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[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Froide

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luffy

I think reading outdoors is a necessity instead of a matter of choice. Who wants to read outdoors by choice? I never do that.

I agree with meeera. Ditto for reading at the beach, in a park, on a boat, while camping, or on the go (sunlight through the windows of airplanes, commuter buses, motor vehicles, and trains typically emulates outside reading conditions).

Omar Khayyam famously extolled the virtues of reading outside, in Rubaiyat:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, A Loaf of Bread—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

Omar Khayyam lived in a different time. A time when reading with the lips closed was considered a sign of genius.(I got that from QI) You can't compare people from different times.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by meeera

Lounging in the garden and reading, watching the birds go by, enjoying the flowers is one of the delights of life.

I now realize why you feel that way. It's endemic to people living in countries where the winter is harsh. Where I live sunshine is overrated.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I now realize why you feel that way. It's endemic to people living in countries where the winter is harsh. Where I live sunshine is overrated.

When I lived in sunny SoCal, I read outside all the time: on my terrace, at the pool, at the beach, in the park.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Omar Khayyam lived in a different time. A time when reading with the lips closed was considered a sign of genius.(I got that from QI) You can't compare people from different times.

I disagree. I feel the same way OK does, and so do many others I know. You don't like reading outside, but some others of us do. Guess we have to agree to disagree.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Froide

I disagree. I feel the same way OK does, and so do many others I know. You don't like reading outside, but some others of us do. Guess we have to agree to disagree.

Well yes, but it's not a strong disagreement. I feel we can be good friends.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Well yes, but it's not a strong disagreement. I feel we can be good friends.

Think of it as an advantage to you. You don't have to worry about outside readability when considering a new device. The ones that value being able to read outside will have a harder time finding the next device.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Well yes, but it's not a strong disagreement. I feel we can be good friends.

Works for me, pal.

[bobstro]

Originally Posted by Luffy

I think reading outdoors is a necessity instead of a matter of choice. Who wants to read outdoors by choice? I never do that.

With a phone or other "essential" device, you are likely to have to use it outdoors, and in sunlight at least occasionally. The latest LCD screens are certainly capable of being viewed in direct sunlight, and I can do things like look up a contact or enter an address, but I make a distinction between "usable" and "readable" in sunlight. I can do a few limited tasks, but I wouldn't want to try to read for any length of time under those circumstances. The experience is hardly pleasant. Matte screen protectors help with the glare, but the contrast is poor.

I bought my eink devices specifically for outdoor reading. "Beach NOOK" was the 1st, and I've bought a couple since (Kobo Mini, Aura). In addition to better viewing (no glare in the sun, less intensity in the dark), they also better battery life, which is ideal for extended reading sessions, or being stuck somewhere without access to AC power. I toss one in my bag before flights just in case (especially as winter nears).

So to answer your question, I read outdoors by choice whenever I can.

[Chiron scriba]

Hearing stuff like "what I have is good enough for me so why should I wish for anything better?" gives me the creeps - it reminds me of that remote ancestor of mine whose mother used to shout from the cave mouth "Stop playing with those stupid dry sticks of yours and come eat your raw meat before the blood clots!"

Come on boys (and girls)! I may agree that most current e-readers aren't that bad, but they don't even come near the convenience and the handiness of a good old dead-tree book, their only real advantage being so far that you can squeeze a small library into them.
But you cannot drop them to the ground and step on them, nor can you enjoy full-color illustration with fine details, nor can turn them shortly about to tell a friend the right title, author and publisher of the novel you're reading, nor can you dog-ear the pages you want to go over again later on, nor can you scribble your thoughts on the margins or mark the typos, nor can you thrust them in a knapsack between a bottle and a Swiss-army knife and then hope to read them again...

Sure, you can read on them. But they are too damn delicate, expensive (you have to pay for the e-reader and for the books) and rough. Moreover (though that can be hardly blamed upon the e-readers themselves) all too often the e-publishers use to turn a blind eye to the typographic quality and the proofreading.

What I would wish and be amenable to pay for? Hmmm, let's see:

- A flexible e-reader - the whole thing, not just the display. It is technically feasible, if maybe not to the point that one can roll it up and stick it into a bottle.

- A solar-powered device - you need some light to read the e-ink anyway, and with the right electronics the power requirements can be really modest.

- A deployable flexible keyboard to add notes, dog-ears and corrections. Or maybe even to write something of my own, should I feel like it.

- A full-color, hi-res e-ink display. A dream perhaps, but today's dreams are tomorrow's realities - who said that?

