Do you like or dislike reading e-books?

[gravenewworld]

The library sent out a survey today asking about e-books to the entire university. Now I know it is bound to happen where there will no longer be physical books anymore, but personally I can not stand reading e-books. I absolutely hate when you have to scroll back and forth between pages to look at a figure that is 20 pages back that is referenced on the current page. With a physical book I can easily put my finger between both pages and look at the text+figure at the same time easily. Plus, I simply can not stare at a computer screen for hours on end like I can at a book. What about you?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Reading on a screen I'm not partial to (ever since a bout of eye strain a last year that my eyes still haven't recovered from) but from something like a kindle it's fine because it's not a screen; it's static e-paper. Also I have some ebooks where if something is referenced to somewhere else in the book simply tapping/selecting the reference will take you to that page (with a back button to quickly zip back). I admit that whilst I like my kindle it could be a lot better; the interface is poor, it doesn't look good, the "screen" is a slightly off-yellow colour and the experience doesn't rival that of a real book but as ebook adoption is now approaching the start of it's big break I'm sure that in future ebook readers will fully address these problems in a myriad of competing ways.

 

[Borek]

Some things are OK on Kindle (and I guess other electronic readers), some are not. Textbooks, or other scientific books are difficult to read - jumping back to see the figure or formula is a nightmare. Novels are OK.

 

[ThinkToday]

It's ok on my old Kindle, and better on my daughter's Kindle Fire. I like regular books, but the Kindle is searchable, built in definitions, light, easily carried on trips, and the ebooks are modestly priced and instantly available. The move toward eTextbooks for schools will be great. No more excuses about forgetting the book, so can't do the homework. Hopefully, the future will bring professional journals, etc. to ebooks.

 

[genericusrnme]

I like ebooks :)

 

[SHISHKABOB]

I'll probably never get into the whole e-books thing unless it gets forced on me. As long as there are books around for me to read and they don't become expensive or something, then I will be reading regular books.

I like books, they smell good.

 

[Hobin]

I like books, they smell good.

I was going to say that!

But, yeah, if they make a kindle that accurately simulates the smell of real books, I'd buy five.

 

[Astronuc]

I like pdfs especially where I can copy and use figures/plots for reference in technical reports, and where possible extracting text to quote in a report rather than retyping it.

To read, I prefer paper textbooks.

With respect to journal articles, I prefer to obtain them electronically.

 

[wuliheron]

E-books have only recently established themselves as a popular alternative. Some publishers are just beginning to play around with hyperlinking them, adding music sound tracks, etc. and if you need to do technical reading there are tablets on the market with dual screens. For novels and magazines though their day has arrived. An $80.oo Kindle can hold 2,000 books, you can download free books online, change the font size at will, and the battery lasts 10 days. Like any other electronic device their price will only continue to drop as they become more powerful and even more compact.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I like the look and feel of paper. I like the idea of physically owning a copy of a book. I don't read novels, but I can see how something like the kindle would be good for that though.

 

[Astronuc]

E-books have only recently established themselves as a popular alternative. Some publishers are just beginning to play around with hyperlinking them, adding music sound tracks, etc. and if you need to do technical reading there are tablets on the market with dual screens. For novels and magazines though their day has arrived. An $80.oo Kindle can hold 2,000 books, you can download free books online, change the font size at will, and the battery lasts 10 days. Like any other electronic device their price will only continue to drop as they become more powerful and even more compact.

Hopefully, one can back that up, otherwise, what happens when it dies?

A local radio personality dropped his relatively new (few weeks old) I-pad on a hard surface. It got hosed.

 

[DaveC426913]

I took the plunge into ebooks because of my upcoming vacation. Can't really afford to bring 5 pounds of books. Now I can bring a half dozen books - more than enough to suit whatever mood I'm in, for less than a half pound.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I think paper books are better. I read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in a paper copy and I thought it was very good. Then I read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown as an e-book and it was lousy.

 

[wuliheron]

Hopefully, one can back that up, otherwise, what happens when it dies?

A local radio personality dropped his relatively new (few weeks old) I-pad on a hard surface. It got hosed.

You can back them up anyway you like or just download them again for free whenever you want. It only takes a few seconds per book to download.

 

[Containment]

I'm just waiting until you can directly download the book to your brain.

I'v never used an e-book and never will.

 

[wuliheron]

I'm just waiting until you can directly download the book to your brain.

I'v never used an e-book and never will.

More likely we'll have augmented reality glasses soon enough that just do it all and double as sunglasses to boot. The ultimate portable solution that can provide an apparent 70" ultra high resolution screen if you want for watching movies, playing games, reading books, surfing the web, etc. All in one cheap pair of glasses connected to the cloud. Microsoft and others are already working on interfaces for them that combine voice, gestures, eye tracking, virtual keyboards, the works, into an intuitive whole. With things like neuromorphic processors the machines can even quickly learn your idiosyncrasies and adapt to your personal communication style and make good suggestions as to how to improve your experience.

