Would you read a digital book?

I do most of my serious reading before I go to sleep, in bed, with my cat trying to compete for attention with my book. I can imagine a digital text display, I'm just not sure how well it'll hold up with a cat stomping on it. Ok, so I was trying to visualize other ways I could read digital books in beds... it could be projected onto a blank wall, like a powerpoint presentation, or onto the ceiling but that sort of projection equipment could be pricey.

It could hook up to the TV and a little remote would flip to the next page, or paragraph. That wouldn't be too bad, although I wouldn't be able to flip onto my other side.

Or perhaps some sort of head gear that puts the display right in front of your eyes. Cat would like that, both hands would be free to pet him. Still, its not comfortable wearing glasses to bed.

I'm reading about Google and Microsoft digitizing books. Looking foward to the day when I can search through book texts, but wondering if anything could ever replace the book-in-bed experience I've had ever since I was a very little kid.

And the answer is.... PDA screens. LOL. I have been using digital books for a long time now..not quite the same as paperbacks, but you can still hold your PDA in one hand, flip to one side, etc. And pet the cat also.

I read e-books occasionally (on my Pocket PC). It's pretty handy with the backlight and the storage capacity. I generally have 50+ books on it at one time. The only hassles are: 1. it has a 320x240 screen, so I can only really read one or two paragraphs per page; 2. DRM. I've taken to stripping the DRM out of the MS Reader ones after I buy them.

I'd love to have an e-book device with a high DPI (300+) screen and no DRM. High battery life would be good too; I don't care whether it's a color screen.

I don't like reading text on backlit displays (including tv's or computer screens). After a short while, the light makes my eyes hurt. I much prefer reading text off of a 'reflected light' surface (ie paper), for some reason that doesn't seem as harsh on the eyes.

And while eBooks are definitely more portable (especially if you're taking on something like Shelby Foote's Civil War series, or LoTR), they don't look nearly as nifty sitting on a bookcase shelf. As long as there are bibliophiles, there will be paper books.

My prediction is that paper books will survive longer than whatever people are saying will replace books.

I'm not saying e-books will replace paper books... I love paper books too. But, I'd buy a good ebook reader (I haven't yet seen one).

I don't like reading THAT well off a computer screen. Its ok for short stuff, but wouldn't like it for reading many, many pages while relaxing to fall asleep.

I typically read in bed too, and I usually take my contacts out before doing so so I can just lay down and close my eyes when I get tired enough. (Either that or I wake up and can't get back to sleep, so I read.) My vision is really horrible to the point where I can't read the book if I hold it too far away from my face. Having an eBook would be harder to read and be more of a strain on my eyes. I'll stick to paperbacks for the time being.

I can read a lot faster and longer if I am reading a book rather than on a flickering monitor. But the way I see it is... until the day comes when men no longer pay visits to the john and have to sit for a while, we will always have books (with pictures).

But Arienne, some devices could be portable. :D

unless its powered by a little fusion reactor i dont think books are going anywhere...

I really like technology, but i dont want a book to go out on page 897!

There is an electronic paper made by Sony that is supposed to make this easier to do.

However, I doubt we'll be making books obsolete, at least not until we all have those flying cars that were promised back in the 50s.

I'll be happy when my kitchen appliances can hold intelligent conversations with me and demand electrosol.

I'll be happy when my kitchen appliances can hold intelligent conversations with me and demand electrosol.Reminds me of a friend who got one of the first Chrysler "talking" cars. "Your door is ajar" Ok... close it tighter. Female voice... pleasant... he's a happy guy. UNTIL..... he runs out of windshield washer fluid. See, he's a bit of a procrastinator and this voice was reminding him that he was low on fliuds for a VERY LONG TIME before he added more. The second time he got low on washer fluid he sold the car. Said "the last thing I need is ANOTHER woman bi***ing at me."

Be careful what you wish for... you may just get it. :)

On the other hand... what happens when your dishwasher starts asking for a better conversationalist? "I've heard that... got any NEW material?"

Would it be domestic abuse if I beat my dishwasher for having a smart mouf?

I'm getting close to that with a thermostat that beeps at me to remind me to change the filter in my air intake for the heating system. Argh! I wish it would just send me an email. :p

We have books that when keep in good condition have lasted a few centuries. Do you think that the electronics media will be able to last for the same duration?

I don't think so. I it is a lot easier to write comment in the margin of a real book that in an electronic one. And for me too, it easier to read from paper sheet that for a screen when it for a long duration.

