small ereader like the Voyage

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by barryem

I read one book at a time. I rarely change fonts or sizes or weights. I set those without too much fussiness when I get a device and then pretty much forget it.

I do the same, which is why I bought the Glowlight Plus knowing the Nook software has issues. But I know other people use theirs differently, which is why I hesitate in recommending one, though the Nook hardware is typically better than the competition and the reading experience is as good or better than the rest.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by barryem

If ereaders were made by Samsung and Sony and Asus they'd let us buy from whatever store we like, support every possible format and DRM, accept wireless transfers from phones or PC's and even allow the use of thumb drives.

Of course they'd cost more. They'd be worth it, too.

Barry

Except that Amazon will not license its DRM for any reader that supports any other DRM.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Except that Amazon will not license its DRM for any reader that supports any other DRM.

I think he was saying if readers were like tablets and laptops rather than distributor owned. Amazon has no trouble selling DRM-free MP3s.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by rcentros

As for the dictionary, that's always been an important part of my reading. I grew up with a full-sized, 1913, Indian Paper Webster's New International Dictionary and I used to pore over that for hours. (This is the same dictionary Pocketbook supplies as their default English dictionary, which I think is cool.)

I think it is the best public domain dictionary available in English.

Dale

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I think it is the best public domain dictionary available in English.

Dale

1913 is a critical limitation imo - the one constant in language is change, and there's been so much change in English over the past century that a dictionary so old is of limited value. Unless one has strong prescriptivist tendencies, and treats "the dictionary" as an arbiter of language instead of merely a chronicler thereof. That's why I am pleased my public library maintains its OED subscription. That effectively makes the most comprehensive English dictionary "public domain" for me, offering the best of both worlds - detailed definitions of variants and etymologies and (more or less) up-to-date vocabulary and usage notations

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I think it is the best public domain dictionary available in English.

Agreed.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Except that Amazon will not license its DRM for any reader that supports any other DRM.

I didn't know that but my guess is that, if Amazon didn't have their own ereader they'd want their DRM in as many ereaders as possible.

Barry

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

1913 is a critical limitation imo - the one constant in language is change, and there's been so much change in English over the past century that a dictionary so old is of limited value. ...

I don't agree. Although a lot has changed in the English language, I think you underestimate the value of a comprehensive dictionary like the 1913 Websters. For example, my kids who work at a retail store were talking about the problem of shoplifting. For some reason that reminded of the word that was in common usage for shoplifting in Montana, when I was a teenager, "kipe" or "kype." I wasn't sure if I remembered the word right, so I looked it up on dict.org when I got home. (Dict.org uses the 1913 Websters.)

Kipe \Kipe\, n. [Cf. OE. kipen to catch, Icel. kippa to pull,
     snatch. Cf. Kipper.]
     An osier basket used for catching fish. [Prov. Eng.]
     [1913 Webster]

Well, that got me started, so I went to the Internet and found that kipe (or kype) was slang for shoplifting (snatching, small theft) and it was (mostly) regional to the northwest United States.

It doesn't appear in the Oxford dictionary on my Kindle or Sony. Nor does it appear in the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in the Kobo or Nook. It does, however, appear, in the default English dictionary on the Tolino (which is based on Wiktionary.org).

I don't know what I would find in the OED for "kipe." I used to own a copy (one of those two volume editions with four pages per page and an included magnifying glass), but I gave it to my dad. I do, however, find that that there is enough difference between American English and English English that the 1913 Websters is sometimes more accurate with its shades of meaning (for Americans) than is the Oxford, even the American edition of the Oxford.

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't agree. Although a lot has changed in the English language, I think you underestimate the value of a comprehensive dictionary like the 1913 Websters.

For a given definition of "comprehensive", as your example nicely demonstrated (As an aside, your example made me wish I had access to DARE). How comprehensive is a dictionary that includes archaic slang from one part of the English-speaking world but contains little from elsewhere and perforce nothing at all from later times? A simple example, suggested phonetically by your own: The word "kai" is standard in NZE, a loanword from Māori, and means "food". The OED lists its first recorded published use in English as predating the Websters by 85 years, yet searching for the word in Webster's 1913 gives me a 404.

To bring this back to the topic at hand, this is why I don't have a problem with the Kobo's inbuilt dictionary - it's good enough most of the time, and when it's not, Kobo offers the option itself to search Google, which fills in most of the gaps


P.S. - I wonder if the shoplifting sense of "kipe" derives ultimately from the "fishing basket" sense? Not that much of a stretch, I'd say

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

For a given definition of "comprehensive", as your example nicely demonstrated (As an aside, your example made me wish I had access to DARE). How comprehensive is a dictionary that includes archaic slang from one part of the English-speaking world but contains little from elsewhere and perforce nothing at all from later times? A simple example, suggested phonetically by your own: The word "kai" is standard in NZE, a loanword from Māori, and means "food". The OED lists its first recorded published use in English as predating the Websters by 85 years, yet searching for the word in Webster's 1913 gives me a 404.

Which, of course, makes sense since New Zealand was a British colony. You're going to find a lot of missing words in an American-based dictionary for English slang in British colonies. As an American, I'm more interested in American definitions.

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

To bring this back to the topic at hand, this is why I don't have a problem with the Kobo's inbuilt dictionary - it's good enough most of the time, and when it's not, Kobo offers the option itself to search Google, which fills in most of the gaps

I like as much detail as I can get directly from the Reader. There are a lot of words that don't need gaps filled – but a good example makes the meaning clearer. I don't think the dictionaries should be the determining reason why you buy one reader over another, but it can important consideration.

Originally Posted by stuartjmz

P.S. - I wonder if the shoplifting sense of "kipe" derives ultimately from the "fishing basket" sense? Not that much of a stretch, I'd say

I'm thinking more the "snatch" sense. Since shoplifters "snatch" items off the shelves.

kipe
verb.

Also, kype.

1. To steal, pilfer, or swipe something of small value, e.g. a candy bar or some other commonly shop-lifted item.

In fading use. primarily regional to the American Paific Northwest. From the Old English "kip", menaing "to snatch" or "to take hold of". Probably originally from the Old Norse "kippa", meaning to "to snatch", "to tug on", or "to pull on".

Jesse kiped some Pabst from the store while we distracted the clerk.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kipe

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't know what I would find in the OED for "kipe." I used to own a copy (one of those two volume editions with four pages per page and an included magnifying glass), but I gave it to my dad.

I have the last (single-volume) Compact OED. It has the same definition for 'kipe' the 1913 Webster has, the 'snatch' meaning isn't in there.