 

[DaveC426913]

More likely we'll have augmented reality glasses soon enough that just do it all and double as sunglasses to boot. The ultimate portable solution that can provide an apparent 70" ultra high resolution screen if you want for watching movies, playing games, reading books, surfing the web, etc. All in one cheap pair of glasses connected to the cloud. Microsoft and others are already working on interfaces for them that combine voice, gestures, eye tracking, virtual keyboards, the works, into an intuitive whole. With things like neuromorphic processors the machines can even quickly learn your idiosyncrasies and adapt to your personal communication style and make good suggestions as to how to improve your experience.

Yeah, but that's all just a fancier way of reading a book. It would still come down to your eyes having to scan words one by one into your brain.

 

[wuliheron]

Yeah, but that's all just a fancier way of reading a book. It would still come down to your eyes having to scan words one by one into your brain.

Being able to just inject information directly into your brain whole hog appears to be possible, but that's likely a long way off yet. These kinds of augmented reality glasses will be coming on the market possibly within five years. However, if you are interested there is already a device on the market that applies small electric shocks to the brain that can cut study times in half. A bit crude to say the least, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

More likely we'll have augmented reality glasses soon enough that just do it all and double as sunglasses to boot. The ultimate portable solution that can provide an apparent 70" ultra high resolution screen if you want for watching movies, playing games, reading books, surfing the web, etc. All in one cheap pair of glasses connected to the cloud. Microsoft and others are already working on interfaces for them that combine voice, gestures, eye tracking, virtual keyboards, the works, into an intuitive whole. With things like neuromorphic processors the machines can even quickly learn your idiosyncrasies and adapt to your personal communication style and make good suggestions as to how to improve your experience.

I think you're getting far ahead of yourself here. AR glasses have been talked about for decades and whilst we have continued to develop technology towards them there is still no confirmed product on the horizon, let alone one with all the abilities that you have proposed. I admit though that I am looking forward to the day where I can wear glasses that are also my general purpose casual computer and phone (so long as the interface is intuitive and well designed).

However I fail to see why AR glasses would necessarily kill off e-readers. Reason being that e-readers are static e-paper displays that are far easier on the eyes to read. This is why tablets, smartphones and computers aren't totally competing with things like kindles. A personal complication on top of that is that I require glasses to read screens without getting headaches, if my glasses are a screen how will this be achieved? Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone but the number of people requiring glasses to read and read screens is a sizable portion of the demographic.

Being able to just inject information directly into your brain whole hog appears to be possible, but that's likely a long way off yet. These kinds of augmented reality glasses will be coming on the market possibly within five years. However, if you are interested there is already a device on the market that applies small electric shocks to the brain that can cut study times in half. A bit crude to say the least, but beggars can't be choosers.

Why do you think this? What evidence have you for information being possible to "inject whole hog"? Furthermore any device that shocks the brain to improve study rime is bunk, research in recent years has shown that very specific and direct stimulation of mouse hypocampi improves learning puzzles. The idea that someone has done it in humans and marketed it seems dubious at best.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

However, if you are interested there is already a device on the market that applies small electric shocks to the brain that can cut study times in half.

I know a way to cut study times in half without electric shocks. Unfortunately, you get failing grades when you use it.

 

[ThinkToday]

You can back them up anyway you like or just download them again for free whenever you want. It only takes a few seconds per book to download.

I download them to my PC, so I can read them there with a bigger screen, if I want to, and upload them from my PC to the Kindle.

 

[IMP]

Reading ebooks on a dedicated ereader is fantastic in my opinion. You can put many thousands of books on a single SDHC card, and if you have a few of them you can literally have a library worth of books with you at all times. I recommend the Pocketbook Pro 902 or 903, excellent devices...

 

[Evo]

I might read read things like sci-fi or fantasy on one, but considering that the e-version costs as much as the book version, plus I have to pay for the reader, for me, it doesn't make sense. Plus I prefer holding a book, it's a comfort thing.

For my history and cookbooks with large photos and graphics, a small e-reader wouldn't work.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I like books, they smell good.

I was going to say that!

But, yeah, if they make a kindle that accurately simulates the smell of real books, I'd buy five.

You're both in luck http://smellofbooks.com/aromas/new-book-smell/

 

[NewtonianAlch]

I prefer reading books, although I don't mind reading e-books, I can't seem to concentrate or absorb information the way I do with a normal book.

I think it's just how most of us grew up and are used to, kids in the next few years are going to grow accustomed to reading e-books.

 

[Hobin]

You're both in luck http://smellofbooks.com/aromas/new-book-smell/

DOES WANT! :!)

