On Jul 23, 7:58*am, notbob > wrote:
> On 2011-07-23, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:
>
> > Some blame also goes to downloadable e-books. *B & N got on the bandwagon
> > earlier than Borders. * IIRC, Barnes & Noble closed some of their brick &
> > mortar stores a couple of years ago.
>
> Book stores have always been in flux. *Used to be chain discount book
> stores in all the malls. *Remember Crown and Walden's? *They all went
> under with the advent of the big box book stores like B&N and Borders,
> which almost never discount books. *I remember when the Borders
> opened near me. *I lived there. *First time I went was Sunday
> afternoon and they had a jazz trio playing. *Within 2 yrs, they'd
> remodeled, losing a third of total floorspace.
>
> I never understood that business model. *How did full retail stores
> replace discount stores. *Never a lack of business I could see.
> Always lines at the checkout and new titles by the gross. *I kept being
> amazed at how many books were being published on every subject
> imaginable. *
>
> I don't really think ebooks are replacing print books. *Readers are
> expensive and you never own an ebook. *Despite the fact there is no
> overhead for printing, shipping, etc, the prices are still absurdly
> high. *Can't sell it, trade it, give it to a friend. *Don't have to
> plug in a print book to recharge. *If I fall asleep while reading and
> drop a print book and then roll over on it, the worst that can happen
> is a few crumpled pages. *What would happen to that expensive ereader?
> Trees are a renewable resource. *Ereaders are a toxic industry.
> Really bad trade off, IMO.
>
> Jes some thoughts.....
>
> nb *

==
E-books are great. I have a free reader on my computer. I get mostly
FREE e-books from the Internet and can read them and bookmark as I go
along. One can easily convert books or files in pdf format to read on
the "reader" as well. All I need is a comfortable chair and time to
spend.
==

"Andy" > wrote
> I agree that e-books are great. I have four different readers on the
> iPhone. Some better in features than others.
>
> A few readers exhibit the worst hyphenation logic and justification I've
> ever seen.

On a dedicated reader with a larger screen, the hyphenation problem goes
away. They very much replicate a printed page.


>
> All that said, I've never read an e-book on the iPhone from start to
> finish!

I'd never consider it. The screen is just not large enough and the
backlighting will make it hard on the eyes over time. I may catch the news
headlines and a short article on the phone, but that is about it. I'd never
think about actually reading a book for enjoyment on such a small screen.

On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:15:57 -0500, Andy wrote:

> "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:
>>
>> I'd never consider it. The screen is just not large enough and the
>> backlighting will make it hard on the eyes over time. I may catch the
>> news headlines and a short article on the phone, but that is about it.
>> I'd never think about actually reading a book for enjoyment on such a
>> small screen.
>
> Ed,
>
> Both good points!
>
> A good news source I use, ad-free is www.drudgereport.com/

it figures that an all-around idiot would also *lurve* right-wing idiot
matt drudge. did you know he's a queer?

<http://www.google.com/search?q=pilsbury+dough+boy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=matt+drudge+***&aq=0&aqi =g5&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=cb499 925b2eb373a&biw=1652&bih=828>

you might catch it!

blake

On Jul 23, 10:57*am, Andy > wrote:

<a bit of deletion>

>
> I agree that e-books are great. I have four different readers on the
> iPhone. Some better in features than others.
>
> A few readers exhibit the worst hyphenation logic and justification I've
> ever seen.
>
> gBooks has the better text formatting options and text is aligned flush
> left (MUCH better readability). It won't display in landscape mode.
> Viewing in larger text sizes can result in one word lines.
>
> Books for one reader doesn't open in another so you can't choose a
> favorite reader and skip the rest.
>
> The "Classic" iPhone app comes with 30 classics. Other readers come with
> a couple books as a teaser to buy from their online bookstores.
>
> I'll agree, there are plenty of free e-books to be had. That and the
> online Gutenberg Project could keep you reading for probably decades.
>
> There are also text-to-speech apps so e-books could be read to you.
> Unlike audio books which are spoken by humans (an old friend does this),
> computer pronunciation could get old really fast.
>
> I also downloaded user manuals in Pdf format for many products I own. If
> you can find them, they are always freely available.
>
> All my recipes from online and digitally photographed cookbook recipes
> are on the iPhone. Not that I've actually read them, I just wanted them
> in my pocket. It would come in handy to shop for all the ingredients for
> a recipe. I've also photographed my pantry and refrigerator contents for
> when I'm at the market and wondering "do I need more of this or not?"
> That is probably overdoing it a tad. I thought it was a useful idea.
>
> All that said, I've never read an e-book on the iPhone from start to
> finish!
>
> Best,
>
> Andy

==
There were a few rainy days this summer when I took advantage of my
free 'Kindle' to read a couple of e-books. This winter when its
blizzarding, I'm sure it'll come in handy as well.
==