Best device for reading Trek books?

[Leathco]

I prefer handhelds for reading instead of actual books. Its nice to have instand delivery instead of either driving 35 miles to the nearest store that sells Trek books or waiting for them to be delivered in the mail. Right now I am using an iPod Touch for it, and its worked alright, but the backlighting is kinda painful for long, extended reading. Maybe the electronic ink idea is the right way to go.

I currently have a Kindle 3 on preorder, I think its the route I wanna go. Before I do though, can I get your views on other readers, like the Sony Reader and the B&N Nook?

 

[Daddy Todd]

I prefer handhelds for reading instead of actual books. Its nice to have instand delivery instead of either driving 35 miles to the nearest store that sells Trek books or waiting for them to be delivered in the mail. Right now I am using an iPod Touch for it, and its worked alright, but the backlighting is kinda painful for long, extended reading. Maybe the electronic ink idea is the right way to go.

I currently have a Kindle 3 on preorder, I think its the route I wanna go. Before I do though, can I get your views on other readers, like the Sony Reader and the B&N Nook?

I've been reading a great deal on my iPad since it cam out in April, and the eye fatigue has started to become an issue. I'm hoping Apple (or someone else) will come out with an e-ink device that is compatible with all the different content providers -- Kindle, B&N, iBooks, etc. -- I won't buy a device (such as a Kindle) that is locked into a single retailer. Something like an iPad with an e-ink display would be ideal.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

If it's not on paper, professionally bound, with a hard or soft cover, I don't want to know. I can't lose myself in electronics. It's too easy to be distracted. Paper feels good, it's tactile, it's tangible. Books age well too. I have books that I've had for twenty, maybe thirty years that just feel precious. My dad bought me a copy of Journey to the Centre of the Earth when I was 7, and for the first time in my life, I stayed up all night reading it. I still have that book. There's no sentiment in plastic and electronics.

Besides, the batteries in my book have never run out.

Not paying the electricity bill. That's another matter. But I have been known to read during the day.

This has been an unscheduled Luddite rant, I now return you to your normal programming...

 

[Leathco]

There's no sentiment in plastic and electronics.

Oh, I gotta disagree here. I'm a retro gamer. I collect old games and game systems. Some of my favorite memories are playing Sega and Nintendo.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

My favourite game of old was an old Speccy game called Starglider. I loved that game. Still do. Have a whole lot of good memories of that game. I used to play it all the time on my rubber keyed Spectrum. Then I ditched the Spectrum and got a Speccy 128+. I played it on that, and I discovered the 128 version on side B of the tape, which was even better. More happy memores.

Then I packed away the Speccy, brought several PCs. I can still play Starglider on an emulator I run on my old Pentium. The sentiment is in the game, not the hardware. When it comes to electronic print, I couldn't care less what I'm reading it on, as long as I can read it. But I read such print for information, not for entertainment, certainly not to transport me to imaginary worlds.

But ink and paper are intertwined. Just because the digitisation of information is possible, it doesn't mean it's desirable. Everyone has a sticking point, a line that they won't cross. For many it was vinyl and CDs/mp3s. And vinyl still has enthusiasts today, and some music is still released that way. Digital photography versus film, has pretty much killed off film, but I don't see electronic readers killing off paper anytime soon. I may be wrong though.

If someone makes genuine electronic paper though. Real flexible surfaces that feel like paper to the touch, yet can rearrange ink to whatever is needed, and could retain an image once the power switches off. Then I'd be interested. We'd be living in a Harry Potter world though.

 

[Leathco]

I gotta disagree. I don't get the same feels on an emulator. There's something special about grabbing that old cartridge, cleaning the contacts, pushing it in the system, grabbing the controller made for that system (not some PC controller or a keyboard) and playing it. To each their own I suppose.

 

[Greg Cox]

I admit I still prefer paper to ebooks myself. I don't even like editing on screen. Give me paper and a red pencil, damnit!

 

[ConRefit79]

They really should offer people who buy the paper books a method to have the electronic version too.

