SOT: transition to ebooks

[Sho]

On Android I'd recommend FBReader or Moon+ Reader personally. Their UI isn't as pretty as Aldiko's, but they offer a lot more options to customize the text appearance and handling behavior, and generally have a lot more features around searching, library management, dictionary integration, etc.

 

[beamMe]

On Android I'd recommend FBReader or Moon+ Reader personally. Their UI isn't as pretty as Aldiko's, but they offer a lot more options to customize the text appearance and handling behavior, and generally have a lot more features around searching, library management, dictionary integration, etc.

It's true they offer a lot more options.
But I hate it when the reader doesn't display the book the way I set it up via the CSS beforehand.

 

[bullethead]

For anyone using iOS, Stanza (a free app) is a pretty good alternative to iBooks. It opens everything iBooks does, plus CBR/CBZs, and is very customizable. The only bad part is that the menu is fairly long and not graphically customizable, so when you switch from your night theme to the menu, it's really jarring.

 

[ATimson]

For anyone using iOS, Stanza (a free app) is a pretty good alternative to iBooks. It opens everything iBooks does, plus CBR/CBZs, and is very customizable. The only bad part is that the menu is fairly long and not graphically customizable, so when you switch from your night theme to the menu, it's really jarring.

Anybody using Stanza should probably work on finding another reader; Amazon has said that if a future iOS update breaks Stanza (like iOS 5 did), they won't bother fixing it.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

A few years ago I would have said yes, but not now. It's about 25% cheaper to buy Trek in print from Amazon (even preorders are eligible for their 4-for-3 offer on mass market paperbacks!) than to buy the ebooks.

On the other hand, if Forgotten History represents the standard of physical quality of Star Trek fiction going forward, eBooks are going to be the way to go. I've not seen such a poor physical product from a major publisher since, well, ever. The cover is a thin cardstock (every copy I saw at Barnes & Noble was curling), the glue binding doesn't feel sturdy, and the paper quality inside the book is poor. I realize that Pocket wants to cut costs where they can to improve their P&L statements, but producing a physically shoddy product is not, in my opinion, the way to go moving forward.

 

[ATimson]

On the other hand, if Forgotten History represents the standard of physical quality of Star Trek fiction going forward, eBooks are going to be the way to go. I've not seen such a poor physical product from a major publisher since, well, ever.

Ugh. I'm glad I've been waiting on approval of the settlement before buying any more Trek, instead of pulling the trigger and getting the physical copy like I've been tempted to.

 

[JWolf]

A few years ago I would have said yes, but not now. It's about 25% cheaper to buy Trek in print from Amazon (even preorders are eligible for their 4-for-3 offer on mass market paperbacks!) than to buy the ebooks.

On the other hand, if Forgotten History represents the standard of physical quality of Star Trek fiction going forward, eBooks are going to be the way to go. I've not seen such a poor physical product from a major publisher since, well, ever. The cover is a thin cardstock (every copy I saw at Barnes & Noble was curling), the glue binding doesn't feel sturdy, and the paper quality inside the book is poor. I realize that Pocket wants to cut costs where they can to improve their P&L statements, but producing a physically shoddy product is not, in my opinion, the way to go moving forward.

The formatting of the eBooks edition is pretty good. But I am surprised at how poor the pBook is (given your description). I'm hoping the settlement makes the eBooks back to a reasonable price.

 

[Caesar753]

I have a Nook Simple Touch and absolutely love it. I was a paper book hold out for a long time, but finally decided to go e-reader for novels. Best choice I ever made. I don't understand the attachment to physical media. I gave up my CDs a long time ago; now all my music is on my computer and ipod. The same will eventually be true for my movies. What do I need a room full of novels for? I want the content, not the physical book, and an e-reader makes that easy.

 

[JD]

That's pretty much my opinion as well. I live in a fairly small house, so being able to save space is a big plus when it comes to digital media. Right now I'm about 90% digital when it comes to comics, and novels, and I'm thinking I might stop buying physical movies too. Thanks to my computer, and my PS3 I have about 4 or 5 different sources for digital movies.