Ebooks, part I: Ebook as object.
So, after occasionally expressing skepticism about ebooks, I've finally got one: the Sony 505 (not the 700, on which the touchscreen reportedly renders the screen hard to read, defeating the purpose, and not the Kindle, since I'm already schlepping around two QWERTY keyboards, thanks).
I have finally arrived at a situation where an ebook makes sense: I really am running out of storage space and I carry a laptop three days a week which means I can't carry a book larger/heavier than a small paperback. This doesn't qualify as the killer app I was looking for nearly five years ago, but it's enough for a "why not try it?"
Looking at this thing first as an object, I'd say that it's a success. I've had it for about a week and have read about 1500 screens worth of text. The screen is very, very easy to look at and doesn't provoke any of the eyestrain I sometimes get even from an LCD screen. It does look amazingly matte and paperlike. Every book can be viewed at three levels of magnification; the ones that are published as real ebooks automatically repaginate themselves as you increase or decrease the text size. (With miscellaneous PDFs at a larger text size, you read a single page, 342 for example, as two screens both numbered 342.)
I didn't realize how useful the button placement is until I started carting the thing around. There is one pair of page forward/page back buttons on the right edge, where your fingers would be if you were holding the ebook with both hands. Then there is a second rocker switch for paging forward and back that is located just where your thumb would be if you were holding it in one hand. The result is that it's very easy to operate with only one hand, such as while standing on a crowded and turbulent subway. Also, the book doesn't flop closed, which means that you could prop it up and read it while eating (a particular foible of mine). It might even be possible to read while knitting.
Finally, it has a comfortable and visually pleasing navy blue leather cover. Don't underestimate the way that the leather, which is soft and warms in your hand, improves the feel of the device. This addition was a real stroke of genius on the part of the designers; to the extent that it feels like a real book, it feels like a very nice real book. The cover appears to contain tiny magnets which cause it to snap gently shut in a satisfying way. And while the ebook doesn't gratify a fetishistic desire to collect and display books, it turns out that a single object that allows different books to manifest themselves has a bit of its own magic.
Obviously, I have a lot more to say about it in terms of book availability, pricing, etc. Next post.
I have finally arrived at a situation where an ebook makes sense: I really am running out of storage space and I carry a laptop three days a week which means I can't carry a book larger/heavier than a small paperback. This doesn't qualify as the killer app I was looking for nearly five years ago, but it's enough for a "why not try it?"
Looking at this thing first as an object, I'd say that it's a success. I've had it for about a week and have read about 1500 screens worth of text. The screen is very, very easy to look at and doesn't provoke any of the eyestrain I sometimes get even from an LCD screen. It does look amazingly matte and paperlike. Every book can be viewed at three levels of magnification; the ones that are published as real ebooks automatically repaginate themselves as you increase or decrease the text size. (With miscellaneous PDFs at a larger text size, you read a single page, 342 for example, as two screens both numbered 342.)
I didn't realize how useful the button placement is until I started carting the thing around. There is one pair of page forward/page back buttons on the right edge, where your fingers would be if you were holding the ebook with both hands. Then there is a second rocker switch for paging forward and back that is located just where your thumb would be if you were holding it in one hand. The result is that it's very easy to operate with only one hand, such as while standing on a crowded and turbulent subway. Also, the book doesn't flop closed, which means that you could prop it up and read it while eating (a particular foible of mine). It might even be possible to read while knitting.
Finally, it has a comfortable and visually pleasing navy blue leather cover. Don't underestimate the way that the leather, which is soft and warms in your hand, improves the feel of the device. This addition was a real stroke of genius on the part of the designers; to the extent that it feels like a real book, it feels like a very nice real book. The cover appears to contain tiny magnets which cause it to snap gently shut in a satisfying way. And while the ebook doesn't gratify a fetishistic desire to collect and display books, it turns out that a single object that allows different books to manifest themselves has a bit of its own magic.
Obviously, I have a lot more to say about it in terms of book availability, pricing, etc. Next post.