Wherein the Grouse takes the future of reading for a spin; can his dormant love of reading be reKindled?
Posted 08.13.2008 at 11:51 am
12 Comments
Will one of these tickle the Grouse?
Amazon/Apple
Right now, you can’t watch TV or walk into a store without seeing those three dreaded words, “BACK TO SCHOOL.” Their presence can mean but one thing: The summer death knell tolls thunderously.
But, wait—there’s time! We still have a precious few weeks to get out and travel, hit the beach or soak up The Great Outdoors. And, if you’re going to do any of these things, chances are you’ll be reading a book somewhere along the way. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to test out two technically advanced methods of getting my lit on. It’s a head-to-head throwdown between Amazon’s nifty new Kindle device and an iTunes audio book. Can they replace the good old-fashioned dog-eared paperback? Well, I did find things I liked about both experiences during my experiment, but this just wouldn’t be The Grouse without unleashing a little vitriol. Now, let’s have at it.
On Book Buying
Amazon
You’d keel over with boredom if I walked you through the entire process of using the Kindle, but a little background is in order. The Kindle comes paired with free EVDO cell service provided by Sprint, which means I don’t have to be in a Wi-Fi hotspot to use it. Anywhere that I can use a Sprint cellphone, I can buy a book (of course, Sprint itself is a subject that could fill a few dozen Grouse columns, so I won’t go there now).
The wireless Kindle store allows me to browse books, newspapers, magazines and blogs. Books can be browsed by title, by top sellers, by what’s “New & Noteworthy” and by what’s been recommended to me by Amazon. They can also be searched for by title.
The Kindle can display grayscale images, so the covers are all there. And, just like on Amazon’s site, I can read and write reviews. I can download a free sample of a book before buying it and if I subscribe to a newspaper, magazine or blog, new content is automatically sent to me when it becomes available. For Amazon, the Kindle jumps that one hurdle the company has always stumbled on: making customers wait days for delivery.
But, there’s a lot the store can’t do. First of all, my Wish List is suspiciously absent, even though I know there’s a Kindle version of at least one of the books on there. Why not tell me that so I can download something I haven’t gotten around to buying? Then there’s the fact that I have to pay a subscription fee for blogs. Seriously, I have to pay $1.99 per month to get Gawker headlines? A simple RSS reader should have been easy enough to build into this thing. But, I suppose “free” EVDO service doesn’t pay for itself.
Apple
But, the iTunes book shopping experience is worse.
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I would love it if Barnes & Noble had something like this. They already track what books you have bought so it would be cool if I could use that record to also get an electronic copy. I read alot and have thousands of books, it would be nice to be able to haul around some of my favorites whenever I like. Also I don't know how often this happens to others but I have had the bindings on my books crack on the larger books or hardcopy books, I hate when you're trying to read a book and pages are falling out. I think that an electronic copy would be a good alternative.
I was under the impression that an ebook reader is being developed which only uses power when turning the page. It was supposed to use polarized molecules that were white on one side and black on the other in order to create images. What happened to that? Is it still in development or was it swept under the rug?
monkeybuttons - yes that has been developed. It's called the Kindle.
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monkeybuttons - yes that has been developed. It's called the Kindle.
Books will be around for a long time. However, when we invent the technology we will be able to download information right into our brains. Matrix style. Except without the caulk gun sized needle into back of the neck.
Well, I am a book lover so I am slightly biased. But the reason books will be around for ever is that many people get a need to unplug for a while. To disconnect from their computers and cell phones and absorb themselves in a story. You can't do that with any kind of electronics because that is what they are trying to get away from.
We are flooded with e-mail and text messages and phone calls etc all day every day. Sometimes it is nice to just turn everything off and curl up with good book.
