Thoughts on eBook readers

jww · Post by **jww** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:33 am

It's a good site -- I frequent it usually once every couple of weeks or so.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:24 pm

MobileRead is mentioned today at usatoday.com!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011- ... PageReturn

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:34 am

I went to mobilread. Not a bad 'blog' but one look at the forums and I had sensory OVERLOAD. I couldnt deal with it...Im lame that way

clive

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:45 am

Clive, since that's the case, I recommend that you click on "forums", and then click on "reading recommendations".

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=24

Then you can go to the Apple forum for the latest news about your iPad.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=170

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:59 am

You're a good dudester....shouldd call you Mr E book hahahaha

thanks

clive

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 4:24 am

I lost it this weekend, A friend recommended i read The Elegance of the Hedgehog so off i went to amazon and lo and behold the paperback was almost half the cost of the kindle version. Of course I checked all the other sites that have been mentioned here and strangely every single place had the same price, isnt that illegal in the US of A? I told amazon they should refuse to sell e versions of books whose paper versions have lower prices and then I wrote to penguin and told them that they made those greedy wall streeters look like amateurs. I wish the public would stand up and revolt but nobody really cares anymore.

clive

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:47 am

Good for you Clive! The high price of eBooks is a constant complaint at mobileread.

Nowadays in the US the eBook prices are set by the six biggest publishers, not by the retailers. That is why the retailers all have the same price.

Did you buy the paperback?

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:01 am

bought the paperback for $7 including 2 day shipping as Im a prime member....would have been cheaper for amazon to pay the difference and let me have e version for same price HAHAHAHAHAAH

As per publisher setting price...Im confused. 1000000's of companies set price on items, but end buyers hardly ever pay them and seriously, i thought price fixing is illegal. sheesh, even the gas stations compete and oil/barrel is same price for everyone

sorry for ranting gents.......cant believe no senate hearings about this LOL

clive

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:36 am

todays shirt at the woot

http://sale.images.woot.com/Books___No_ ... Detail.png

clive

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 8:19 am

Nice find, Clive!

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:26 pm

Amazon announced today that they will sell the Kindle at a $25 discount which will have ads on the home page and the screen savers.

http://www.amazon.com/?

jww · Post by **jww** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:13 am

You can pick up a refurbished Kobos (the non-wireless model which I own) from Futureshop and BestBuy in Canada for under $70. Works with epub, adobe, etc. - which makes it easy to find books.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:35 pm

I take internet surveys from time to time, and I took one today about eBooks!

I told them that I use an Ectaco jetBook Lite, and that I spent no money on eBooks in 2010 and 2011, and a fair amount on print books in 2010. Then we moved on to what was apparently on their mind.

The questions asked how I would feel about buying eBooks from the publishers themselves. I said: no DRM, no geographical restrictions, lower prices, multiple formats.

They asked a couple of times about how important I felt the ability to share the eBook is.

They asked what I would do if the release of the eBook of my favorite author was delayed - buy the hardback or wait for the eBook. I said, buy the hardback.

They asked (multiple choice) about advantages of eBooks and advantages of print books. I added one, that many eBooks are of out of print books.

Unfortunately, I forgot to state somewhere my primary desire, that they get off their duff and make eBooks of out of print backlist titles.

That was the first survey I've taken about something I'm really interested in!

PS - They also asked if I would be interested in a flat fee subscription - such as ten books for a set price. I said no.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:49 pm

Amazon announced today that by the end of the year the Kindle will be able to borrow eBooks from over 11,000 US libraries. Details to follow.

This was a real advantage of the competitors.

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:35 pm

Sounds to me that Amazon are probably negotiating with library systems to make their format ebooks available. The Kindle, however, still falls short in not being able to handle open-source formats such as epub.

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Thu May 19, 2011 11:18 am

Big news. Amazon announced today that they now sell more eBooks than print books.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zht ... highlight=

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:39 am

there was also a news story floating around the other day that Amazon was building a tablet....the gist being that other ereaders have all been flops and dedicated readers dont stand a chance against the tablets. In any event, I am so Uber happy for Amazons success. jeff bazos should be knighted

clive

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:42 am

P.S. as an aside and a thread 'jack, prime membership is the absolute beeeez neeeeez. for those of you who use amazon it is definitely worth looking into AND their streaming video library which is part of prime makes it even more worthwhile

clive

jww · Post by **jww** » Fri May 20, 2011 7:38 am

fallingwickets wrote:....the gist being that other ereaders have all been flops and dedicated readers dont stand a chance against the tablets. ...

Not sure that I would agree Clive. My Kobo was way-way cheaper than even the cheapest tablet, and the e-ink technology is simply easier to read than LCDs are - full stop.

Even with the slick new RIM Playbook "Flash" commercial - I don't get tablets for me on a personal level yet.

Were I a medical professional, then I can see plenty of application -- with Watson in the background.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri May 20, 2011 10:32 am

Wendell

story about ereaders was in times or huff post tech section sometime over the past 7 days wherein the author argued the ereaders are a bomb point....NOT ME lol Im the complete opposite to you though......I dont get ereaders when you can have an ipad for a *few* bucks more, but thats a personal thing. I think though that for barnes and nobles and borders their readers were a big disappointment to the balance sheet

clive