Sony Reader Taking Hold? 357
An anonymous reader writes "Sony recently launched their latest attempt at an electronic book reader. The 'Sony Reader' is small and lightweight, about the size of a paperback book, and using E-Ink technology it only requires battery power when changing the page so light on power requirements. While it isn't their first attempt at an electronic book reader, critics are already predicting the Reader's success."
Hardbacks all the time? (Score:2, Informative)
I just want to remind everyone, before there was the RIAA, there were book publishers. And some of them make the RIAA look like Girl Scouts.
Re:This will save my wrists! (Score:5, Informative)
For the majority of cases this isn't true. I buy from two stores, Ereader [slashdot.org] because I like their format and find their DRM non-intrusive nor limiting.
The other store which will appeal to slashdotters is Fictionwise. [fictionwise.com] Both stores sell books for a comparable price to Amazon. such as The Footprints of God [amazon.com] which is cheaper at Ereader. [ereader.com] Another example is Blindfold [fictionwise.com] for $8 from Fictionwise or second hand at Amazon. [amazon.com] I know which I'd prefer
Having said that, you won't save much money, if anything, buying e-books (I've found Australians will actually save some money though, because our prices are dearer, even once you take exchange rate into account). I still prefer the e-books because I'm running out of room in my house for dead tree books. I'm leaving the rest of the room to comic book collections and books not available electronically (although more and more books are being made available, such as Anne McCaffrey's books). [fictionwise.com]
Having said that, inertia does appear to sometimes cause e-books to be priced dearer for a while longer then the paperbacks. An example is Robert J Sawyer's Hybrids [ereader.com] which was kept at the hardcover price for a while after the paperback was released. But it has now finally come down in price. So if you're patient, you will get good prices for your e-books.
Re:From the Fine Article (Score:5, Informative)
It's the screen itself. I've seen and played with the previous reader here in Japan, and the screen really is amazing. As in "you have to see it before dissing it" amazing. It really is like reading on paper. The brighter the environment is the better it looks.
On one hand, this reader is supposedly able to show any PDF or html and connect over USB like a mass-storage device, which is good (and the lack of which is what stopped me from buying the previous model). On the other hand, Philips is soon coming out with their version of a reader with a paper-like display, and I'd frankly rather buy from just about any company other than Sony nowadays. So I'll wait until I see what the Philips reader will be like, and unless they screw up with some DRM-only boneheaded move, that's what I'll get instead.
Pictures and More Details (Score:5, Informative)
GP2X .. (Score:2, Informative)
Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. (Score:2, Informative)
With the exception of native PDF and HTML (I think) support, the difference between the new eBook and the Librie is small.
The Librie looke better as it is in white AND it has a keyboard. It also has a headphone socket. Neither of these are used by anyone, but the device is Linux as so there is a large hacker community and tools are coming out all the time. Initially the effort was to translate all the Japanese software into English and now people are talking about making the device to other things.
There is third party software out there to make your own books and you can use pretty much any source you want. Sony already has book creating software on the market, there is already an RSS to eBook application and there is also a reader on you PC (Windows only) for your books.
For the new eBook, Sony hasn't used the latest in eInk technology but let me tell you this, whenever I show the Librie to people, their jaw drops at the quality of the display. The viewing angle is tremendous (just the same as a book)
The display is not paper white - don't let Sony make you beleive that it is - but it can be used in low light and bright light conditions, just like a book.
The Librie (and I assume this holds true for the new reader) is lighter than a book - excellent for travelling - and is powered by 4 AAA batteries. This means that no matter where you are, you can always get power.
The only addition to my Librie that I have added is a wrist strap from a mobile phone so that when I am on a train or subway, I donlt keep thinking someone is about to grap the Librie and run.
The size of display is grat for books, probably fine for HTML but is isn't good for comics. It is simply not big enough. The new reader apparently has a zoom and pan function, but that isn't exactly ideal.
The eBook is great for anyone who travels a lot, anyone in a tech related business where you need to have technical documentation that you refer to. If you are up to creating your own books, then it is a fantastic way to read all your books. Never have the trouble of finishing a book and then being at a loss until you can get home or to the book store to get your next installment.
Check out the yahoo Librie group for more information.
Re:This will save my wrists! (Score:4, Informative)
Your ereader link is broken - try ereader.com [ereader.com] :).
EReader is a pretty decent option for ebooks - mainly because the DRM isn't painful, but also because they have a not-too-pathetic range and the prices aren't too unreasonable. But the extra trick you need to keep in mind is to subscribe to their emailed newsletter (every week or so). This always includes a "10% off all purchases" code - so effectively anyone using them gets at least 10% off the listed price on any purchase. This may even be a sneaky back way around publisher "list price" demands. If so, I strongly approve. :)
The downside, for me at least, is that (last I checked) the Windows version of their reader program doesn't work under Wine. Annoying, but I do most of my reading on my Palm, and it works fine on that.
However, now I've said all that, I've found that Fictionwise [fictionwise.com], as you mentioned, seems to offer a better range at a better price with more formats. I approve even more. Thanks for the tip.
Re:Success??? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Success??? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Success??? (Score:4, Informative)
I can convert txt, rtf, etc. in the rare cases I use them.
The older model (Librie) didn't do PDFs. The Reader does.