You ask "What to buy"? read this: Officially Too Damn Many Ebook Readers

readit · 07-06-2011, 08:38 AM

Found a dmn good article on gizmodo from Wilson Rothman, who wrote it last year, but it's still (...or even more) true now, 2011...

"There will soon be two kinds of happy ebook-reader owners. The people who paid a fair amount for a reputable ebook reader from one of the companies they already buy books from, and the people who spend like $50 on a no-name ebook reader that supports a lot of formats, who gets every book they can think of as a pirated copy over BitTorrent. Everyone else—both the buyers of tier-two ebook readers and the makers of them—are going to be screwed...."

and

"...In fact, cheap e-ink readers will essentially be targeted at people with libraries of pirated books, for people who read the fine print of file compatibility, and ignore all the wireless connectivity and insta-bookstore stuff that consumers are currently excited about...."

Link to the article:
http://gizmodo.com/5443102/there-are...-ebook-readers

rahulm · 07-06-2011, 08:42 AM

TIL: I'm a pirate because I don't care about wireless connectivity and instant bookstore access.

EDIT:

"fine print" of file compatibility? This coming from a tech website?
Wow, what a bunch of hacks. I wish people just do tech journalism instead of writing up blatant and obvious controversy just to drum up views.

Plus, that "expert" prediction came to be false. The ebook reader market is more competitive than ever with lots of reputable companies releasing high quality products.

Phogg · 07-06-2011, 08:48 AM

Nonsense.

Cheap readers are perfect for a trip to someplace likely to damage your equipment - say a desert deployment in the military.

And I have an extensive paid for library dating back to the dot com era. A lot of it is in .lit and .pdb so a reader that reads those and epub and mobi is a good thing.

If I buy an Aluratek for 50 bucks I am only out that much if my drybag doesn't save it from the heat and sandstorms.

readit · 07-06-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahulm

Plus, that "expert" prediction came to be false. The ebook reader market is more competitive than ever with lots of reputable companies releasing high quality products.

He doesn't say it would get less competitive... in my opinion it is not competitive enough over the whole price range...as long as the "reputable" companies can milk the top-shelf-buyers without real competion, they are more than welcome! I would do that

And as long as almost every bored housewife worldwide with their Christmas-Kindle is happy to BUY their soap opera book on amazon instead of learning how to simply use google search to find the same books for free, Amazon is happy too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by phogg

Cheap readers are perfect for a trip to someplace likely to damage your equipment...if I buy an Aluratek for 50 bucks I am only out that much if my drybag doesn't save it from the heat and sandstorms.

..or get stolen, or simply if the money is not available...

Asawi · 07-06-2011, 09:47 AM

Come on, that was an "old" (January 2010) article and had very little to do with how things are "today".
I think the development since then shows the person who wrote it seriously wrong and really not worth commenting on.
This person seems to be aware of Amazon and really not much else. Libaries? Maybe they weren't that big in the US back then, what do I know? The world outside US? Is there such a thing?

Namekuseijin · 07-06-2011, 02:50 PM

I'd imagine most pirated books are terrible PDF scans, and thus not the best on cheap 5 and inches screen. But then again, perhaps not true anymore: DRM-stripped ebooks in mobi or ePub may be more popular than ever...

It's a shame, but yeah, only really competitive players in the market are kindle and nook...

pidgeon92 · 07-06-2011, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by readit

And as long as almost every bored housewife worldwide with their Christmas-Kindle is happy to BUY their soap opera book on amazon instead of learning how to simply use google search to find the same books for free, Amazon is happy too!