Eridalafar

I think books in electronic media now will keep indefinately, so long as there is interest in the book. Nothing of interest gets lost on the web hehe.

Reminds me of a friend who got one of the first Chrysler "talking" cars. "Your door is ajar".

Rofl... that brings back memories. I remember a salesman taking me out lunch in a rental car. Salesmen, by profession, are supposed to be calm and pleasant. There was some malfunction, and every few minutes the female voice would say, "Your door is ajar". Before we reached the restaurant, the salesman exploded and yelled "The door is not a jar, it's a fvcking DOOR".

I don't think books will die out anytime soon. My kids grew up in the computer age, and still read lots of books. Unlike newer technology, books have been around for at least a couple of thousand years. It's the new technology that will disappear or change dramatically.

I don't personally read electronic books because I prefer the physical presence of a hard cover or paperback.

Do electronic books have a 'quick flip to last few pages' option? Of course, I NEVER read the last few pages out of sequence, especially mystery novels... /nod.

I don't like reading text on backlit displays (including tv's or computer screens). After a short while, the light makes my eyes hurt. I much prefer reading text off of a 'reflected light' surface (ie paper), for some reason that doesn't seem as harsh on the eyes.

And while eBooks are definitely more portable (especially if you're taking on something like Shelby Foote's Civil War series, or LoTR), they don't look nearly as nifty sitting on a bookcase shelf. As long as there are bibliophiles, there will be paper books.

I know that Philips research labs has developed a high quality reflected light paper that can be controlled just like a lcd screen. They are still working on making it tv sized for a reasonable price and flexible, but expect a tv screen within a few years that can be rolled into a fairly small cylinder that you can read off just as if it were regular paper.
They are not the only ones developing something like that, it is just that at the moment theirs is the best in terms of capabilities and ease of manufacturing.


Eri

You read books out-of-sequence?!?!! Heresy! I could never do that. Except for non-fiction, I do.


I know that Philips research labs has developed a high quality reflected light paper that can be controlled just like a lcd screen. They are still working on making it tv sized for a reasonable price and flexible, but expect a tv screen within a few years that can be rolled into a fairly small cylinder that you can read off just as if it were regular paper.
They are not the only ones developing something like that, it is just that at the moment theirs is the best in terms of capabilities and ease of manufacturing.
Ok, this will be cool. :D

The one thing to keep in mind is that once a book is digitized, you can search it. This probably won't mean as much to people who are thinking along the lines of a novella, but it's a great thing when you're looking up a specific item you saw in a book. Or, if you're a student or researcher, you recall seeing it in "Book_X" but not what page. Search!

Yeah, that's what I'm personally excited about. Still, it would be kind of neat to have a new reading medium. Like a newspaper with one page. :D

Would you like to see my collection of books on data cubes?

I like the idea of being able to carry around a paperback sized piece of electronic paper capable of wirelessly connecting to the net in order to read the news, or a book.

Would you like to see my collection of books on data cubes?

That sounds like a pick-up line!

I like the idea of being able to carry around a paperback sized piece of electronic paper capable of wirelessly connecting to the net in order to read the news, or a book.

Don't think small. Think of a a gizmo the size of your watch that can connect to an internet style-database and give a full detailed holographic image of anything, anyone, anywhere. Why not?

If we made a "read-only" device we wouldn't have to fuss with giving up display real estate to a keyboard. Which is what I think would make it better than using a PDA.

Don't think small. Think of a a gizmo the size of your watch that can connect to an internet style-database and give a full detailed holographic image of anything, anyone, anywhere. Why not?

Because I don't want some jackass seeing the pr0n I'm reading when I project it on the wall =P

Because I don't want some jackass seeing the pr0n I'm reading when I project it on the wall =POh man! I wouldn't want Aidon's stories to be visually literal, either. I would hate to be sitting in an airport and look up to see "he begins to mentally undress the woman across the boardroom table... watching her newly fabricated breasts rise and fall as she drones on about net profit and loss...."

(and for Fyyr) Pull the plug! Do it for the children!!

You are so mean to me....

If you only knew...

The one thing to keep in mind is that once a book is digitized, you can search it. This probably won't mean as much to people who are thinking along the lines of a novella, but it's a great thing when you're looking up a specific item you saw in a book. Or, if you're a student or researcher, you recall seeing it in "Book_X" but not what page. Search!
Or .. when something in chapter 20 just doesn't sound right, so you search back through the previous chapters to find where the author contradicted himself.

Or ... there are so many subplots and characters you can't keep any of it straight so have to keep searching through to book to find out what's what.

