus you get a wide range of additional functionality.

It's fine with me if you want to buy multiple e-readers and cart them around with you. But I think for most people, a tablet is a much more attractive option.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Nabeel

I'm astigmatic. I must admit I'd never heard before that it caused a problem with backlit devices: but this might explain why I find reading my Sony comfortable.

Thank you for the information!

N.

No problem. An astigmatism is basically a refractive error in the eye or the lens. Super basically, light just doesn't bend correctly. So you get haziness, blurriness, etc. If you have a super light astigmatism you may not even notice it.

Sometimes doctors will do partial correction (only one axis), full correction, or even no correction at all depending on the specific patients circumstances.

My astigmatism is fairly heavy. Without my glasses everything looks blurry and hazy. I first noticed it many years ago when distant objects had a double or triple image version of themselves, but all of the secondary versions looked like hazy ghost versions. My previous glasses only had partial correction (one dimension) for the astigmatism, and I could see a lot better but I was still getting eye strain every day. Finally got these glasses with full correction, everything looks so beautiful, but DANG it took me FOREVER to adjust to them properly without getting sick. Good now though.

Anyway, any light at all will end up causing problems with an astigmatism if the astigmatism is bad enough. If I take my glasses off, my beautiful high resolution Kindle Fire HDX fonts go from looking bold and tight to looking sloppy and like someone got too much water in the ink!

Long way of saying, I really appreciate e-ink screens due to this limitation of my biological hardware!

(Although, I sometimes jack up the font size if I don't have my glasses on when using the Fire HDX for books. This helps.)

[Josieb1]

I have three makes of ereaders and an iPad mini. I still prefer to read on an e-ink screen, and I still want the new ones potentially coming out this year.

[OverByter]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Personally, I doubt very much that I would buy another e-reader; I'd go for the multipurpose device.

I don't think anyone's mentioned one major advantage of the tablet--with the appropriate apps, you can get books from any bookstore; you don't need to worry about stripping DRM and converting files.

You can do the same thing on a rooted NST, B&N baffles me, a few weeks ago before the warranty expired on my device I called and they promptly cross shipped a certified pre owned nook, receiving it I noticed a small scratch in the center of the screen, called back and they promptly shipped me a nib retail device. I can understand hanging onto the refurbs for warranty claims but if you have brand new in the retail box, maybe they don't have enough to stock b&m stores but why the hell aren't they selling them online instead of sitting in a warehouse in Jersey? :banghead:
OB

[Salgueiros]

Originally Posted by Anthem

Over at Good e-Reader Michael Kozlowski muses aloud:



What do we think? I have to admit, I suffer from an astigmatism, and the thought of ONLY being able to read e-Books on devices that emit light is a nightmare scenario.

Available at: http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...nd-smartphones

I only read books on paper or eink. I will never even consider the option of a lcd screen. It feels terrible. How can people read real books on a tablet? I can consider reading a journal article or a short story but a whole book?

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

I only read books on paper or eink. I will never even consider the option of a lcd screen. It feels terrible. How can people read real books on a tablet?

It's like anything else, you get used to it over time. If there had never been eink, I'm sure I'd be reading on a tablet.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

It's like anything else, you get used to it over time. If there had never been eink, I'm sure I'd be reading on a tablet.

And for someone like me who spends probably half their time reading outdoors, that would mean a considerable drop in reading for me. In fact, I rarely read anymore before getting my ereader for lack of room for more books and not wanting to lug around even a paperback with me anymore when out (I hate having to carry a purse).

I agree with Salgueiros, how can people stand reading on tablets or any LCD backlit screen?

[OverByter]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I agree with Salgueiros, how can people stand reading on tablets or any LCD backlit screen?

It's the chicken and the egg all over again, people who purchase e-ink devices tend to be voracious readers to begin with, these devices enhance our bibliophile urges by having the electronic equivalent of thousands of printed words at our immediate disposal, so because of these devices we read even more than we normally do, on the other hand you have casual readers who are perfectly satisfied with an lcd tablet for their reading adventures, this works well for them because they consume much less content than ourselves.
OB

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I agree with Salgueiros, how can people stand reading on tablets or any LCD backlit screen?

How do you read MR? And how did you read it before eink?