[Astra]

Flawed;227000 said:

But does it make tea?

Well, depends on how you are intending to use it.

[Flawed]

astra_lestat;227002 said:

Well, depends on how you are intending to use it.

Well with milk and sugar and a tea bag. Im not too fussy.

[Astra]

Flawed;227003 said:

Well with milk and sugar and a tea bag. Im not too fussy.

I believe it is up to the task, however, I am afraid it might loose some of its initial features after the first cup

[Flawed]

astra_lestat;227004 said:

I believe it is up to the task, however, I am afraid it might loose some of its initial features after the first cup

So it has no long lasting life for tea making. What the hell was it made for!?

Silly inventors.

What i now need to know is why do you have minus rep and do you want me to change it for you to -1 for being so helpfull with my tea queries?

[Astra]

Ah, silly people

I believe green square next to my name was a thorn in someone's side
So, they travelled back in time and left me a message

Quote

I still remember

sort of reminding me of Remember remember the 5th of Novem...
I still remember

I would be most grateful if you step my rep up a notch, as long as it doesn't hurt yours! Some people who disagree with me have a long memory and are quite vindictive :morgoth:

[Flawed]

astra_lestat;227016 said:

Ah, silly people

I believe green square next to my name was a thorn in someone's side
So, they travelled back in time and left me a message
sort of reminding me of Remember remember the 5th of Novem...
I still remember

I would be most grateful if you step my rep up a notch, as long as it doesn't hurt yours! Some people who disagree with me have a long memory and are quite vindictive :morgoth:

Well it wont stop me chap. Peace to all and all that jazz.

[Masonity]

Ultimately, the reason it will fail is because books are already extremely portable.

If we can get something that folds down to practicly nothing, and unfolds to a decent paperback size, along with good lighting, battery use and compatability, we may have a chance, but at the moment a book is just as portable, and doesn't need charging.

[tharinock]

well, i migiht consider buying it. hold on, does it get better battery life then my books? if it does then definitely. as for reading in the dark, i use the headlights i use for camping. runs on double a batteries, last for as long as i need. and where is the fun in reading if you can't turn the page?

[Biggles]

I think i'll pass on this...give me the old fashioned paper and real ink type book anyday.

[Urb]

Would be sweet when rereading MBotF though. Especially if they installed the "ctrl + f" feature, and made it possible to bookmark selected paragraphs and such. Erikson writes very complex he does.

[Mezla PigDog]

I don't think I'll ever be tempted to try an eBook. Mainly because I find I don't take things in as well from a screen. It's almost as though I don't believe things unless they are on paper.

[Astra]

This is a whole point, it is not a conventional type of screen, like CRT or LCD or TFT or anything else you have seen so far. It is eInk. When you look at it, you practically see no difference between a paper back book and eInk screen. It looks like a printed paper.

As about portability and battery life. Well, I am not going to speak about Kindle, because imho it has ussues but Sony Reader is slimmer than most of paper back books (slimmer than Starship Troopers), while width and length are the same. However, even if you don't use an additional SD card, but only an internal memory which is 92M in the old reader and 192 in a new prs-505, you can fit what?...100+ books? That you can always have with you?
I personally don't need it. I have maximum 10 books at the same time. Usually less, however it is more than enough to get you through any lenthly absence from home, such as 1 month, 6 months? Whatever. Some people have their entirely library and a spare 2G SD cards. Because they like to read 3-4 books at the same time (which sounds alien to me )

Battery life is about 3 weeks or 7500 page turns (whatever comes first). So, if you read Bonehunters within 1 day, then it will last for about 1 week for you. Otherwise, on average it is about 3 weeks for people who read 1 book per week. With the new reader you just have to plug it in to any PC and it will be fully recharged within 4 hours and ready for another 2-3 weeks of reading.
So, while you can argue the battery life issue (although 3 weeks is not an issue at all IMHO), you cannot compare going on holidays and bringing with you 3-5 paper back books vs. 1 ebook reader.

[Astra]

Don't remember if I said it before, but this type of screen has no light source. There absolutely no eye strain when reading, or as much as when you read a paper book in comparison to the best of the best LCD panel. I have not read a single fiction book from screen in my entire life because I hate it. Although I am afraid I am repeating myself.

[Astra]

I think there are a few reasons why eBook readers are not welcome here.

