[Air-L] e-books

[Stephen J Cavrak Jr]

Quoting "Jonathan Sterne, Dr." <jonathan.sterne at mcgill.ca>:

> I'm just curious.  How many people actually read e-books in the   
> DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface?

I've done both ... the PC/Laptop/Web interface is not fun, the DRM  
e-book is a bit easier, but still not fun, and PDF's don't do it for  
me either. A lot of the issues are, as you suggest, the limitations  
placed on "reading" - which is not just scanning and turning pages.  
Taking notes, marking up text, cutting and pasting for repurposing  
purposes, sharing, conversation - the e-book has a way to go.

But, especially for some fields, the price is right. I just downloaded  
Google Reader for my iPad (which now has almost a dozen reading  
applications - more if you count the social apps :) and, when I logged  
in, Google suggested a new book for me :

     Half-hours in Japan - Google Books Result - Free :)
     Herbert Moore - 1900 - History - 254 pages

     http://books.google.com/books?id=jXoLAAAAIAAJ
     http://www.archive.org/details/halfhoursinjapa00moorgoog

The book was scanned from the Stanford Library, and the Archive.org  
version has it available in several formats - a dedicated web reader,  
e-book formats, and PDF. If people want a quick browsed, this is a  
nice way to explore the topic.

* * *

That said, I still buy eBooks from the best seller list ... even some  
of the 99 cent "dime novels".

* * *

And, any day now, the Kurzweil reader will arrive and save the day ! :)


Ciao

Steve