I recently had the opportunity to review something new called a printed book. The reading experience was excellent, but it was so ugly. The tops and sides of the pages were not illuminated by those wonderful pictures the monks paint. And its just atrocious to think that all the everyday rabble will be able to read all these new books protesting the system of indulgences. Not only that, but people will start reading books instead of talking to each other and discussing the content of the book. Sure, printed books are great, but the illuminated books will *never* go out of style.
I have used the Sony Reader for over a year and got a Kindle two weeks ago. They are very comparable devices. With that said, here are some differences.
In Sony's favor:
It is very difficult to handle the Kindle without accidentally hitting the Next or Previous page buttons. The Sony Reader has no such limitation, although, I find the buttons on the Kindle more comfortable to use for an extended period. If the Kindle is in its included cover, it become possible (though still not easy to handle it without turning pages). The Reader has two sets of Next & Previous Page buttons located on either side of the device. For some reason, the Kindle only has a single Previous Page button on the left side of the device -- the right side includes a smaller Back button which performs a different function.
The Sony Reader maintains a history of the pages that have been visited within each book. The user can display this list, which includes a snippet of the text from each page. This is particularly useful when you have lost you place in a book, e.g. after having accidentally hit the navigation buttons or when handing the device around for others to check it out.
In the Kindle's favor:
The wireless connection is a big, big advantage. When I think of the many times I have been stuck in an airport, etc. and could have downloaded a book I wanted to read. I have also been known to spend several days before a trips loading books and documents on the Sony Reader; with the Kindle I can do it enroute. It should be noted that when the wireless is turned on, it draws the battery down much faster (as a previous commentor noted, the screen only uses power when changing the display). However, Amazon thought to include an easily accesible switch that turns the wireless radio off/on. The Reader will eventually exhaust the battery if left unattended for a long period and strongly suspect the same is true of the Kindle.
The ability to accept input is also stronly in the Kindle's favor. Aside from web-browsing and purchasing books, it is very helpful in some circumstances to be able to "highlight" sections of text and to make notes. The Reader only has the capability of storing a bookmark, i.e. marking a page as being of interest. The Kindle can also do that and has a superior method of navigating among the bookmarks. Anyone who has typed on a Blackberry will have no difficulty at all typing on the Kindle. It is certainly slower than a laptop, but much easier than a typical cell phone. The one area of input that I have not come around to like yet is the Select Wheel and Cursor. In order to mark or select something on the screen, the Kindle has a thumb-wheel which moves a silvery Cursor up and down its own slot-like display located to the right right of the main display. This would be used to select text for a dictionary lookup or to mark a highlight. I have difficulty determining exactly which line the Cursor is indicating.
The Kindle's display seems superior to me. To be fair, it is more than a year younger than my Reader, so perhaps there is some aging involved, and it is possible that the newer version of the Reader that is now available is improved, I don't know. One concrete feature of the Kindle is the 6 text sizes that are available within any book, as compared to the 2 or 3 sizes available on the Reader (depending on whether you are reading something in native format or not).
Finally, I have struggled mightily to convert documents in Adobe's PDF format to make them readable on the Sony Reader, generally without success. If the PDF file wasn't originally formatted to be readable in that size and aspect ratio, the odds are that you aren't going to be able to read it. The Kindle does not support the PDF format, however, I have successfully used the PDF-to-Mobi software I got free on the web to convert PDFs. The resultant Mobi-formatted files have been highly readable on the Kindle (not perfect, but certainly readable.
monkeybuttons-yes, that has been developed. It's called the kindle.
I completely agree with eggman002. I crave solace in a book. The ability to escape from the stress of the workday is something I relish. Sure, the fancy-schmancy version sounds cool but it's not the same.
monkeybuttons-yes, that has been developed. It's called the kindle.
I completely agree with eggman002. I crave solace in a book. The ability to escape from the stress of the workday is something I relish. Sure, the fancy-schmancy version sounds cool but it's not the same.
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monkeybuttons - yes that has been developed. It's called the Kindle.
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monkeybuttons - yes that has been developed. It's called the Kindle.