eBooks - What's Holding You Back?

blueZ3 asks: "It seems that the readers of Slashdot are the most likely early adopters of electronic books, but from posts I've seen here, it doesn't appear that many on Slashdot are e-book fans. In the hopes of sparking a discussion, I'd like to ask what keeps you personally from reading e-books?"

"Here are some of my guesses as to why people haven't taken up e-Books:

1. Form factor: They just prefer the feel and 'interface' of a paper book.

2. Lack of a compelling device (or perhaps lack of convergence): They don't own a reader (other than a PC or notebook) and can't take them with them.

3. Lack of content: Books they are interested in aren't available in electronic format

4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings.

Maybe lively discussion from a prospective set of customers might spur the creator of the next generation of electronic book devices. Too bad the name 'iBook' is already taken."

What reason do you have for not taking up e-Books? Are they listed above or are there other reasons that you would like to add?

Straightforward answer

I'd like to ask what keeps you personally from reading e-books?

Lack of content and overreaching DRM. The selection of devices doesn't help either.

I'm a big fan of Baen's [baen.com] online books. They're quick to purchase, and simple to download to a Palm Pilot. And should you need to file again, you can easily redownload it from your "personal library" feature on Baen's site. Not to mention that they give away free books [baen.com] to get you hooked on new series.

Downloading to my Sony Clie was the perfect way to read eBooks, too. The backlight was pure white, the fonts were crisp, and the scroll-wheel on the side meant that I could hold the device in a pistol-grip in my palm rather than balancing it between my thumb and finger-tips so that I can thumb the up/down buttons on the front. (Sony screwed this up in later models, BTW. They replace the up/down buttons with a wheel, and eliminate the wheel on the side.)

The Clie wasn't so good for technical books (the layout is screwed), but for fiction it was great! I could stand on the bus and read without the difficulties of trying to turn the page on a paperback with one hand. Plus, the Clie fit in my pocket much easier than a paperback, and wouldn't lose its place when I needed to stash it away quick so that I don't miss my stop.

The only real problem I had was that I ran out of content. Baen has some great books, but they're no Simon & Schuster. I looked into other sites, but it was just too much pain and anguish for me to want to bother with. Most sites had a poor selection (though I have noted that selection has been improving lately), limited you to DRM formats (most of which don't work on a Palm Pilot), overcharged for their titles, and just generally hassled the consumer as if he was a theif who should feel honored to have limited access to stuff he paid for.

Thanks, but no thanks.

More publishers should pay attention to Jim Baen. Not only does he release titles you buy in open formats; not only does he give away free books [baen.com]; but he bundles CDs with many hardcover books that are chock-full of eBooks (such as the entire Honor Harrington series). In addition, the license on the CDs state that you can make copies and give them away [thefifthimperium.com] to friends and family. No restrictions, as long as you're not making a profit.

Now THAT, is how you grow a business. Not by treating the customers like criminals, but by treating them like valued friends. =)

Re:Straightforward answer

I have the exact same issue. I used to read on my Palm and now I read on my MS-based Smartphone. All the books bought for the Palm are unaccessible from there. This is just unacceptable.

So I keep reading on my phone, and instead of dl'ing and paying, I dl and do not pay. That way I have TXT files that I can view everywhere.

Sad but unfortunately true of all form of media distribution over the internet. When will they learn? We WILL download for it is so much more convenient. We WILL NOT download over-crippled formats because it removes half of the convenience.

Re:Straightforward answer

Take a look at Fictionwise [fictionwise.com]. They have a very good selection, much of which (though not all) is avalible in multiple DRM-free formats. They also let you redownload files if you lose them for any reason. (Though if you bought a 'secure' file you can't change DRM schemes on a file. Other files you can switch formats with impunity.)

I make a point never to buy anything that's got DRM from them, but I still am able to get loads of books and stories from them.

At the moment they've got the Nebula award nominees for free...

