[ale] eBook readers for PDF reference material

[James Sumners]

(That was meant to be funny.)

As I mentioned in the other thread, my only experience with the
traditional eBook readers are the Sony ones on display at Best Buy. I
found the page turning to be way too slow for regular reading. When
I'm reading a book, I want to turn the page quickly enough that my
reading is not interrupted. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad on a reference
manual, but I doubt it.

So my recommendation is really the same as in that other thread:
actually try out the device yourself before buying it. I believe Best
Buy now has Kindles on display, too. And I bet Barnes & Noble has
their Nook device on display in their stores.

Finally, it sounds like Google might be launching a tablet in a couple
months[1].

[1] -- http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/08/18/google-verizon-chrome-os-tablet-on-sale-november-26-2010/

On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Michael B. Trausch <mike at trausch.us> wrote:
> On Fri, 2010-08-20 at 13:46 -0400, James Sumners wrote:
>> I'm sorry. I can't reply and tell you that I love my iPad for reading
>> books in any format. I can't tell you about how it supports ePubs
>> (DRMed or otherwise), PDFs, and really any sort of "book" format you
>> throw at it. I can't tell you that O'Reilly's DRM free eBooks are
>> available in ALL popular eBook formats and that they specifically
>> support the iPad.
>>
>> I can't reply and tell you all of this because the iPad is a computer
>> that is geared toward a specific type of use, but it isn't open to
>> tinkering like a traditional computer.
>
> Wow.  I totally didn't realize that my query would manage to merge two
> threads together, or I would have deferred posting it until the other
> thread died down... I suppose I should have realized that, though, given
> that the other thread kind of reminded me that I'd been meaning to post
> this one for a while.
>
> So you like the iPad.  That's fine.  I'd thought about it, too, for its
> screen size, but it costs more than I actually have the ability to
> spend, and the primary reason that I want an ebook reader is because the
> power of the full computer enables too many distractions---email, IM,
> whether its for work or not.  I want something that is pretty easy for
> me to focus on, and that's handy alongside the computer as well as
> wherever the hell I wanna read any one of the fifty books that I'd
> rather put on the reader instead of lugging around.
>
> For once in my life, I just want something simple that does basically a
> single dedicated thing and isn't overly complex with the ability to
> tweak and mod and whatever.  As long as the display is about the size of
> a piece of real letter paper, and it does PDF, I'm pretty well happy
> (for the moment).
>
> Okay, so that is partially my inability to let my email/IM build up and
> feeling like I need to deal with it the moment it arrives.  I can
> probably change that mindset if I want to.  But I would just like
> something simple that I can load PDFs on and go.
>
> And I didn't know about the O'Reilly books.  That's awesome---and at the
> same time, I wonder how I missed that, though that doesn't strictly
> speaking matter, I know about it now.  Thanks!
>
>        --- Mike
>
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-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59