Ereader books

[sfroth]

I've been buying all my books in ereader format for years. It looks like, with the recent shakeups, something has been messed up in that department, because I recently bought Synthesis and Precipice, and both have multiple problems. Anyone else buying ereader seeing these problems? Are these problems affecting any other formats? If these affect multiple formats, anyone know a good contact at Pocket to talk to about getting it right in the future?

Main Problems include:
Changing font sizes - in Synthesis, even chapters are normal size, odd chapters are large size. Only one section of Precipice has been super-sized, but it's annoying.

Bad section breaks - Normally, in ebooks, all section breaks are handled the way that section breaks at page breaks are in papberback - with three asterisks. Now, it seems like that has been lost, and it's only a space between paragraphs - but spaces exist between paragraphs without section breaks, too. It's a jarring jump sometimes, with no indication that a scene change is happening.

-Steve

 

[reech]

eReader has never been the most reliable format for me (when I was using my Ipaq, then ipod touch to read.)

Since moving onto a Sony eReader, I've found ePub to be much more coherent for ebooks; the latest couple of Star Trek ones from BooksOnBoard.co.uk have been fine for me.

 

[sfroth]

I've used a few different devices for reading ebooks - an ipaq with both ms lit and palm format, a windows mobile device with ereader, and now an ipod touch/iphone with ereader and kindle formats. Ereader is my favorite of the three I've tried, mostly because of cross-platform compatibility - it's the only format that's been available on all the devices I've used. I don't see myself ever buying a device for only ebook reading, when I don't have any of the problems that other people talk about with reading on a screen, and a backlight is my favorite feature of ebook reading.

In general, I haven't had many problems with ereader format over the years. The second issue I mentioned has been something of a problem for the last year or so, but is much worse on the two recent releases I've bought.

 

[Ktrek]

Steve - Are you buying from any particular online source? If so you might contact the supplier so they can put some pressure on the publsiher to get the formatting corrected. B&N has been really good about this so far. Titles that I am aware of that had problems B&N got the publisher to correct within a week.

Kevin

 

[sfroth]

Thanks, I'll email Ereader.

-Steve

 

[stonester1]

One of the main reason I'm sticking to paper books, now and forever.

 

[ConRefit79]

I don't understand why would anyone want an eBook? I've compared the prices of some of the recent paperbacks and they are about $1.60 less than the paperbacks. That is not a significant enough saving to buy these books. Not to mention you need a reader, which will cost $180 - $400. New hardcover books are almost 1/3 of price. Now that is significant savings.
As for conserving trees, books I know I will never read again, can be sold to a 2nd hand book store, given to friends or donated to the library. I typically donate them to the Library.

 

[Thrawn]

^ For me, there are several reasons.

First of all, I travel all the time, and I read voraciously. The difference between carrying 4-5 novels and carrying a Kindle is huge.

Second of all, I tend to like to have many options for what to read next, so I tended before I bought the Kindle to buy tons of books and then never read them. I like to have a bunch of books I'm interested in to choose from, so I'd pick up 7 or 8 books, and then read like 2. With the Kindle, I only buy a book when I am ready to start reading that specific book, so it actually saves me more money than just the $1.60 per novel.

Third, I live in a very small apartment, and storage space is an issue. I already have a bunch of books in boxes in a stack in my closet; I just don't have the shelf space for them. Kindle keeps all the books I buy accessible for re-reading without taking up space.

And finally, I'll admit this is kind of a weird one, but the Kindle is simply easier to read. I mean, not like reading is all that difficult a thing to begin with, but when you put the Kindle down, it stays on that page, as opposed to a book, which obviously would close if you weren't holding it open. So you don't have to use your hands, except to occasionally reach over and click the next page button. So, I can read on an exercise bike, or read while eating, or read lying down in bed with the Kindle propped up sideways against a pillow, etc. I think I read at least 20-30 percent more with the Kindle than I did with paperbacks.

So for me, it was really worth it

 

[sfroth]

I don't understand why would anyone want an eBook?

Bunches of reasons. Like I noted above, the backlight is a huge part of it. I read in bed every night, and my wife hates it when I'm reading a paperback, because of the light. I've got my iPhone ereader set to night mode, and it's perfect to read. And if I fall asleep while reading, I never lose my place!