I don't see the humor in this. I suspect the book's author would prefer someone buy their book rather than to pirate it.

charmian · 07-07-2011, 04:32 AM

I don't think this article has come true. Where is that $50 e-ink reader? There really aren't that many no-name e-ink readers still selling. IIRC the 6" e-ink screen itself costs more than $50, so it's hard for them to compete with Kindle and Nook on price alone.

varelov · 07-10-2011, 12:12 AM

After some consideration over which eInk reader to buy in order to be able to read those darn pdf's with too many tables, bullet points and varying fonts and sizes, I bought a phone with an Awesome Screen. It reads PDF's the way they were supposed to be displayed plus if I want to read eBooks that I already have on my eReader, they are just one tap on the nookApp away. It is not a screen as big as tablets', but has plenty of real estate already and renders images beautifully.
Yes it isn't eInk and glare is there, but it is highly portable and multifunctional, I am already carrying it with me most of the time and I consider this problem solved.
eInk readers that are comfortable with displaying PDF's correctly are never going to come out. Makers of such readers and content distributors are just to darn happy to lock us up in their own proprietary formats that are supposed to be the next big thing to beat PDF.
That's it for my eInk reader shopping. I don't have "too damn many eBook readers" and I was choosing what to buy. If they ever come out with a eInk computer screen, I may reconsider. Till then...

Graham · 07-10-2011, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varelov

eInk readers that are comfortable with displaying PDF's correctly are never going to come out.

With the obvious exception of colour, I've never noticed an issue with the actual display of PDFs on my Sony PRS-650, and my documents usually include tables, bullet points, graphics, pull-out boxes and multiple columns.

Yes, the screen is too small at 6" and I have to scroll around (and for that reason would want a larger device) but the actual display is certainly what I'd call correct.

Where do you find difficulties (I've not tried pdfs that involve complex equations, for example)?

Graham

robko · 07-10-2011, 09:42 AM

Wow it's a good thing that's in the Opinion section of their site. The way I read that article he just doesn't like/doesn't see a need for e-readers/e-ink so he's dumping on them all. I don't see how a slate is going to solve the piracy issue or the DRM confusion issue or any of the multitude of supposed issues he see's with e-books. And I'm not interested in slate for reading, I'm quite happy with my e-ink thanks. It's amazing how far the e-book market has shifted since that article was written, since the little no-name companies (read Kobo) are putting out product that's improving every day and are close to being a superior product to the Kindles of the world. Not to mention the fact that they have forced the big guys to bring down their prices to a point where the mass market can afford/is willing to buy them.

Yar-PocketBooker · 07-11-2011, 02:32 PM

besides the US and English language and .epub format there are other languages, countries and formats - supported by 'nonames' (which are getting some name in places outside US) and not supported by big guys like Amazon...
Plus, there is folder management, some may like the way Kindle is handling its content, some would prefer a little more control over their own ebooks.
Plus, don't forget that e-Reading appeared a long time before Kindle did

Folks may have tons of stuff in their libraries, and this stuff couldn't be shown properly on Kindles or Nooks, while PocketBook or Onyx would show them pretty well.

07-06-2011, 08:38 AM	#1
readit Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 44632 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Binatone ReadMeClassic 6",TravelmateC110 10.4",HTC Wizard WinMobile	You ask "What to buy"? read this: Officially Too Damn Many Ebook Readers Found a dmn good article on gizmodo from Wilson Rothman, who wrote it last year, but it's still (...or even more) true now, 2011... "There will soon be two kinds of happy ebook-reader owners. The people who paid a fair amount for a reputable ebook reader from one of the companies they already buy books from, and the people who spend like $50 on a no-name ebook reader that supports a lot of formats, who gets every book they can think of as a pirated copy over BitTorrent. Everyone else—both the buyers of tier-two ebook readers and the makers of them—are going to be screwed...." and "...In fact, cheap e-ink readers will essentially be targeted at people with libraries of pirated books, for people who read the fine print of file compatibility, and ignore all the wireless connectivity and insta-bookstore stuff that consumers are currently excited about...." Link to the article: http://gizmodo.com/5443102/there-are...-ebook-readers

07-06-2011, 08:42 AM	#2
rahulm Zealot Posts: 139 Karma: 22164 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: None	TIL: I'm a pirate because I don't care about wireless connectivity and instant bookstore access. EDIT: "fine print" of file compatibility? This coming from a tech website? Wow, what a bunch of hacks. I wish people just do tech journalism instead of writing up blatant and obvious controversy just to drum up views. Plus, that "expert" prediction came to be false. The ebook reader market is more competitive than ever with lots of reputable companies releasing high quality products. Last edited by rahulm; 07-06-2011 at 08:48 AM.

