E-books and E-readers

So, anyone out there have an eReader? I recently bought an Amazon Kindle and it's pretty nifty. Holds a lot of books, easy to read, long battery life, not too expensive, and with any eReader you get access to a lot of free eBooks.

And if you don't have one, are you considering the jump...yet?
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I use an iPad as my e-reader, but I've always been fond of the Kindle.

Actually, I heard from Mike Stackpole's blog today that Amazon is finally going to allow the ePUB format to work on their devices. Great news, now the Kindle is compatible with every major format on the market.

EUC Staff Joined: 15 Sep 2010 Posts: 1117 Location: Kansas

I have a Kindle, not the latest edition but the one before it. Since Amazon is allowing an ePub format, I'm hoping that more Kindle-friendly books (including Star Wars of course!) will be available in libraries.
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Observation: Life would be cooler if everyone spoke like HK-47.

Communications Coordinator at EUCantina.

Nope, I don't have one. I've been put off by talk that you can't always download certain books. For instance, if you have a Kindle, you can't read eBooks from other stores, that you can only buy from the specific store and things like that. Besides, I buy most of my books second hand, so the 'it's cheaper than HC prices doesn't really affect me at this point.
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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Real books for me.
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Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

Actual pages > eReaders
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All things die, Anakin Skywalker, even stars burn out.

So this is how liberty dies....with thunderous applause.

Those without swords can still die upon them

The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.

I still love books, but I also love the ability to sit on the river bank fishing with the Kindle in one hand. I can turn pages with the push of a button so I never have to relinquish my fishing pole. And if I finish the book or get tired of it, I've got a 100 others to choose from. I think it'll also be really nice to have when I go camping. And to be honest, it's actually easier to hold the Kindle up for reading than it is a book.

Oh, and Life, I know you said you were reading the Sherlock Holmes books a while back. They're all free on Kindle. Free is very cheap. (but that's once you get past the hurdle of the eReader)

On the other hand, new eBooks are not cheap. In fact you can usually get the real book cheaper than the eBook or for like 50 cents more.
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I see an advantage only in what you mentioned with turning pages. There are so many times I would like to read while eating lunch or something, but it is first difficult to turn the page, and second I do not want to splatter the book with food. So this would prove to be a good thing.

However, it would be in acquiring these eBooks that the problem arises. As you said, the prices are steep. I'm interested to go read your article on the matter. I just purchased Conviction for under $15, when the Kindle price is $13.99. I paid 51 cents more for a gorgeous hardback. So yes...that is mainly what stops me. If I was saving a phenomenal amount of money, and the library was not providing me with them as well...then I would consider it. And will probably end up getting one in the future, anyway. Such things tend to be inevitable. Smile

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"It's not about the legacy you leave, it's about the life you live." ~Mara Jade Skywalker

With eReaders other than Kindle, you can somehow get eBooks free of charge from the library. Soon the Kindle will be supporting the ePub format so it can do that too, but not yet.
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Master Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 745 Location: Denver

I am hoping to pick up an ipad by the holidays, either a 2nd gen onsale when the 3rd gen comes out or the 3rd gen. itself (depending on money since apple = $$$). I borrowed a 1st ipad and they are super cool.

I like ereaders in general, but in some cases I prefer to buy the book. I really want something that can view both comic books and novels. I am getting back into comics more all the time. I really wish you could just pay like a monthly subscription fee for X amount of content. If I actually paid for the downloads of all the comics and all the events I'd go broke.

I have a Nook and also the Kindle and Nook apps on my Android phone. I prefer collecting in paper form, but for sheer portability, especially for huge volumes like many of the things I read as a history teacher, I tend to like ebook form.

In fact, the book series I'm now writing for has used the ebook route as a sort of early edition concept. The second and third books have been released in ebook form FIRST, and now the first three are being released in paperback as one volume. It allows folks to get access early if really heavily interested.
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--Nathan P. Butler
http://www.starwarsfanworks.com

Knight Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 222

A book with always be paper to me. These new fangled e"books" aren't books, just files with words taken from the pages of books. I mean, I understand the concept of the eReader, but I feel that certain things just shouldn't be digitized. Also, with an eReader, you can't just dry out the pages if it falls into water.

Well I'm embracing the best of both worlds. I mostly got an eReader because authors were writing books that were in eBook format only and I hate reading long word docs on my PC.
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