I do most of my reading on my Clie at this point, with books from Fictionwise and Baen. (And some from the Gutenburg project.)

Re:FictionWise

Every book that they list as 'Multiformat' is DRM free. Any book they list as 'Secure' has DRM. Simple.

The multiformat books are avalible in the DRM formats, but the DRM isn't used.

Re:Straightforward answer

Interestingly enough, more publishers are starting to pay attention to Baen.

Or at least Tor Books is, as they're going to start publishing ebooks through Webscriptions [terrania.us] right along with Baen. Including the ebook that I reviewed for Slashdot a couple of years back, A Fire Upon the Deep [slashdot.org]. There's a great quote from Tor's senior editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, about why they came to this decision:

We've tested a lot of e-book waters, including various cockamamie schemes involving overpriced e-books laden with DRM.

Oddly enough, a lot of those "books" didn't even sell enough copies to pay for their file-conversion costs. Meanwhile, it hasn't escaped our notice that Jim Baen has been doing something that works, that people like, and that makes money. I'm delighted to be doing this pilot program; I think Jim has been clueful on this issue for a long time, while almost everyone else in publishing has been staggering around on stage hitting one another over the head with inflated pig bladders.

Funny thing, I was looking back over that review I wrote, right before I discovered this article. (Too bad I didn't notice this article earlier so I could have gotten this post listed earlier without having to piggy-back on a high-ranked one, but oh well. :) In that review, referring to eReader/Palm Digital Media's DRM'd version, I wrote (emphasis added for this quotation):

It would have been nice to have A Fire Upon the Deep in open HTML like Baen's e-books, but it is understandable that Dr. Vinge (or his publisher) might have preferred for the book to be digitally protected. Since that is unlikely to change anytime soon, there is little point to letting the perfect be the enemy of the good; as digitally-protected e-book formats go, the PDM format is actually quite decent.

And two years later, here it is changing, and A Fire Upon the Deep is going to be one of the Tor titles coming out in Webscriptions. Guess I'll be buying a third e-copy of the book after all--but that one should be the last one I ever need to purchase.

It's quite exciting that Tor, who publishes 300 new titles yearly as opposed to Bean's 50 or so, and across a broader spectrum of SF than Baen's military/political focus, is taking this step. Maybe more will follow suit. We can only hope.

Re:Straightforward answer

Amen, amen, and amen. All the other publishers should take a cue from Baen Books.

The vast majority of my leisure reading is SF, and a hefty chunk of that is books published by Baen. There are several reasons for this.

Probably the first is simply that Baen publishes some of my favorite authors (Lois McMaster Bujold, Charles Sheffield). Also, they've done a great job of republishing some of the older stuff that you literally cannot find anywhere (James Schmitz) and more recent out-of-print things (Timothy Zahn's "Blackcollar" and "Cobra" series). Another thing that Baen does that I don't see a lot of publishers doing is printing a lot of omnibus editions. Sure, you'll get it for really popular series from other publishers, like HHGttG, but Baen does it a lot more. If I can get an entire series in one book (Zahn's "Cobra Trilogy"), or a longer series in just a few books instead of half a bookshelf's worth (Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series), I'm happier.

As far as eBooks go, you can't beat Baen's approach. No DRM. At all. You can download any of the eBooks that you've purchased as many times as you want in a couple of formats, including HTML, so you can pretty much read it on any device you want. And of course, the free library is a nice incentive. I've purchased probably 10 eBooks from Baen over the past 5 years, but I've downloaded scads of things from their free library and gotten moderately hooked on a number of different authors. And, amazingly enough, I have then gone on to purchase books by those authors. It's not rocket science. If I can check out an author or series for free, I am likely to read more of their stuff if I like it, and if I don't, I won't be mad that I spent money on it.

One other thing that Baen does right is they actually sell their eBooks for less than the dead-tree versions. This is a complete no-brainer, but I have been amazed how many times I've seen eBooks listed for more than the price of a paperback. That I just don't understand at all.