- An USB port where I can plug a huge pen-drive with more and more and even more books.

Now, what I would not need? That's easy:

- no internet, no wi-fi, no E-mail, no social media, no remote interference of any kind. I already have an iPhone for that, and getting it marked the end of my peace. "Beata solitudo, sola beatitudo" wrote St. Bernard some 1000 years ago - and he didn't even need an iPhone to say so

[rkomar]

Where would you put the solar power collectors? Would you want a huge bezel on the device? It's probably better to have a separate panel that can plug into the USB for charging, while keeping the ereader small and light. As for WiFi, what's wrong with just leaving it turned off? A device without WiFi won't be bought by a lot of people (me included), so won't be as successful in the market.

[dickloraine]

What e-reader are you using, that supports neither bookmarks nor annotations?

[DuckieTigger]

@Chiron scriba: ???? Why are you so creeped out that some already are happy with their ereaders? And then you call us cave men? Not everyone is so enthusiastically happy with the convenience of paper books as you are. Books are bulky - a simple paperback takes up more room than an ereader. Now stand up and hold a hardcover with one hand and see how comfortable that reads. Try to turn a page with that one hand while the other hand is busy holding a cup of coffee. I do this quite often when my coffee is empty and I get up, walk to the kitchen, and get new coffee. Thanks to my book (Paperwhite) I don't have to stop reading - only for the short moment it takes to pour the coffee. As for throwing it in a backpack - that is when you close the cover and throw the ereader in.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Chiron scriba

Come on boys (and girls)! I may agree that most current e-readers aren't that bad, but they don't even come near the convenience and the handiness of a good old dead-tree book, their only real advantage being so far that you can squeeze a small library into them.

They're also light and small enough for me to handle pain-free, and fit in my bag. And frontlit. And have cutomisable fonts & sizing. These are huge wins, and make them a lot more handy and convenient for me than the near-ubiquitous giant trade paperbacks about.

But you cannot drop them to the ground and step on them, nor can you enjoy full-color illustration with fine details, nor can turn them shortly about to tell a friend the right title, author and publisher of the novel you're reading, nor can you dog-ear the pages you want to go over again later on, nor can you scribble your thoughts on the margins or mark the typos, nor can you thrust them in a knapsack between a bottle and a Swiss-army knife and then hope to read them again...

I can do most of those things with mine! I have no need for color illustrations; my e-ink device is for novels, and I have an iPad Mini for graphic works. I can flip it to Sleep mode in a second to show a friend the cover of the book. I touch the top right corner and a dog-ear appears; I highlight a word and can add an annotation And I routinely thrust mine into my bag between a water bottle and my keys; I keep it in a nice leather folio case just for that purpose. And since I have no wish to drop it to the ground and step on it (I don't want to do that with my paper books either).. I have nothing more to add.

[eschwartz]

ebooks have full text search. Instant win right there.

[Chiron scriba]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

@Chiron scriba: ???? Why are you so creeped out that some already are happy with their ereaders? And then you call us cave men? Not everyone is so enthusiastically happy with the convenience of paper books as you are . . ..

Did I say that I loathe e-readers? Don't get me wrong, were it true I wouldn't be here.

Yes, I like paper books, I spent a lifetime on them, I have a huge dusty messy collection of them, but that's no good reason not to complement them with a gadget that plays a similar role - after all the computer hasn't replaced paper and pencil, it has just taken over their most bothersome functions (OK, to be honest about a 99.5% ).

My point is rather that being fully satisfied with what you have doesn't encourage the development of better, handier, more convenient models - and Heaven knows that the current e-readers are far from perfect.

Yet the day they'll offer me an e-reader that has only advantages over the paper book without any drawback I'll certainly buy it, but rest assured that I won't ever stop thinking of how it could be further improved.
And once I'll be able to buy an e-gadget that fits in my pocket on which I can enjoy a collection of Van Gogh paintings in actual size, faithful colors and utmost detail, I'll probably still find something to mutter about. I'm just human, you know...

Originally Posted by Meeera

I can do most of those things with mine!

Now, what e-reader do you have? I'm here looking for something more decent than my primitive, sluggish and intolerably jeffbezosish Kindle 4...

Originally Posted by rkomar

Where would you put the solar power collectors?

All around the display, of course: it's just a matter of powering some slow CMOS circuitry that works every now and then, not a soldering iron

Originally Posted by eschwartz

ebooks have full text search. Instant win right there.

Point made, you're right