Buying an e-reader

[mcbishop]

I'm afraid I'm one of those who lugs a few books everywhere I go, even into town for a coffee..... :oops:

Ah, I see: a Luggite ;-) )

Mike Bishop

[Ron Andrea]

I'm afraid I'm one of those who lugs a few books everywhere I go, even into town for a coffee..... :oops:

Ah, I see: a Luggite ;-) )

Mike Bishop

I'm a luggite, too . . . so far.

The e-reader looks attractive, but so far I lug around my book(s). I also enjoy looking at books, trading them, passing them back and forth. I assume you can't "share" e-books.

[mcbishop]

The e-reader looks attractive, but so far I lug around my book(s). I also enjoy looking at books, trading them, passing them back and forth. I assume you can't "share" e-books.

One of their biggest weaknesses in my book (ho ho). Between a quarter and a third of my book collection is secondhand in origin and I would be denied that under the present ereader business model (and most publishers are slow to provide their back catalogue in digital form). I too like the physical artefact of the book (and some books I could only ever read as a dead-tree derivative), but I also like my fountain pen and most especially pencils and notebooks as well as my various pcs. But I can't lug all my volumes of Britannia (1.2m of shelf space) around with me just to look something up, it's plain daft. It's horses for courses, so far as I am concerned. I don't think books are going away, any more than the paperback killed off the hardback; ebooks are just another format.

Mike Bishop

[Ron Andrea]

But I can't lug all my volumes of Britannia (1.2m of shelf space) around with me just to look something up, it's plain daft. It's horses for courses, so far as I am concerned. I don't think books are going away, any more than the paperback killed off the hardback; ebooks are just another format.

Mike Bishop

Recently, Oxford indicated they were no longer publishing a print version of the Oxford English Dictionary. It'll only be available on-line.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Recently, Oxford indicated they were no longer publishing a print version of the Oxford English Dictionary. It'll only be available on-line.

:roll: Great, not every one has access to fast broad band.....

[mcbishop]

:roll: Great, not every one has access to fast broad band.....

And not everybody has immediate access to a library with the latest version of the full OED. In fact, if you have a mobile phone that does internet and a valid UK county library card you can access the OED on the hoof for free (along with many other reference goodies, depending on your area). Frankly, that was a book that was inevitably going wholly digital (if you've ever seen one of the old paper editions you'll know what I mean). In practice the Concise OED is about all most people ever need (and the Kindle has built-in The Oxford Dictionary of English 'with over 250,000 entries' - my dead-tree COED manages 240K, so not bad) and since the English language evolves so rapidly (I am still determined to get exercitology in there) it is far better suited to a digital medium.

Mike Bishop

[Ron Andrea]

On-line resources get updated more often, too. Only two years ago I finally ditched my 1978 World Book encyclopedia.

I'm holding onto my 1954 two-volume Funk & Wagnalls dictionary, however, for the "Laugh-In" tie if nothing else. :wink:

[Astiryu1]

I try to think about the next 20 years of dead-tree books. Will our personal libraries be priceless by then? I have this uncontrollable urge to display my martial arts book collection and the Lord of the Rings hardback. What I want most of all is the option to get a printed, fancy version as well because there are just some books better in paper. What I am actually waiting for is the school systems to adopt a touch-screen monitor integrated into a desk for learning purposes.

[richsc]

I guess. I have morphed into an iPad/iPhone fanboy as I have the iPhone 4 ( no problems either, and the 720p video is superb.) and the iPad. I don't use my digital camera and I don't use my desktop much at all. And the iPad is just the first iteration ( yes, there have been many failed tablets for a long time- I had the first think pad 700T). The iPad is really the first of it's kind . As to being mono culture, it takes a while to appreciate the apple design over Microsoft or Linux. But the design and usability advantages are immense. Hopefully the industry will catch up, though I think microsoft will trail way behind android and iOS.

I think I use my iPad more of as a reference library and catalog than an ereader. I still like holding a book. But as to digitizing older books, there was an announcement a short while back about a team that had built a scanner that digitized books as fast as you could riff it from front to back. The algorithms adjusted the camera image for page distortion in milliseconds.

Besides, there is always Angry Birds.

[Ron Andrea]

What I am actually waiting for is the school systems to adopt a touch-screen monitor integrated into a desk for learning purposes.

One problem with the electronic gadgets is their short half life. Most of these things are obsolete within two years, starting to have functionality problems in four, and unsupportable in eight to ten. :? wink: ), they should be throwaways from the beginning.

