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Original poster

Has anyone got an electronic book?

27 replies

ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 20:37

What're they like? Would you reccomend them?

Am tempted as I'll be commuting again on the tube soon and they look very handbag friendly!

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Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 20:38

Christ my spelling's gone to pot.

Maybe some reading will improve matters

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filthymindedvixen · 06/09/2008 20:40

I want to come and rant in a Luddite style...what's wrong with an actual book?

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 20:46

Ah well this has come about from another thread which started about writing in books you give as gifts and went onto (amongst other things) how much room they take up.

I thought that it would be good to have all my lovely hardback, reference, favourite, old and childrens books on the shelves at home. Then have one of these for downloading stuff and reading on the tube during my commute. They look easy on the handbag and also I wonder if I'd be inclined to try a wider range of authors this way. At the moment I tend to only choose books where I know the author/genre and don't really take any risks as I know that they're going to be on my shelves indefinitely.

So there you go!

So has anyone got one?

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MrsMuddle · 06/09/2008 21:49

No, I've not got one, but I was in Waterstone's today and had a shot of the Sony one. It was great - very light and slim and easy to read. You can download 140 books onto it.

BUT when you "turned" the page, there was a nanosecond where the page went black. I'd imagine this would get very annoying after a while.

Books are slightly cheaper to download than they are to buy, but I really enjoy the feel of a book. I don't know if you can swop downloads between machines or if you'd need to buy it each time.

If I was flying on holiday on a budget airline with weight restrictions, I'd definitely buy one. But until then, I think I'll stick to paperbacks.

funnypeculiar · 06/09/2008 21:51

Free downloads of classics though ... that could make a big difference to my book bill library usage

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 21:56

I haven't read most of the classics mainly in reaction to an overkeen very pushily classicy mum.

However I am now of an age where I can distance myself and should probably get round to reading them.

The thought of having them as a free download, so no loss if I don't enjoy them, seems better than a massive outlay on "real" books.

Also just thought, when you see a book referred to and think it sounds interesting, presumably you can just bookmark it/download it before you forget!

Will they make things too accessible though? Will people just try a bit and then discard and onto the next thing as they do with music these days?

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Waswondering · 06/09/2008 21:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:03

Ooh waswondering that's a very good point...

There's nothing worse than not knowing where you are, whether to give up or plough on etc

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MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:04

Looks Good

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:07

MatNan it does look good - I've tried to find out the answer to waswondering's question though as I think I would also find it unnerving to not know when the end was coming...

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MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:08

5864 books available

bran · 06/09/2008 22:11

The problem that I have with electronic books is that the books aren't all that much cheaper but you can't swap them, sell them, buy them second-hand or give them to someone else so you lose a lot of flexibility. I really love the idea though, and would go for it if the books were half the price or less of the printed version. E-books never seem to be discounted either, paper books have special offers like 3 for 2 or get remaindered. (Obviously e-books don't need to be remaindered as they don't physically exist, but who would buy an e-book when the physical book is cheaper as is often the case?)

I don't really understand why the publishing companies aren't selling e-copies cheaply, at least to start with to get people interested. I really want to like e-books as I have storage issues, but I just can't see the point at the moment.

MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:16

The Sony Site but doesn't answer that question tho you can jump forward so it might have a page countdown to the end?

AbbaFan · 06/09/2008 22:16

I really don't like the idea of these.

However I think in 5-10 years time, everyone will have one.

MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:17

But as they are files on your pc that you can store on a flashdrive/mp3 then in theory you could load from a friend or work collegue?

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:19

They seem to come with a pre-loaded/cd containing 100 books or so.

But I agree I was just looking at the waterstone's link (thanks mat) and they so seem rather expensive. Also you can't search within ebooks on that site yet - I was hoping to see if they had books I like, and if so how much.

Incidentally would this site here be compatibale with the ebooks available in the uk do you think?

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MrsMuddle · 06/09/2008 22:19

I think it did number the pages as, eg, 25/350. All the waterstones have one on display that you can play around with.

The other thing about the Sony is that you need to attach a cable to download. There's another kind (can't remember the name) where you can automatically - and wirelessly - download a newspaper every day.

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:20

Oh no, ha, that's just reading them on the pc, ignore me and my links!

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Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:23

mrsmuddle I know the amazon one has wireless download which is brilliant - but that's only available in US.

I really want that though.

Are there any that can use wireless hotspots in UK?

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MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:23

I think that is the Kiddle which is American Mrs Muddle.

bran · 06/09/2008 22:23

The picture on MNP's link shows the page numbers at the bottom of the screen (in the picture it says "9 of 646") so you would be able to tell how far through the book you are WasWondering.

I would have thought that they lock each book purchase to a particular e-reader, otherwise there would be no way to control book piracy.

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:25

The thing is that people always lend each other books/give them away/they are cheap. And most of all they are a very old format.

I doubt the piracy laws apply in the same way. The same as there is no age certification for obscene/violent books etc.

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MatNanPlus · 06/09/2008 22:25

Well DOne Bran i didn't go near the screen i clicked on the highlighted buttons how daft am i

MrsMuddle · 06/09/2008 22:26

Yes, that's the one - the Kiddle. Is it going to be available in the UK?

Original poster
ChukkyPig · 06/09/2008 22:31

I don't think it will be available in UK. In US it uses a mobile network and you don't get charged for it for downloading books once you've bought the kiddle (kindle?).

I doubt they can find a mobile network to pair with in the UK who wouldn't want to charge a fee. If they charged the user no-one would but it, if they charge the kindle people it will prob be unaffordable.

It's a real shame I like the look of it and the price.

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