 

[SHISHKABOB]

You're both in luck http://smellofbooks.com/aromas/new-book-smell/

what about... old book smell >.>

the ones that you left on your bookshelf for too long and now they've got a layer of dust bunnies on top of them

 

[wuliheron]

I think you're getting far ahead of yourself here. AR glasses have been talked about for decades and whilst we have continued to develop technology towards them there is still no confirmed product on the horizon, let alone one with all the abilities that you have proposed. I admit though that I am looking forward to the day where I can wear glasses that are also my general purpose casual computer and phone (so long as the interface is intuitive and well designed).

Virtual reality headsets suffer from vertigo problems and ten years ago the entire semiconductor industry encountered a series of setbacks starting with problems in single core computing. However, they've not been idly sitting on their hands and within the next two years we'll see a convergence of technologies usher in the next computer revolution that will make all our current devices and computers antiquated. Interposers, chip stacking, OLEDs, memristors, transactional memory, and on and on. Manufacturing specific gadgets like AR glasses depends as much on the available supply chain as anything else, but my guess is within five years we should see the first popular models come on the market. Suffice it to say I don't believe for a moment that Google is researching interfaces for such devices believing they are ten or twenty years down the road.

However I fail to see why AR glasses would necessarily kill off e-readers. Reason being that e-readers are static e-paper displays that are far easier on the eyes to read. This is why tablets, smartphones and computers aren't totally competing with things like kindles. A personal complication on top of that is that I require glasses to read screens without getting headaches, if my glasses are a screen how will this be achieved? Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone but the number of people requiring glasses to read and read screens is a sizable portion of the demographic.

E-readers will survive, but in a niche market. Already e-readers are being developed that can be incorporated into a flexible piece of plastic or even paper and are full color and fast enough to display video. At the same time OLEDs can also be printed on something as simple as paper and double as room lighting and solar cells! You could literally wallpaper your house with them. Where it will all end is anyone's guess, but you can count on being bombarded everywhere you go with billboards and video. Eventually you may need to wear AR glasses just to help screen out the constant bombardment from advertisers.

Why do you think this? What evidence have you for information being possible to "inject whole hog"? Furthermore any device that shocks the brain to improve study rime is bunk, research in recent years has shown that very specific and direct stimulation of mouse hypocampi improves learning puzzles. The idea that someone has done it in humans and marketed it seems dubious at best.

DARPA and Oxford University are the most reputable and the latest I know of to claim positive results:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-darpa-electrical-brain-aid.html

You're welcome to argue with them over whether it's bunk or not, but I don't recommend arguing with DARPA. Likewise, its easy enough to build your own such devices and I've seen one commercial device advertised but, again, I'm not recommending them even though they are the equivalent of 9v battery. Merely pointing out the possibilities.

Similarly, injecting information whole hog is all but pure science fiction at this point as I alluded to. However, false memories have been implanted into mice:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...y-Scientists-implant-false-memories-mice.html

 

[edward]

Everything electronic is in a constant state of change. What we have right now will go the way of the eight track. I have print books that are centuries old and still readable.

I prefer to read a traditional book. In an emergency I can even cut strips from around the border and use them to start a fire.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

DARPA and Oxford University are the most reputable and the latest I know of to claim positive results:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-darpa-electrical-brain-aid.html

You're welcome to argue with them over whether it's bunk or not, but I don't recommend arguing with DARPA. Likewise, its easy enough to build your own such devices and I've seen one commercial device advertised but, again, I'm not recommending them even though they are the equivalent of 9v battery. Merely pointing out the possibilities.

Regardless that I missed this development I highly doubt the commercial products have any validity. I'll believe it when I see some peer-reviewed research from a credible source showing the validity of the product.

Similarly, injecting information whole hog is all but pure science fiction at this point as I alluded to. However, false memories have been implanted into mice:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...y-Scientists-implant-false-memories-mice.html

Are you from the UK? If not you may not realize that the Daily Fail is a notoriously bad paper, especially for science. Furthermore the article does not explain what is really going on in the study.

 

[wuliheron]

Regardless that I missed this development I highly doubt the commercial products have any validity. I'll believe it when I see some peer-reviewed research from a credible source showing the validity of the product.

Are you from the UK? If not you may not realize that the Daily Fail is a notoriously bad paper, especially for science. Furthermore the article does not explain what is really going on in the study.

I'm American. That article on synthetic memories was just the first one that popped up in a Google search. Here's the original one I read:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322161251.htm

For the umteenth time, I am not recommending people zap their brains or suggesting implanting memories whole hog into someone's head is going to happen anytime soon. Some people have no sense of humor.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I'm American. That article on synthetic memories was just the first one that popped up in a Google search. Here's the original one I read:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120322161251.htm

Thank you for the article, I look forward to reading it.

For the umteenth time, I am not recommending people zap their brains or suggesting implanting memories whole hog into someone's head is going to happen anytime soon. Some people have no sense of humor.

That's a bit harsh. I have a sense of humour but didn't pick up on humour at all in your posts. Apologies for any aggravation.