Then there's storage media. I have boxes of 5 1/4 floppies and Beta and VHS video tapes (not to mention some 33 rpm albums) which I can no longer access. The hundred-seventy year old book on my shelf is still be readable.

I would only buy/use an e-reader or similar gizmo for transitory material. If I want to keep a significant document, picture, record, etc., I still maintain hard copies. (Some of them in fireproof boxes.)

[richsc]

Actually that is a good point for classrooms eventually, but I mean for the transitory nature of teaching materials. The equipment is merely the presentation layer in an ereader, and that is easy to replace as ereaders become almost disposable. The functionality of more complex computers from iPad to laptop can migrate upwards too. Keeping all your documents in the cloud covers the longevity and transition issue and the fire issue. It is actually harder to get rid of information once it gets uploaded somewhere and dispersed. The current problem is DRM and any lock on format that keeps you from migrating what you think you "bought" to another platform, or finding it gone one day if there is a problem, like Amazon did when they recalled some book they did not really have rights to distribute. With a physical book it is "too bad for Amazon" but with with an ebook on their proprietary reader that is always connected it just disappeared without warning thigh a refund was given. I think they may have changed that last policy maybe.

[Ron Andrea]

What is "DRM"? (Sorry, I'm old. 8) )

My concern about class rooms is the cost of buying, maintaining and replacing the hardware. Many school districts don't budget enough for teaching materials now; teachers often make up shortfalls out of their own pockets. (Good for them, but it's wrong that they should have to.) Electronics for every student or every desk can get really expensive. (Maybe we need a $100 computer project.)

[richsc]

Drm=digital rights management.

Indeed, the cheap device's time has come. Someone is going to lick up on the apple model and devise a educational ecosystem that can push out daily lessons, updates, the proper reference material, etc and eliminate the cost of books and unnecessary manual labor in education.

The cost of current laptops is too much but there is no incentive for Microsoft or Dell to make a smaller device, which is why the iPad is so important as the next wave, even compared to the one laptop per child design.

I bought my son a Kindle last Christmas, but he now is asking for an iPad.

Btw, you look younger than me.

[mcbishop]

Indeed, the cheap device's time has come. Someone is going to lick up on the apple model and devise a educational ecosystem that can push out daily lessons, updates, the proper reference material, etc and eliminate the cost of books and unnecessary manual labor in education.

It already exists in the UK, thanks to the tubular interwebs, but it (or rather they, since there are many websites doing this) is not govt driven but run by teachers for teachers (govt involvement in computing is usually disastrously over-budget, badly specced, and poorly implemented) and they provide curriculum-centred lesson-plans and worksheets. Still have to be printed out by the teachers at their own expense, of course...

The cost of current laptops is too much but there is no incentive for Microsoft or Dell to make a smaller device, which is why the iPad is so important as the next wave, even compared to the one laptop per child design.

Netbooks started cheap until M$ spotted that they were being left out, muscled in and insisted Windoze should be run on them (even extending the life of XP to do so) and then forced producers of said machines to drop SSD-only models as Windoze didn't like them! They have now grown into small laptops with ever-bigger screens and ever-faster processors. In short, don't expect common sense or logic to play any part in what tech appears in the high street.

I bought my son a Kindle last Christmas, but he now is asking for an iPad.

I bet he finds a use for the Kindle as well as the iPad.

Mike Bishop

[Astiryu1]

I meant the desk to be a monitor for the display of class materials only. If it had some type of wireless hub controlled by the teacher and a USB port for a thumb drive that would be enough. The teacher could display from a laptop via digital projector. That is how I took the HAZMAT certification. The desk monitor would give a hands on display of notes and the thumb drive would enable portability for homework and similar uses. The problem now is teachers or schools can't keep up with the materials. The history book I had was 10 years old by the time I got to it. With a digital curriculum you actually would save money,trees,time and most of all teach current knowledge that is easily updated. All it would really need is a program for e-books and way to view photos. If schools remain as they are this is what they need to do eventually. I would start it in middle school though. Elementary/Primary is too early too have any kid sit at a desk for that long. Besides we still need to learn how to write legibly don't we? :wink:

That said I am going off topic and dragging you all with me. One day I wish to buy one to hold all of my history books and stuff. I would need it to accurately display pictures because I read and train from martial arts books and magazines. So I guess I would need a magazine subscription ability as well.
The best part is the pages don't turn in the wind. :x
The worst part is the screen needs to be big enough to see from kicking distanceI hock:

I need a vertical stand as well like for reading sheet music too... Starting to get pricey. :|