Now, regarding the actual question. Why haven't I purchased a lot of eBooks from Baen (or anywhere else)?

I read eBooks on my Psion Revo, using MobiPocket Reader. It's fairly convenient (fits in a pants pocket, although it's a little longer than I like in that regard). It has a nice, crisp screen (no backlight, but it's readable in fairly low light and the screen isn't too reflective). Still, I'd prefer to read a dead tree. Aside from eyestrain issues (the Psion has a nice screen, but it can't beat paper), I'm likely not the only one who's going to be reading the book. Now, there are no DRM restrictions on the Baen books, but there are practical considerations. At this point in my life (poor grad student), if I purchase a book at full cover price (which I try not to--used book stores are a favorite haunt), it's likely going to be something that both I and my wife want to read (fortunately, while our tastes in fiction are not identical, there's a very wide overlap). She doesn't want to read an eBook. We only have one PDA between to the two of us, and it's mine and she doesn't care for reading on her laptop, which I can understand as I don't either. If I can get the book for free, I'll certainly read it on my Revo, but if I'm going to spending the money, I'll plunk down the extra $3 (seems to be about the difference in price between a paperback and eBook at Baen) to get the physical copy that anybody can read.

Now, if it's a book that I really want that my wife is going to have no interest in reading, I'll go ahead and save the $3 and get the eBook. I'm cheap. However, as the parent poster has mentioned, Baen is not the entire publishing world, so there are plenty of books that I want to read that somebody else published. And I'm not likely to purchase an eBook from a different publisher due to DRM/format restrictions or price.

So to sum up:

If a book I want is not published by Baen, I'm not buying an an eBook. If it is published by Baen, I'll download it free in a

Re:Straightforward answer

i like to use www.memoware.com

so many classics, so little time.

bonus: they have a nice, active community that adds books all the time to the collection. you can join and add books if you wish.

did i forget to mention that their books are free. if you go to their sister site you can get recent releases. they have regular sales, backups for your purchaese, etc.

i've read many, MANY classics that would have cost me a fortune otherwise for several years now. extra bonus: many of their books are available in multiple formats.

enjoy!

Re:Straightforward answer

To quote from David Drake's newsletter that came out yesterday.

"All my Tor titles with electronic versions are going to appear as Baen Webscriptions [http://www.webscription.net/%5D [webscription.net]. This is due in no small measure to Geoffrey Kidd, who did the scanning and proofing on a couple and was the conduit to Baen Books on all. Thank you, Geoffrey.

It's still up in the air as to whether electronic versions of all Tor titles are going to go up as Webscriptions. The CFO of Tor's parent company appeared to have killed the deal because Jim Baen puts books up without encryption (which I've been told to call DRM, a stupid acronym for a stupid concept). Yes, that's true: Baen Webscriptions can be read on any browser than can get you to the site. It apparently doesn't compute in an accountant's mind that ease of using Jim's system might have something to do with Jim's electronic income being well into six figures and everybody else's electronic income being squat. Now, tentatively, the deal is back on.

Given that we live in a world where people blow up places of worship in the name of religion, I guess this degree of narrowness shouldn't surprise me. I think it's all right for me to be sad, though.

By the way, my books are going up because I asked Tom Doherty, not the CFO. Tom is a very smart man."

Wrong question

To misquote the dead professor in _I, Robot_ (the movie):

``That, detective, is the wrong question.''

Why *should* I take up ebooks? What is the compelling case? Until there is a compelling case *for* switching, the reasons against aren't crucial, IMO.

I don't see the compelling case. There are environmental issues, but the biggest ones there have more to do with our book economy, which encourages inrcedible amounts of waste. If we only printed books that were worth having, instead of mass marketing thousands of worthless titles a month and having to dispose of the rest, there would be *far* less waste. (Yes, I realize we can have a huge debate about how to determine what books should be printed, and that ebooks would solve this; my point is simply that there are other ways to solve it as well.)