When I got into the ebook market, they were significantly cheaper than paperbacks. Now, with Ereader rewards, they're still cheaper, though not as much. I don't have to wait for delivery or go out to buy my books. I've never paid for a dedicated ebook reader - I've used a company hand-held, got one as a gift, won an iPod Touch in a contest, and recently bought my iPhone, so cost of the reader has never been a factor for me.

I carry my reading device with me wherever I go, so I've always got at least 2 books available to read, and always have the ability to buy a new book on the off chance I run out of stuff with me to read - again, with no waiting for delivery, and without a trip to the book store.

The ease of looking for a previously read book can't be overlooked, either. When I'm looking for a paperback I haven't read in years, it could be on one of half a dozen bookshelves throughout my house, most stacked 2-3 books deep. My ebooks are all in the same directory on my computer, and can be found with a text search. I re-read books a lot. And I don't have my wife asking me if she can take any of my old books to the library to free up shelf space for some of hers

Personally, I find it baffling that ebooks haven't caught on better.

-Steve

 

[ConRefit79]

All valid points. I'll continue to watch it. If the prices come down, I may make the switch. I'm surprised they're not using these to replace school textbooks. What happens if you want to sell it or give it away?

 

[sfroth]

What happens if you want to sell it or give it away?

I don't. I think I've sold maybe 2 books in my life, and the only time I loaned a book to someone, I wanted it back before he was done with it. However, lack of transferral of ownership is by far the biggest downside to ebooks. Another downside I've found is that it's hard for people to give me books as gifts. Since I buy my books from an online-only vendor that's smaller than Amazon, I don't even get gift cards But since I can read Kindle format, Amazon can allow me that now, I guess, though I loathe having my books in multiple formats.

 

[Judith Sisko]

I'm surprised they're not using these to replace school textbooks.

There is a school district somewhere that bought 200 (or maybe 250) nooks to pilot such a program. I don't remember where it is though, I'd have to check the B&N boards.

And I know lots of college students on those same boards have talked about how they've bought some of their textbooks and how they can put their stuff in pdf and sideload it to their nooks so their backpacks are much lighter.

So, it is happening, if only at a small scale at this point.

As for me personally, I'm like Thrawn; an eReader is easy to use just about anywhere (they even make waterproof bags for you to take them to the beach or to use in the tub!), easy to carry around, it opens up to where you left off, and lots of choices right at your finger tips, including newspapers and magazines.

There are lots of free eBooks out there for the taking. I'm being introduced to a lot of authors I wouldn't give a second glance and have been enjoying their works.

Plus, I've been loading my nook with some of the out-of-print Trek books, as well as the not-yet-published SCE/COE.

That doesn't mean I'm giving up bound books forever, though!

JS

 

[reech]

As above - just got my first dedicated ebook reader (sony eReader Touch) and its replacing the fact that I lug books around when I'm working away from home, but does not replace *books*

Just waiting for things to come out in eBook is a bit of a pain at the moment; with the exception of the Star Trek books, it seems like other publishers tend to delay things to try my patience!

Although several posts on this board have sent me to places like smashwords where you can get little known \ new \ experienced authors doing all types of stories. Great fun.

 

[tmclough]

Even though I don't own one yet, I plan to buy an ebook reader in the near future ($$$, priorities). My reasons are pretty much the same as Thrawn's, except that I'm a very slow reader. (However, it seems that I always manage to finish one book and start another every time I go to my parents' house or camp for a few days.) I'm even hoping for his last point to come true for me--I've read several posts at MobileRead where people claim to actually read faster on their ebook readers than in print books.

 

[Lee]

As for conserving trees, books I know I will never read again, can be sold to a 2nd hand book store, given to friends or donated to the library. I typically donate them to the Library.

I can't speak to donating to libraries, but regarding secondhand bookstores... have you tried selling your books to a secondhand bookstore lately? Secondhand bookstores are getting very picky about what they'll buy. In the last few years, most of the books I try to sell to secondhand bookstores are rejected -- they refuse to buy them for any price. I go in with a pile of 20 books and I'm lucky if they'll buy one. So that's one reason I have a Kindle -- I never have to worry about what I'll do with all the books I've read that I don't plan to read again.

 

[Ktrek]

I can't speak to donating to libraries, but regarding secondhand bookstores... have you tried selling your books to a secondhand bookstore lately? Secondhand bookstores are getting very picky about what they'll buy. In the last few years, most of the books I try to sell to secondhand bookstores are rejected -- they refuse to buy them for any price. I go in with a pile of 20 books and I'm lucky if they'll buy one. So that's one reason I have a Kindle -- I never have to worry about what I'll do with all the books I've read that I don't plan to read again.