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07-06-2011, 08:48 AM	#3
Phogg PHD in Horribleness Posts: 2,320 Karma: 23599604 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.	Nonsense. Cheap readers are perfect for a trip to someplace likely to damage your equipment - say a desert deployment in the military. And I have an extensive paid for library dating back to the dot com era. A lot of it is in .lit and .pdb so a reader that reads those and epub and mobi is a good thing. If I buy an Aluratek for 50 bucks I am only out that much if my drybag doesn't save it from the heat and sandstorms.

07-06-2011, 09:47 AM	#5
Asawi Gadgetoholic Posts: 1,462 Karma: 2731820 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Libra2, Tolino Vision 6	Come on, that was an "old" (January 2010) article and had very little to do with how things are "today". I think the development since then shows the person who wrote it seriously wrong and really not worth commenting on. This person seems to be aware of Amazon and really not much else. Libaries? Maybe they weren't that big in the US back then, what do I know? The world outside US? Is there such a thing?

07-06-2011, 02:50 PM	#6
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	I'd imagine most pirated books are terrible PDF scans, and thus not the best on cheap 5 and inches screen. But then again, perhaps not true anymore: DRM-stripped ebooks in mobi or ePub may be more popular than ever... It's a shame, but yeah, only really competitive players in the market are kindle and nook...

07-07-2011, 04:32 AM	#8
charmian Addict Posts: 386 Karma: 1814548 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle 3, Kindle PW2	I don't think this article has come true. Where is that $50 e-ink reader? There really aren't that many no-name e-ink readers still selling. IIRC the 6" e-ink screen itself costs more than $50, so it's hard for them to compete with Kindle and Nook on price alone.

07-10-2011, 12:12 AM	#9
varelov Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 1590 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: nook	After some consideration over which eInk reader to buy in order to be able to read those darn pdf's with too many tables, bullet points and varying fonts and sizes, I bought a phone with an Awesome Screen. It reads PDF's the way they were supposed to be displayed plus if I want to read eBooks that I already have on my eReader, they are just one tap on the nookApp away. It is not a screen as big as tablets', but has plenty of real estate already and renders images beautifully. Yes it isn't eInk and glare is there, but it is highly portable and multifunctional, I am already carrying it with me most of the time and I consider this problem solved. eInk readers that are comfortable with displaying PDF's correctly are never going to come out. Makers of such readers and content distributors are just to darn happy to lock us up in their own proprietary formats that are supposed to be the next big thing to beat PDF. That's it for my eInk reader shopping. I don't have "too damn many eBook readers" and I was choosing what to buy. If they ever come out with a eInk computer screen, I may reconsider. Till then...

07-10-2011, 09:42 AM	#11
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	Wow it's a good thing that's in the Opinion section of their site. The way I read that article he just doesn't like/doesn't see a need for e-readers/e-ink so he's dumping on them all. I don't see how a slate is going to solve the piracy issue or the DRM confusion issue or any of the multitude of supposed issues he see's with e-books. And I'm not interested in slate for reading, I'm quite happy with my e-ink thanks. It's amazing how far the e-book market has shifted since that article was written, since the little no-name companies (read Kobo) are putting out product that's improving every day and are close to being a superior product to the Kindles of the world. Not to mention the fact that they have forced the big guys to bring down their prices to a point where the mass market can afford/is willing to buy them.

07-11-2011, 02:32 PM	#12
Yar-PocketBooker Fanatic Posts: 589 Karma: 6976 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: New York Device: PocketBooks and Onyxes and anything E-Ink...	besides the US and English language and .epub format there are other languages, countries and formats - supported by 'nonames' (which are getting some name in places outside US) and not supported by big guys like Amazon... Plus, there is folder management, some may like the way Kindle is handling its content, some would prefer a little more control over their own ebooks. Plus, don't forget that e-Reading appeared a long time before Kindle did Folks may have tons of stuff in their libraries, and this stuff couldn't be shown properly on Kindles or Nooks, while PocketBook or Onyx would show them pretty well.

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