Amazon Kindle vs Sony eReader?

LadyAgie

Really Experienced
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May 22, 2004
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208
I saw on the news today that Amazon is launching their version of an eReader called the Kindle.

I'm not looking to promote either product/service, but just looking for a new point of view.

Would you consider buying an electronic reader? What would it take to make you consider buying an electronic reader?

If you would prefer a particular brand/manufacturer, which one is it?

How much would you be willing to pay for the product and compatible content?
 
That's an interesting study. I also admit to being a bookaholic, but when I can't get my hands on traditional books, I will download books from my local library and read those.

My only problem with eReaders in general is the obsolence factor. But then again I have a problem with print material in that books get kind of heavy during a move ;)
 
Well, I have probably 17gigs of books on pdf. On one hand, I love it because they're books that I had a passing interest in, and use for reference material eeevery once in a while, but am not excited enough by to spend money.

On the other, I despise it because I HATE reading scanned material. It aggravates me. I want paper. I want the feel of it under my fingertips. I want the weight of the book in my hand. I want the smell of the pages. I want the satisfying solidity of knowledge held in my hands, the physical representation of a conversation that reaches down through the ages between the author and myself.

No e-reader will ever match that.
 
I have about 2gigs of ebooks on my puter. I haven't graduated yet to a device other than to use my PDA like a reader. I don't really see the point in having one.
 
Actualy I'd be interested in it, but only for those books that you aren't worth getting in hardback. Quite frankly if I really enjoy a book, I'll pay a lot to get it in hardback, but sometimes it'd be nice to read 'the most recent' book, on a computer, in my room and relaxing.
 
Silicon Snake Oil

This sorta reminds me of the books by Cliff Stohl;

He was part of a team that recorded some astrological event and they used several methods of storing the data and all of them were rendered obsolete in a few years.

Books are never obsolete. :)
 
I have a Sony Reader, bought almost a year ago and I still use it regularly. I love it because it holds a lot of books and is lighter then the average p-back and also easy on the eyes. Most of the books I read are old, free public-domain stuff from project gutenberg; I've only bought 2-3 books from Sony's store. mobileread.com has tons of these books formatted to look good on the Sony, but even in txt format they're fine. I've also made heavy use of the Baen free library for sci-fi novels. It's about the size of a p-back, and comfortable to curl up with for bedtime reading.

My husband has been looking at the different e-readers available but has concluded that none are worth the money for his needs. He's a techie, and wants PDF files, but none of the readers support them well.

The Kindle is cool because it lets you buy a book without connecting to your computer. If it's successful, it could be the start of an e-book revolutoin. I wouldn't buy it because it's too wrapped in DRM. From what I've seen, the best choice is the Bookeen CYbook Gen 3.
 
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I read a lot of e-books. I review for a website, so it takes a lot of my time. I still prefer print books, though.

I have a Sony E-book reader. I use PDF files, it views them just fine. Looking into the Kindle, it seems very appealing, but I'll stick with my Sony.
 
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