Or ... on page 400, something is revealed that upsets everyone, and you have to go back to page 50 to find that one tiny clue that makes it clear why everyone is so upset.

All in all though, I still prefer hardbacks over dots on the screen. Though, when I've run out of books and am bored silly, a trip to amazon.com to purchase an ebook saves the day!

Or .. when something in chapter 20 just doesn't sound right, so you search back through the previous chapters to find where the author contradicted himself.

Or ... there are so many subplots and characters you can't keep any of it straight so have to keep searching through to book to find out what's what.

Or ... on page 400, something is revealed that upsets everyone, and you have to go back to page 50 to find that one tiny clue that makes it clear why everyone is so upset.

All in all though, I still prefer hardbacks over dots on the screen. Though, when I've run out of books and am bored silly, a trip to amazon.com to purchase an ebook saves the day!


Been reading Robert Jordan of late? =P

Been reading Robert Jordan of late? =P
Not after his second or third book.

I'm a glutton for punishment though, as I still read Terry Goodkind. But, I just love Cara :grin:

Meh, I always thought Goodkind was a hack. He rips off Jordan all kinds of ways, and various other fantasy authors...and his writing isn't very good. I stopped reading him after his 4th or 5th book.

I just picked up Orson Scott Card myself, reading through the Ender series.

Yeah, I stopped reading Goodkind after the 3rd book, I think. I still read Jordan, though I haven't gotten the 12th? book yet.

Ender's series... First one was great, the next three were progressively worse. The parallel series he wrote recently was much better though.

Agree Yrys, first book was bloody brilliant. He should've stopped there. :p

Agree.

The 12th book of WoT downright pissed me off. He's putting in too much filler fluff to try to stretch this story out or something, but any book which has Hero of the series in it for about a chapter just irritates me.

He better get the series finished before he dies or, I swear, I will go dig his carcass up and make him type out the last book.

The first book in the Ender series was great. The second one was Ok, but a major step down. I lost interest halfway through book three (or was it four?).

Writers should know when to move on to another concept.

Very few series keep things going. Lord of the Rings was one, as was Asimov's Foundation series. On the other hand the Dune series got dull after a couple of sequels, as did Hitchhiker's Guide, Dragons of Pern, Ringworld and Farmer's 'River' series.

Can anyone think of a series where a sequel was better than the first book in the series? I can't.

It seems to me the series that works are ones where there is a tale that can't be told in one book versus ones that don't work are simply new plots and revisitations of old characters.

Although... the Harry Potter books might be an exception.

Farmer... he was just plain weird with all that sci-fi sex stuff.

Some of David Brin's trilogies, the other books in the series are as good as the first (in my opinion), and maybe in his first Uplift trilogy, the 2nd and 3rd books were better.

I'm reading the Ender series in a shotgun approach, just one immediately after another, so to me it doesn't seem like four books, it's just one giant story. I read Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind within a three week period, and I thought it meshed well together. I do agree that Ender's Game was the best one pace-wise, but the other three wrapped things up nicely for me. It's one of the few series I've read where I've felt "satisfied" about the entire progression, start to finish.

I'm on the "Bean" books now, mid-way through Ender's Shadow. So far the only thing that's annoying me is how Card feels he has to remind you every two seconds that Bean is smarter than Ender.

I think the Harry Potter series has gotten better with each book. That, however, may be due to the fact that, like LoTR, Rowling had the entire series planned and has always thought of the books, in her mind, as all one big story.

It took her several years to write the first book because she first outlined all 7 books to make sure her story was going where she wanted it to go and she didn't lose sight of the end. She had the final chapter of book 7 written before she wrote book 1.

Most book sequels tend to be "oh, I made money off the first book, I'll crank out another one to ride the first one's coattails". Kinda like movie sequels, which also seem to just get worse over time.

Kinda like movie sequels, which also seem to just get worse over time.

I'm never convinced that a sequel is the best book an author can write. It's just the best book an author can sell.

just like to say that Terry Goodkind is awful lol. The first couple were ok but after that they just sucked. Has anyone read the most recent one? I didn't even bother after how horrible naked empire was.

I like harry potter and the ender books. How are the wheel of time books? Been thinking about reading all those for a while but some people say to wait until they're all finished before i read them. I've heard there's only supposed to be a couple more

Not after his second or third book.

I'm a glutton for punishment though, as I still read Terry Goodkind. But, I just love Cara :grin:

It is just because you want to die in your bed of old age, toothless and reading the last book of the serie.

:lmao: :lmao:

Eridalafar