I saw my 1st ereader yesterday

So I live in a small town in the north woods of Wisconsin. People here are not exactly the most technically aware. Yes, almost everyone here has a high speed Internet connection but almost all limit the use to downloading porn, exchanging silly e-mails, and getting the latest sports new. Any and all things related to the Green Bay Packers are very big here. As far as I know only one other person in town has an e-book reader, and she runs a web site design business for clients all over the country. That is not the typical townie here!

So it has been quite a pleasure each time I am asked about my Sony, usually when reading while dining at one of the few local eateries. I am always quite willing to talk up the merits of my reader,with demonstration, and to sell the idea of e-books in general. Consider me a prophet preaching in the wilderness. The last two people to ask me about it even asked it it was a Kindle. (Give credit to Amazon they don't—yes a matter of opinion—make the best device, but they exceed all at marketing.) This gives me hope for the future of e-books if at least the knowledge thereof is penetrating this market.

Oh, so no I've never seen any other reader “in the wild.”

[Bilbo1967]

Seen just one other in the wild. On a flight from Germany to the UK, the lady across the aisle from me had a Sony 600. Other than that, none.

In light of Hamlet53's comments about Amazon's marketing; I was on a ferry from France to the UK a few weeks ago (when the flights were grounded) and a group of people sat opposite me commented on my (Sony) e-reader. One of the ladies with them said, "Oh, I've heard of these, they're called Kindles"! I did politely explain that not all e-readers are Kindles.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Seen just one other in the wild. On a flight from Germany to the UK, the lady across the aisle from me had a Sony 600. Other than that, none.

In light of Hamlet53's comments about Amazon's marketing; I was on a ferry from France to the UK a few weeks ago (when the flights were grounded) and a group of people sat opposite me commented on my (Sony) e-reader. One of the ladies with them said, "Oh, I've heard of these, they're called Kindles"! I did politely explain that not all e-readers are Kindles.

A few weeks ago on the train, two very cool guys from the suburban ghetto took a seat near mine. One pointed at my Opus and asked his friend if it was an iPad. The other said nah disdainfully. Then they talked about something else.

[SameOldStory]

I saw a girl (23 -30) reading a nook in a Burger King. You could almost see how proud and smug she was.

But she didn't know that I knew that she was reading a harlequin romance type book.

It's a shame that we men don't have such books of our own.
The old science fiction books used to have scantily clad women on the cover (not that the picture had much of anything to do with the story). Just not the same.

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

I saw a girl (23 -30) reading a nook in a Burger King. You could almost see how proud and smug she was.

But she didn't know that I knew that she was reading a harlequin romance type book.

It's a shame that we men don't have such books of our own.
The old science fiction books used to have scantily clad women on the cover (not that the picture had much of anything to do with the story). Just not the same.

Yes, e-books don't really have a cover; not like of old. That can be a good thing: When one does not want surrounding company made aware of ones taste in literature. Or it can be a bad thing: I remember well when covers were often the high point of the book, Umm, scantily clad women.

“The covers of this book are too far apart” - Ambrose Bierce

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

It's a shame that we men don't have such books of our own.
The old science fiction books used to have scantily clad women on the cover (not that the picture had much of anything to do with the story). Just not the same.

I remember those. Heroic fantasy books too

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

I saw a girl (23 -30) reading a nook in a Burger King. You could almost see how proud and smug she was.

But she didn't know that I knew that she was reading a harlequin romance type book.

It's a shame that we men don't have such books of our own.
The old science fiction books used to have scantily clad women on the cover (not that the picture had much of anything to do with the story). Just not the same.

Perhaps Kalibre should allow you to associate images (perhaps from google images) with all your books. You could perhaps specify blondes and swim suits for your sci-fi collection and perhaps brunettes with glasses for your classic collection. It could then overlay the books title over the image.

Another nifty feature for hardware manufacturers to implement would be a button that, when pressed, will switch from your current book (which may be embarrassing) to a random page in a more impressive book. This might allow you to save face if some young thing asks about your ereader while you're half way through some ebook on the Kama Sutra.

[Blue Tyson]

That's a pretty cool idea.

Make your own cover. Get a image that it will the autoslot the title and author into, and replace the old one.

->

[Shayne Parkinson]

I saw my first one in March, on a domestic flight here in New Zealand. It was a Sony. I spent much of the short flight looking at it without making it obvious that I was looking at it. And fantasizing about how amazing it would be to encounter someone reading one of my books (no, she wasn't).

[kacir]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

But she didn't know that I knew that she was reading a harlequin romance type book.

It's a shame that we men don't have such books of our own.

HA!
You obviously haven't heard of Paladin of Shadows by John Ringo.
It is even available for free on one of Baen CDs
see Wikipedia article, with links to the books, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paladin_of_shadows
see absolutely hilarious review at
http://hradzka.livejournal.com/194753.html
The review even has reaction by John Ringo.

DO NOT!, I repeat DO NOT! attempt to read the series before making yourself familiar with the review, even if it does contain some spoilers. (The good (aehm....) guy wins at the end)
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


Edit:
Before reading the review, that contains quotes from the actual books, do yourself a favor and read sanitized description on Wikipedia and consider if you are strong enough to see the review ;-)

[SameOldStory]

Reading in public may give you too much protection. Just suppose that you want people to know that you really are't reading smut in public.

Lets make ebook reader covers where we can print a "cover" and slide it into the face of the ereader cover.



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