For me, personally? I like having some things online. But sometimes I want those things in paper as well as online, so offer me paper, digital, or both.

When ebooks have the convenience and price of paper books, ask me again.

Having said that, I will now answer the wrong question. 8^) Not exhaustively, but just some major issues for me off the top of my head.

I can read a book in the bathtub. Are any of the ebook readers waterproof? None I've heard of. (Then again, I don't pay that much attention. That compelling case thing.)

I can drop a book almost anywhere but into a fire or vat of acid and it'll survive. But the ebook isn't as hardy. (At least anything I can afford.)

I can loan, give or resell *any* book easily. With the legal nigtmares today over DRM, copyrights and everything else, I have no ieda what I can do with ebooks, and the rules change from title to title.

I don't get eyestrain from spending hours with books, as a rule. I might get a headache or cramps form sitting in one position, but that's easily solved. That's not the case with any sort of digital display I have used.

In many cases, I can spend more money and buy a book that should outlast several generaltions of my family and appeals to several of my senses, or I can buy a cheap paperback that will fall apart after a couple of readings and has less sensory appeal, or I can buy something inbetween. I like that flexibility.

I like the smell of a new book. Build that into your reader, OK?

A book is stone simple for serial reading, and not that hard (if less handy) for jumping around in. Any ebook UI will have to be as easy to use for the base case (serial reading, saving your spot, etc), and better for the other case (reread earlier section, find random stuff). Both are fairly easy to do, but being able to do both well and easily isn't as easy.

I can grab a book to use as a writing surface. I do this a lot, as it turns out.

I can take a book almost anywhere. I can read almost anywhere. While there might be places an ebook works better (rainproof it and you will have started on that compelling case), there are still plenty a book wins for me. Remember that bathtub thing? And a book won't normally slow you down getting through airport security, whereas electronic devices sometimes do (I have experience with this!)

In short, while there are a couple of advantages to ebooks, they don't even begin to make a compelling case for me. Perhaps the above will help you understand why.

Re:Wrong question

Why *should* I take up ebooks? What is the compelling case?

E-books do have two real advantages. You can read them in the dark without a light source. You can, theoretically, bring your entire library with you rather than just one or two books. The second one is really the most compelling feature.

That said, I mainly agree with you. E-books and e-book readers are inferior to regular books in most other ways and the additional DRM hindrances sellers are adding are making them even less useful. I'd be willing to pay thousands of dollars for a really good e-book that worked as well as regular books for me, but let me carry a whole library with me. I haven't bought one because I haven't seen anything that even comes close to matching a regular book's features.

Q?

Why *should* I take up ebooks? What is the compelling case? Until there is a compelling case *for* switching, the reasons against aren't crucial, IMO.

I want my whole library on a single device, and I want a backup that fits in my pocket. I will keep the backup in a safe place (not my home) and carry the library with me wherever I may roam. I will read more because of it, and my life will benefit from that.

I'll never have to worry about the condition of my books. It will never require a truck to move my library. I'll never worry that a fire will entirely wipe out the collection of literary treasures that I have amassed over decades, and letting go of most of my books will remind me that people and their ideas are more important than the objects that record them. There are a long list of things that motivate me to switch.

Do I treasure books? Yes, I do. Are there some books that I will keep? Yes, there is a small number of books that I revisit frequently and have special significance in my life. In a way, moving most of my collection to digital will make me appreciate the books that I do have even more. Like the value of a real owl in Blade Runner.

Maybe those reasons are no good for you, but I personally have plenty.

What's holding me back?

