"I Won't Read a Great Novel on an eReader"

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

When I was 3-5, not only was the phone (not a phone but the phone) physically attached to the wall, but it had a rotary dial.

I get a bit of a chuckle out of hearing people say "dial (some number)" when they're so young they probably never saw a phone with an actual dial outside of a museum.

My cell phone ringtone is a Western Electric Model 500 ring, and I have one of these (which is actually the handset design from the 302). One of these days, I have to take that handset out to the mall or something and sit on a bench having a conversation on it ... connected to nothing.

I would love to see that!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

We not only had a rotary phone, but it was a party line with our next door neighbor. If you picked up the handset and someone was talking, you had to wait. It practically killed my older sister, who took the phone into the hall closet to talk in private.

Ah yes, the old party lines. I had one of those up to the early 70s when I finally got fed up with a phone hog on the other line.

[parkher]

I don't read any paper books anymore. If I need to read one, I scan it, OCR it, and read it on the reader. Because the reader is so much easier on the eyes, so much more pleasant to read. For that you need a 9.7" reader and to configure very wide margins (2 cm each) so that the text on the page itself is of the exact size of a usual real paper book.
If the text lines are too long or the margins too narrow , or the screen - too small, then you don't even know what you are missing.

[John A. A. Logan]

Maybe it's never been fully examined, the fact that reading is (thankfully) one of the last remaining fully private experiences. That's why so many governments tried to ban books, no-one knows what you're thinking as your mind engages with another's mind, whether its through paper and ink or e-ink. Also, no-one knows what you're feeling, when you read, you read alone and have a breathing space before you tell anyone else what you experienced (or, perhaps you will wish to exercise your "right to remain silent" on what you thought or felt...having that right taken away in school after being forced to read a particular text must put many people off reading for life who otherwise might love it.) This private experience may well extend to the interplay between hand and eye and paper, or hand and eye and screen, causing one unique "user" to prefer one over the another, perhaps never really knowing exactly why, or being able to explain it.
Personally, I'm trying to keep a foot in both "worlds"...there are books I'm looking forward to e-reading...but it's strange that someone mentioned Watership Down...I can still remember the cover on the copy I read, the smell, the weight of it, the colour of the edge of the pages when the book was closed...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Jordan's Theorem reads: "You get used to... what you want to get used to." My first ebook was read on a PDA, and while the smaller screen was different, I wanted to read books on my PDA... so I did, and got used to it.

If someone doesn't want to use a reader because it's electronic, they'll probably not get used to reading on one. However, everyone has to start somewhere. Ultimately, it's up to the user, more than it is up to hardware or software or external issues. The user decides what works for them, because they make it work for them.

[Giggleton]

The technology is secondary to the idea behind the technology. Being easily accessible and readable information for everyone.

Paper books? Stone tablets? Sure they don't require a power source but how many can you fit in your backpack? Only a few actually.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Ah yes, the old party lines. I had one of those up to the early 70s when I finally got fed up with a phone hog on the other line.

Don't forget the nosey ones who would try to listen to all of your conversations.
Apache