There was a topic on mobileread forum No one under 30 would buy an ebook reader

I didn't read the blog, only the topic itself and posted my thoughts about it:

Quote

Well, I sort of agree with the statement. Maybe not 30 but definitely under 25. I have been discussing ebook readers on a few fantasy forums where I believe most of the members are students or young people age 15-25.

They are not interested at all.

There are a few issues. They are fans of certain writers/series. They buy books in the series ASAP when one is published and discuss it and re-read it. They would be deprived of this if they move to ebook reader.

First of all eBooks are not being published at the same time as hardback editions. So, fans of certain series would not be able to participate in discussion of the book within their circle, they would not be able to read a book that they were waiting for 1 year or more immediately, on a par with other fans who read pbooks.

Another issue is total absence of some of the eBooks.

There are no eBooks by Steven Erikson- Malazan Book of the Fallen

There are no eBooks by Glen Cook - The Black Company.

(Well at least in amazon kindle shop, I didn't check other shops).

So, it is very difficult to introduce a very expensive, one purpose gadget to people (computer science/chemistry/medicine/law students, high school students etc) who cannot read their favorite books as easily as they can read pbooks.

[4092]

Why would you read off a screen when you can read off paper, which feels nicer in EVERY way?

[Astra]

4092;229715 said:

Why would you read off a screen when you can read off paper, which feels nicer in EVERY way?

I do not.
What screen?

I am reading from eBook reader, which has eInk. It is the same as reading a real paper but lighter and more portable.

[Masonity]

astra_lestat;228765 said:

This is a whole point, it is not a conventional type of screen, like CRT or LCD or TFT or anything else you have seen so far. It is eInk. When you look at it, you practically see no difference between a paper back book and eInk screen. It looks like a printed paper.

As about portability and battery life. Well, I am not going to speak about Kindle, because imho it has ussues but Sony Reader is slimmer than most of paper back books (slimmer than Starship Troopers), while width and length are the same. However, even if you don't use an additional SD card, but only an internal memory which is 92M in the old reader and 192 in a new prs-505, you can fit what?...100+ books? That you can always have with you?
I personally don't need it. I have maximum 10 books at the same time. Usually less, however it is more than enough to get you through any lenthly absence from home, such as 1 month, 6 months? Whatever. Some people have their entirely library and a spare 2G SD cards. Because they like to read 3-4 books at the same time (which sounds alien to me )

Battery life is about 3 weeks or 7500 page turns (whatever comes first). So, if you read Bonehunters within 1 day, then it will last for about 1 week for you. Otherwise, on average it is about 3 weeks for people who read 1 book per week. With the new reader you just have to plug it in to any PC and it will be fully recharged within 4 hours and ready for another 2-3 weeks of reading.
So, while you can argue the battery life issue (although 3 weeks is not an issue at all IMHO), you cannot compare going on holidays and bringing with you 3-5 paper back books vs. 1 ebook reader.

Okay, in that case i conceed. As much as the best books deserve a physical space on my shelf, I'd certainly like one of those Sony gizmos...

[Astra]

Anyone who lives in the USA is lucky Even if you don't know what is eInk, you can go to local shop and have a look and touch it.

[Yellow]

I had a look at the Sony reader, and though the price is still a little too high for me, I would consider buying one and giving it a try...

... until I looked at the online store and realised I couldn't get any of the authors I would actually want to read.

astra talked about this above, and more than the price, this is the major killer for ebooks (for me, at least, though at least it reads pdf and rtf, which is promising).

I think the eInk stuff looks pretty good. I'm someone who can't read off a screen (like trying to read off a lightbulb), but these new readers look ok.

[Astra]

If the price is an issue, then just keep an eye on it.

Why? Because in August/September Sony offered PRS-500 for $50! if you apply and receive their credit card. There are many people on mobileread forum who have the reader for $50. Also, on 4th July there was one website, don't rememeber the name off the top of my head, that received 1000 units from Sony and sold them for $100. I believe their wanted to sell the old version before launching a new PRS-505 in October. Althought, all the offers were available only for the USA citisens. There is only one website (maybe 2 now) who send the reader abroad (to the Europe(Western/Eastern), Australia etc.). There are rumours....maybe Sony plans to launch the reader in the UK at London BookFair 2008 (April?).