 

[JD]

Kind like how they include a digital version of movies when you buy them on DVD?

 

[Daddy Todd]

They really should offer people who buy the paper books a method to have the electronic version too.

I can defininitely forsee a future when the e-book version is the "real" version of any given book, and the dead tree version is the limited edition collectible for us old timers.

And I'd guess we'll see this within a couple decades.

 

[sfroth]

Right now I am using an iPod Touch for it, and its worked alright, but the backlighting is kinda painful for long, extended reading.

Have you tried playing around with the settings to change how it's displayed? I've been reading on PDAs and my iPhone for many, many years, and haven't had the problems with eye strain that everyone else complains about. I read white text on black background, which makes it a lot easier than black on white, or, even worse, most readers' default "paper" color background.

Also, it's worth noting that, thanks to the widespread adoption of the ePub format, if you buy a device that supports it (read: not Kindle), you can buy from a couple vendors that offer non-DRM books, or there are quasi-legal ways to get DRM books from other vendors onto your device.

 

[aventinelover]

I love my Nook, and while I do have some frustration being tied only into Barnes and Noble, I haven't had any complaints regarding getting Trek fiction. I can also download music on it and play it while I read without having a separate device, and they're working on a internet search function as well. That said, I also like the feel sometimes of having a plain, old book in my hands to read.

 

[ConRefit79]

Kind like how they include a digital version of movies when you buy them on DVD?

Yes. Though, I'll admit I haven't used it yet. Primarily because I use Mandriva Linux instead of Windows as much as possible.

 

[ConRefit79]

I love my Nook, and while I do have some frustration being tied only into Barnes and Noble, I haven't had any complaints regarding getting Trek fiction. I can also download music on it and play it while I read without having a separate device, and they're working on a internet search function as well. That said, I also like the feel sometimes of having a plain, old book in my hands to read.

What's the battery life when you read and play music?

 

[JWolf]

Sony's and B&N's readers are NOT locked into any specific eBook store.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Sony's and B&N's readers are NOT locked into any specific eBook store.

Does Amazon offer a Kindle app for the Sony or B&N reader?

The best thing about iPad is that I have all the proprietary-format apps, and can price check and buy the book wherever it's cheapest.

The worst thing is that the publishers are price-fixing, and the books are virtually all the same price across all apps. But I understand there are some state Attorneys General looking into the legality of that right this very minute.

 

[David R. George III]

^ For nearly a century, price fixing had been illegal in the United States. Then just a few years ago, the Supreme Court overturned almost a hundred years of precedent and made the practice legal (Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., dba Kay’s Kloset, opinion rendered 28 June 2007). Unfortunately, State Attorney's General are going to come up short.

 

[Ktrek]

I love my Nook, and while I do have some frustration being tied only into Barnes and Noble, I haven't had any complaints regarding getting Trek fiction. I can also download music on it and play it while I read without having a separate device, and they're working on a internet search function as well. That said, I also like the feel sometimes of having a plain, old book in my hands to read.

If this is a true statement then you don't understand the full functionality of the nook. You are not tied to B&N and that is exactly why I own one. I have bought from Sony's Reader store, Fictionwise, ereader.com and several others. You can borrow books from the public library for free and read them on your nook if your library supports Overdrive. Maybe you need to check out Nookboards.com and learn a little more about that device you own!

Kevin

 

[JWolf]

One thing you may not be able to do with the iPad is borrow library eBooks. So if that's important, the iPad is not for you.

The txtr app just came out for the iPad and it does support Adept DRM so you can buy ePub from places other then Apple. But, do not buy from B&N.

In the previous version of the txtr app, it did not support the time limted DRM that Overdrive uses for library eBooks. So, you may be out of luck on an iPad for library eBooks.

 

[sfroth]

The txtr app just came out for the iPad and it does support Adept DRM so you can buy ePub from places other then Apple. But, do not buy from B&N.

B&N does have an iPhone app. I'm not completely sure it works on iPad, because I don't have one, but it should.