Let's see. First is the ridiculously high upfront cost for a device that even allows me to read an ebook (yes, I know about cheap PalmOS devices and Project Gutenberg--I'm talking about commercially available ebooks). Second is that DRM-laden ebooks typically cost the same or more than an equivalent dead-tree version. Third, I like being able to walk up to my bookshelf and grab a book to loan to a friend. Don't get me wrong, there are some things that I think ebooks are perfect for (namely, a reference library). But when points 1, 2, and 3 are taken into account, I'll continue purchasing the dead-tree variety.

Re:What's holding me back?

It's unfortunate that the term "e-book" has become associated in people's minds with a certain crappy model of the digital book: expensive; DRM-encrufted; only readable on an expensive, soon-to-be-obsolsete device; not available in formats that we know will be around for a while.

Meanwhile (see my sig), there are hundreds of free out there on the web, many of them of very high quality. (I'm not talking about Project Gutenberg, I'm talking about books whose authors have intentionally set them free.) You can read them off the screen, or you can print them out and read them from hardcopies, or, in many cases, you can buy bound copies at a reasonable price. They're in open, DRM-less formats like PDF and HTML. You can e-mail a friend about them, and the friend can check them out and read them for free. Many of them are copylefted, so they're part of a growing digital commons that allows people to build on each other's work.

e-books redux... still not going to happen.

e-books, what's holding me back?

• price (seems only fair the prices should be competitive à la less expensive than the same back in hardback (they're NOT!)).
• compatibility - until and unless I know I can move my book around to different readers/computers to read without being fingered a criminal and with minimal fuss, I'm not interested.
• convenience - related to previous comment - If I have to jump through a bunch of DRM hoops to stay clean, I don't have the energy to do so (though if this does take off I cringe at the number of hours I'm going to spend "supporting" my non-technical friends and family).
• quality - I still haven't seen a device or reader that approaches the quality of print (even the e-ink doesn't), nor have I found something that comes close the the ambience and ergonomics of a book.... heck none of the e-readers even come close to smelling like a book.
• portability - I don't know the state-of-the-art for things like printing portions of an e-book, but I want it to be easy, and again, I want it to be unencumbered.
• selection - I don't want to make my decision on e-book reading based on what's available and what I have to do to get it.
• price - did I mention price?

I think there's a general misconception by the idiots making decision in their conference rooms about rolling out these products. They clearly have misidentified their priorities as technology first, customer experience second (if that). Invariably the emphasis is wrapped around protecting content to the detriment of any pleasure and easy-to-use experience for customers. As long as the e-book industry continues down this path (and all other future e-media) the long term impact is negative for the content providers. It only takes one or two disasters (reader stops working, customer can't get the "rights" transferred to new reader, etc.) for customers to pretty much wash their hands of the experience.

Other than that, it's all good.

I know this list closely matches the article's prediction... but it bears repeating... (I actually wrote up my list before going to the "read more", unaware the read more had the list.)

Re:e-books redux... still not going to happen.

Better to lose one $8 book than a $400 reader and every book on it.

And agree about the interface preference. Books are just comforting. Reading is supposed to be something you do to get AWAY from the ever-present electronics. Something simple and entertaining you can take with you anywhere, sit on or drop down a flight of stairs without damage, and loan to friends. It's not something you need to design a digital "experience" around.

Re:e-books redux... still not going to happen.

And they are easy on the eyes.

I'm surprised this hasn't come up more often already.

On-screen reading speeds simply aren't comparable to reading off paper, for anyone, no matter how much of a geek. (Go ahead and Google for the research: books have been found to be anywhere from 1/3 to over 2x faster.)

Moreover, prolonged VDU use, particularly when focussing at the same distance constantly and not making the effort to relax the eyes and switch subject occasionally, increases eye strain. It's less strenuous to read a well-printed book in good light, and doing so doesn't reduce your rate of blinking and therefore dry your eyes out to the same extent while you're concentrating.

All in all, any form of extended electronic reading is pretty much doomed to be niche-only until display devices are far, far better than they are today. Get back to me when you've got at least 5x the resolution of a typical display screen and contrast/brightness that auto-adjust to the surroundings for optimum reading comfort. The cost, DRM, etc. are pretty much irrelevant until that point.

