Not really. I have them because I like gadgets, got them thinking they'd be useful, and to an extent they have been. Just as new things come along I get them and I no longer need the old ones.
i personally don't feel e-ink technology is fluid enough yet. It's just so clunky to navigate, turn page, the page refresh is too slow as well. I did the eye test at the store... read to the end of the page, hit the button and move my eye up to the top again as if I turned the page. It was only halfway through the 'refresh' when my eyes reached the page starting point. Apple Tablet isn't a great solution because its still backlit LCD. I wonder if there's some way to combine the screens... it's a backlit LCD until you hit a button and the backlight goes off and it becomes an eink screen.
^ That's pretty much how I feel. I think e-readers are definitely a wonderful invention that I would love to get my hands on, but the technology is still too primitive. It's just too new. I'm waiting for the "format wars" to end and for one (or two) amazing e-readers to come out on top. I'm waiting for something like the Apple Tablet. To put it in video game terms we're dealing with a whole bunch of crappy, overpriced systems that can only play Pong. I'm waiting for the NES.
Because it's supposed to be a tablet PC style device, or a scaled up iPhone/iPod touch type device, thus would be a backlight LCD/OLED device and not a eInk or ePaper style device.
Did you get one in the end Bob? If not, take a wee look in Borders. I saw they had some e-reader reductions amongst the melee that currently is their shop floor.
There's no Borders near by, closest one is in York I think. After looking around I figured a Kindle would be the easiest choice and ordered one yesterday, but after reading up on a lot of different readers I've cancelled it, decided to wait for either prices to come down or better devices to come out.
I haven't tried it yet but, they say the Sony touchscreen eBook is more like page turning a page. I still don't get the big deal about the eInk and ePaper. I never have a problem reading from a computer screen.
^My eyes start to strain when reading on an LCD screen pretty quickly, even just reading around the board here can make my eyes hurt after a little while, so I think that eInk is wonderful technology that I am excited to use in the future when prices come down or I get some money.
I have the second edition Kindle, and it is very easy on your eyes. The only problem is you need a light source when the light is dim. Don't try to read books on a small device like an iTouch. It's a horrible experience.
Really, I never have that problem and I use a computer all day everyday for years. I wonder how much of the population is the same way?
I don't know, I would tend to think it has something to do with age but I'm only 23, I've been using computers all my life and use them everyday at work and school. But if I spend all day on it I tend to get headaches. We actually got an HD LCD tv a while ago and I ended up moving it out of the living room because watching it for too long gave me headaches. I know some others around me don't like reading on LCD screens either, but I don't know if they necessarily get headaches.
Fair enough. To be honest, I'd probably be a little wary about ordering from a company in administration anyway. It might complicate support.
It's a common problem that backlit screens cause eye strain. People also read slower off them. I think studies suggest something like 20% slower.
If it meant getting one at bargain price I probably would. But I don't drive so getting to York to take a look would be a hassle. No doubt all the good bargains will be gone by the time I get a chance to go look.
Just joined the "ebook world" as I received my Kindle in the mail last night. Haven't had a lot of time to fully acquaint myself with all it's features, but my initial impression of it is very favorable. Whether I'll read enough books to make it worthwhile or not is another story, but I sold off some stuff I wasn't using to pay for it, so it's kind of a case of "no harm, no foul" even if I don't use it.
Well I may very well end up regretting it, but so far I like it. Now I will say the book I bought wasn't "delivered in seconds", although it wasn't too bad. The other thing is, I went to my local B&N and looked at the Nook and that thing is a mess right now. Maybe if they get the bugs worked out, it might be superior to the Kindle, I don't know. But for me, for now, the Kindle seems fine.