And especially have you ever tried to sell Star Trek books to a second hand bookstore? They just won't take them unless they are the very most recent titles. I was told that they have no resale value anymore.

I own an ereader because of several reasons.

1. Shelf space is now limited
2. My aging eyesight likes larger fonts and being able to set the font size and style to something more comfortable is appealing to me.
3. Although there is not a HUGE savings buying ebooks I find that there are lots of ways to save using coupon codes, free books etc. In this economy any savings is still a savings!
4. The convenience of being able to take an entire library with me. I am always in the middle of several books and this allows me to read whatever I am in the mood for at the moment.
5. Thousands of public domain free ebooks!
6. No eye fatigue - Have you ever tried to read for long on an Ipod or a laptop or desktop computer? I cannot do it for very long periods but I can on my ereader. 3 to 4 hours with no ill effects. Nice!
7. Purchasing - I own a B&N nook and purchasing is so easy. I browse or search, select, and purchase. It's downloaded to me in seconds and I never even had to leave the house. So, I not only saved money on the purchase but saved money on gas.
8. Ereaders are light to carry and take up very little room.
9 Ebooks are the way of the future. An exec from Amazon.com stated just recently that on major titles they are selling 48 ebook copies for every 100 hardbacks sold. That's a huge market!

And I'm sure I can think of more reasons but that's enough.

Kevin

 

[JWolf]

I don't understand why would anyone want an eBook? I've compared the prices of some of the recent paperbacks and they are about $1.60 less than the paperbacks. That is not a significant enough saving to buy these books. Not to mention you need a reader, which will cost $180 - $400. New hardcover books are almost 1/3 of price. Now that is significant savings.
As for conserving trees, books I know I will never read again, can be sold to a 2nd hand book store, given to friends or donated to the library. I typically donate them to the Library.

I like my Sony Reader pRS-505. It's lightweight, has good battery life, I can take along lots of books. When I went on vactaion, I used to have to carry around a number of books. Now I just carry around my Reader. When I went out, I'd take along two books because if I finsihed one, I'd have the other to read. When the book is good, you don't think of Reader vs. pBook, you think of the story. And because of eBooks, I'm reading some books now that I may never have read. This is because of free eBook giveaways.

One other thing you get with eBooks that you do not get with pBooks,it the ability to change the text size. Some of the larger Star Trek books are in a rather small text size. So those that want larger can have such with a reader.

As for eReader, eReader is an old obsolete format. But that still doesn't explain th OP's issues. There is definitely something wrong with the eReader version. I did get the ePub of Synthesis and it's fine. The issues mentioned to not exist.

 

[ConRefit79]

Do any eReaders support copying eBooks to the eReader from a Linux Desktop? The only thing I don't like about my iPod, is having to use Windows to sync it. I can't trust that Apple wont change the database format to use a Linux application.
Which vendor sells non DRM files?

 

[JWolf]

Do any eReaders support copying eBooks to the eReader from a Linux Desktop? The only thing I don't like about my iPod, is having to use Windows to sync it. I can't trust that Apple wont change the database format to use a Linux application.
Which vendor sells non DRM files?

The problem is that most commercial eBooks are sold with DRM. Star Trek eBooks are all sold with DRM. So you'll either need Windows or OS X. And since you do use Windows with your iPod, a Sony Reader would be an excellent choice.

 

[tmclough]

Do any eReaders support copying eBooks to the eReader from a Linux Desktop? The only thing I don't like about my iPod, is having to use Windows to sync it. I can't trust that Apple wont change the database format to use a Linux application.
Which vendor sells non DRM files?

If you use the ePub format (using Adobe's DRM scheme), which is what most (non-Kindle) dedicated ebook readers with DRM capabilities use these days, you can install Adobe Digital Editions for Windows under Wine. To download the actual book, drag and drop the .acsm file (which you'll get from your ebook store, and which contains "directions" for Adobe Digital Editions on what to download for the actual ebook) into Adobe Digital Editions. Note, however, that if you use KDE, neither the Konqueror nor Dolphin file managers work this way--Nautilus (for GNOME) works, though, even under KDE.

It may sound confusing, but it's actually easier done than said. Also, you can test it out with a free sample book from BooksOnBoard--just note that it is a PDF file and not an ePub, but the downloading mechanism is the same.