Why I like books

I, personally, like real books to ebooks. The portability of the paper book is a lot better than my laptop. There a few pound difference between them. Also, books require no batteries or AC power.
My favorite part about books, it that you can put them on your bookshelf. That way people think that you're deep and intuitive because you read pretty, leather-bound books. It also creates an ambience that ebooks just can't.

Re:Why I like books

The portability of the paper book is a lot better than my laptop.

I would like to see a decent eBook reader for exactly the opposite reason... My itty bitty Palm can hold hundreds (thousands?) of novels and/or textbooks. A dead-tree version can hold - One.

Now, when I go to bed and want to read for a little while, I'll go into my library and grab a physical book. The "expense" of choosing poorly means I need to get out of bed and visit one room down the hall. When I have to wait in a doctors office or on a bus or even just while away from home for a few days, picking a new book usually doesn't even exist as a possibility.


So since I clearly prefer bits to paper, why do I still have a spare bedroom dedicated to serving as a home library?

The readers.

My notebook has simply amazing resolution, but only lasts three to five hours without AC. My Palm lasts over a full day without recharging it, but hurts to look at for more than a few minutes at a time. Dedicated eBook readers look good and some even get adequate battery life, but make it difficult or even impossible to load non-DRM content.


So what would get me to switch completely?

Something with the form-factor of a small clipboard, preferably flexible, with a high-resolution (though not necessarily color) display (ePaper seems perfect here).

It must either last at least 18 hours on one charge, or take (and last at least 4 hours on) standard rechargeable AA batteries (though without making it too thick - Perhaps the "spine" could hold a column of them?).

It must lets me access (at a minimum) plaintext, postscript, HTML (including MHT or MAF or some comparable all-in-one-file HTML container, including full gif/jpg/png/bmp support), and PDF wouldn't suck. It must also not complain about merely storing any other type of file, though I don't expect it to do anything with them.

It must accept a non-proprietary low-cost DRMless media type such as standard CF or SD. It should also have a reasonable quantity of nonvolatile on-board storage that I can copy content to and from (without restriction) the CF/SD/whatever card, so I can keep my favorites in it at all times.

It must have a load-and-render time lower than what it takes to turn a physical page of a book, so perhaps 3 seconds worst-case.

It should, preferably, have some flexibility to act as a sort of general purpose PDA - Nothing fancy, just a personal organizer. It doesn't need a touchscreen or full keyboard, the old-fashioned console game "Please enter your name" style interface would suffice - I don't want another PDA, but I also don't want to need to turn on a separate device just to jot down a note like "meet bob at 9:30" or "Susie Q: 911-5555".

It should support at least one "open" programming interface, to allow the geeks of the world (myself included) to write cool eye-candy-clicky-widgets (c'mon, you know you need Tetris, Snakes, and Mine Sweeper to run on every electronic device you own!) for it. I accept that running such add-ons may drastically reduce the battery life, as long as I have that choice.

For all that, I would pay up to around $500 (for a totally perfect implemenation... Halve that for the basics of what I want).

A few reasons

There are a few reasons in my case:
1) Paper is easier on my eyes.
2) Paper makes it easier to rapidly flip pages.
3) Most of the e-books I have are PC based. This means that I have to keep switching windows if I am reading a technical book while I am working.

E-Books are nice because I can carry them around without all of the bulk of paper, so I usually keep a few with me if I'm working on something away from my bookshelf, but otherwise, I tend to stick with paper.

Eye strain

I look at a computer monitor all day. When I relax with a book, I want a non-screen-refreshing, non-light-emitting way to read. It really makes my eyes feel better that way.

If this is market research...

The answer is give up on mainstream eBook products.

I have several gripes with eBooks.

