[lowmagnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Without support for highlighting, annotations, or some other kind of on page notes, the problem is that e-books are less functional than their paper equivalents. They're fine for novel reading, but end up being not very useful for students or professionals who need to take notes on what they're reading. And for novel readers, wouldn't you rather curl up with an actual book.

Actually, all of the reasons outlined above explain why I got an iLiad. You can annotate pdfs, take notes, it has wireless support, etc. It's still somewhat in development, however, as there isn't a lot of out-of-the-box functionality.

The biggest issue with e-ink readers is one of compatibility. There are about umpteen million formats, and the one great hope is the idpf's ePub format, but that's already getting dinked around with by Adobe. Sony has their own format, amazon has their own, Microsoft has lit for Reader, etc. It's actually a sad state.

But I have to say, I'm happier with my iLiad than I was toting a physical book around and always losing my bookmark.

 

[robert1325]

My Cybook arrives tomorrow

Curious about SQ of mp3's out of this thing , not really something I bought it for but still.... Who knows

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy /img/forum/go_quote.gif This has already been dealt with by earlier posters in the thread, but the Sony reader doesn't really support PDFs out of the box... not in the sense that "it just works." Standard PDFs get transferred in a way that the text appears about 7 points tall, too small to read, so as you mention, there are homebrew pieces of software you have to chase down to reformat PDFs before they're truly usable. Then you have to keep two copies of every PDF around, the original and the "reformatted" version, and of course the page numbers on the two versions are not consistent, which poses an issue for notetaking. This is a geek solution, not a solution for average people.

I think this is an unreasonable request, by and large. The issue isn't handling of PDF's, per se, it's the size of the screen. Any pdf in A3 size is significantly larger than the screen size of most of these devices. Sure, Sony could integrate something to the effect of the homebrew solutions already implemented, and I hope they do. However, the degree to which they've already implemented pdf support is far greater than, say, the degree to which apple has integrated dvd support for their video ipod. It doesn't just work, but hundreds of thousands of individuals have happily still purchased this device, and many of them have accepted the slightly lengthier procedure necessary to put their movies on the device.

I think the kind of people who have a real need to carry multiple PDFs with them and also have a desire to use a pocket sized electronic device to do so are, by and large, geeky enough to accept the added difficulty at this time. I don't think it's been sufficiently demonstrated that the major barrier to entry for this product is pdf support, anyways. What percentage of casual users of this product do YOU think require pdf's to "just work". What percent just want to buy some pre-formatted novels and read them on the go? I think Sony is banking, correctly, on the latter being the more influential group.

 

[450]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAD /img/forum/go_quote.gif e-books seem like such a natural killer-app/device, and I've yet to see one worth a damn. I really REALLY wanted to like the tech, but there's something about a physical book. When I'm researching, I need a keyboard, so I just use the computer. When I'm reading for enjoyment, I'd rather have a real book. I've sampled or tried probably six different e-book devices and they all just didn't do it. I think a big part of the problem is that they try to make them inexpensive. GAD

If e-books could somehow emulate "flipping" pages then I think more people would like them. For instand my comfort optical mouse has this scroll wheel that's smooth but me and some other reviewers out there missed the bumps in most scroll wheels. What I'm trying to say is the visceral feeling of benig able to go through it isn't there.

Although personall I prefer reading online to any print format. I hate reading the NYT in print form.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robert1325 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My Cybook arrives tomorrow Curious about SQ of mp3's out of this thing , not really something I bought it for but still.... Who knows

Sweet, let us know what you think when you get it!

I've been dropping hints to the Wife, so I am hoping to get one of these for Christmas.

 

[robert1325]

Hey,

Just got the cybook

Very happy so far. It looks great, weighs nothing , small . the leather case is of very high quality.

The interface is pretty good , simple and straightforward. It shows up as External drive . Reading the online newspaper is a pleasure compared to the headache CRT screen. Books look very normal.

It's not a WOWIEFYING thingy like some of these DAP's you see these days. It does what it's suposed to do.

More people over at mobileread got theirs today, so if you feel like reading more about it:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=136

 

[philodox]

Great, thanks for the initial impressions. It comes with a leather case? Nice.

 

[robert1325]

Depends on what package you buy... I got the bare/core one + leather case as extra.

 

[robert1325]

 

[AlanY]

The leather is really nice. Laptops should come in leather too, it's too bad they don't (except for the Thinkpad special editions and some quirky new Asus stuff).

 

[robert1325]

and the smell! it's from italy.

 

[philodox]

That looks sweet. Here is hoping Santa's kind.