The first is that many are just PDF conversions of regular books, and you have to have a large, high-resolution screen to view everything in full detail. I want something that fits on a small screen.

Second, paper is much easier to read. If I stare at a computer screen, intently focused as I tend to be when I'm reading for absorption and retention, for the amount of time it takes to read that in a paper book, not only have I wasted more time with scrolling and futzing with controls and commands, but I also have a lot more eye strain. With a book, minor adjustments are innate motor functions, and there's no refresh rate to contend with and no strain from backlighting.

Third, books are much more durable than any eReader device will ever be able to claim to be. Stuff it in the front pocket of your bag or backpack and the eReader will have a broken screen in a few weeks. The book will simply develop some dents or curvature.

I think I'll spend the evening with a good...

...DAMN there goes the battery.

I'm definitely in the book-as-UI camp. Books have pages, which I prefer to turn versus using a scrollwheel, and they work wherever there's sufficient light.

two reasons for me

I will have to agree with Yagu on a couple points.

1) Price - non-free eBooks are way too expensive. Free eBooks are not as comprehensive in selection.
2) Device - the Sony eBook Reader looks to be the end-all, be-all of eBook readers, so I was going to look into that when it arrives in April. It would be interesting to see if the new Origami devices can handle multiple eBook formats. Although since it has a full OS on there you could just up your favorite eBook ready software.

Anyways, once these two things are fixed, I could get heavily into eBooks instead of paperback.

On a side note, I did buy the reader from eBookWise [ebookwise.com] and I like it. It is only greyscale and only reads a few formats (not including PDF or images), but it is nice for simple eBooks and Word Docs. I got this until something better comes along.

Z

Not as satisfying

Burning e-books with offensive material isn't as satisfying as burning paper books that offend me!

Probably Not What I *Should* Say...

I'm a librarian who specializes in audio/blended learning, so I guess I'm supposed to be an advocate of this sort of thing. And of course, I msut concede that there are benefits to books being available in formats other than paper, and that they are helpful to people who learn differently, etc. etc. The truth, however, is that I absolutely hate not having a physical book in front of me. Many of the reasons behind this have been listed above; there are the DRM restrictions as well as the expense of purchasing a portable reading device to contend with. Additionally, considering that I spend 8+ hours a day at work staring at a computer screen, I sometimes find it somewhat refreshing to not be tethered to technology for a little while and to just relax on the window-seat with a book, a cat, and a cup of tea. I'm certainly not technophobic, but the portability and permanence of a normal, paper book is just something I don't know that I feel can be replaced.

Incompatibility

I've got a very nice e-book reader on my PDA, actually potentially three of them, but two are so crippled as to be esentially useless.

1. It's a WinCE PDA, so of course it's a surprise that Microsoft Reader is one of those rare "Microsoft did it right" applications. Unfortuneately, nice as the UI is, they fscked it up with their DRM'd .LIT format- it's damned hard to find free or even cheap e-books in that format (I personally see no reason why any e-book should cost more than the paperback equivalent- and preferably a lot less).

2. I also have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed- unfortuneately the version I have has no "reformat to fit screen" option, and most PDFs are designed to be read or printed to 8.5x11 paper- not exactly a format readable when zoomed down to fit on a 240x320 screen. I'm stuck with either side scrolling (not something you want to do with an e-book) or trying to read 4x4 pixel characters on the screen (also not possible, though quite entertaining seeing what happens to certain fonts when shrunk to that size).

3. I also of course have Pocket IE installed- but that's the same problem as Adobe Acrobat, minus the zoom feature. Good for reading smartly designed HTML 1.0 files that don't have any tags more complex than paragraph and line break, horrible for anything else.

Worse yet, the only .txt reader I've got is Pocket Word and Pocket Notepad, neither of which designed for anything close to the task and both have horrible page scrolling controls that have a tendency to change the text.

So that's my list- not horribly useful, though I do carry around the standard set of Microsoft Rights-Free books.

Wrong question

What's holding me back? Everything. That such a product exists is completely beyond me. The disadvantages above are just a few of an infinitely-long list of complete flaws. They really are a dumb idea, when there is *NOTHING* wrong with a book, which are just *PERFECT*. They are a proven and timeless form of communication that will *never* be obsoleted, just as we will never live on the moon, drive flying cars or have robotic teachers at our children's schools. Wake up. There is technology that improves our lives (iPods) and there is technology of uninspired science fantasy that not only would never actually function, but more importantly we will never need (keys fitted with an RFID tag - I am perfectly capable of finding my keys myself, the RFID tag could never tell me I left them at the coffee shop, but if I *was* worried about losing them I would use a code).

So answer my question: Why the asdf would I ever want an 'eBook'?

Screens can't compare to print

Its a simple matter of resolution. Typical photographic and typographic prints are 300+ dpi. A LCD screen is usually between 72-100 dpi.

ePaper/eInk whatever you want to call it

It's just impossible for people to read from a monitor without increasing their stress. You just can't stare at a florescent light or itty bitty neon lights or itty bitty LED lights for hours on end without your brain realizing there's got to be something better to look at.

Either they can figure out a way to light a screen with natural sunlight, or they can create true electronic ink. No reflection like cheap LCD. No backlighting like expensive LCD. No light emission like LED/plasma. We need the ambient light to bounce off a primarily white surface and refract naturally into our eyeballs.

It someone hands me a tablet approximately the size of a paperback, let's say maybe 5" x 4", makes it as thin and light as possible (1" and 5 lbs would probably be the maximum allowed) and gives me a way to load any kind of rich-text format onto it, I will buy one...I'll buy ten...I will throw piles of money at them, and spent the next few weeks of my life copying every single digital document I have onto whatever memory card the device uses.

I have been trying to replace the book in my life for about ten years. I tried Palm (to small, too dim)...I tried PocketPC (too small, too bright)...I tried laptops...(to huge, too bright) I tried Tablet PCs...(ugh, what a turd that design is).

My only hope is that new portable reader Sony has been working on that they are releasing in Japan. If Lik-Sung offers one, I'll probably buy it. Of course, I may have to wait for someone to crack whatever stupid eBook format it uses to allow me to load my own content.

Or maybe Apple will create a real iBook and do for literature what they did for music. Pleeeeeeeeeease?

-JoeShmoe
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wrong question

what keeps you personally from reading e-books?

The right question is, for those people who are using ebook technology, why are you doing it? If someone wants to get a book, they can find it anywhere in real book format. It's well understood, easy to use, it's something most have us have been comfortable with since the age of 6-7.

I'm guessing the people who use ebooks do so because

• They want to try out the new format
• They need highly portable references which happen to be published in ebook formats and perhaps other portable devices like a laptop are too clunky or unavailable.
• They want to save shelf space? This doesn't seem very valid as one would imagine a small percentage of books are published as ebooks and most non reference books are read once materials anyway so you either don't need to keep them or do because you like have a shelf full of books.
• Improved searchability of references? This is a neat aspect, BUT an electronic version of a "BOOK" format is not an optimal electronic reference. For example, most knowledge webs link between related information while a book is far more linear/narrative.

Any other reasons? Usability perks? If you're sitting at an airport with wireless, can you just buy and download a book instantly right from your reader?

Rocket eBook

I use to have the Rocket eBook many moons ago. It was actually excellent to read at night or in dim lighting... no need for a booklight!

- However, you couldn't read outside because of the glare.
- You couldn't read in the bath or on the beach because... well, the thing was friggin $300.
- You couldn't get "used" books on it for cheaper.
- Books cost about as much for it as they did hardback, which is expensive.
- I dropped it once and had to pay $75 to get the screen replaced. I drop a book and its fine.
- Not all books were available for it (when they actually made books for it that is)

I don't see eBooks replacing books any time soon.