Wait, what? When did netbooks start coming with eInk screens? Got a model number?
Sorry, netbooks don't come with e-Ink screens -- I wish they did, but then they would need some kind of new operating system that understands the refresh limitations of e-Ink screens. What I was doing was following up on a thread from before Xmas where Michael and I and et al were hashing out what kinds of devices one can ACTUALLY use to read PG books. One can certainly just print them out on a Laser Jet printer and read them on paper, but then, really, what's the point? One wants books in an electronic form so that one can read them in an electronic form. I for one, cannot imagine sitting at my desk reading War and Peace on my desktop computer! The question then becomes, what kind of devices does one actually read PG books on? Why should PG volunteers care? Well, we shouldn't, unless PG is doing a weak job of supporting those devices people actually want to read e-books on, in which case PG is doing a poor job of making our efforts useful to the real world out there. What various people have proposed that the "real world" ought to be reading e-books on include: Cell phones Kindles Sony Ebook Readers Netbooks Netbooks and some Cell phones want files in HTML format. Some cell phones with add-on software can also handle MOBI and EPUB format. Netbooks with add-on software can also handle MOBI and EPUB format. While I am a fan of the Kindle series of e-book readers as offering the most "book like" reading experience of any electronic device I have been able to find, I was hopeful of being able to use a Netbook with add-on MOBI and EPUB reader support in order to make a "vendor agnostic" version of an e-book reader that would not raise the hackles of some PG'ers the way that Amazon and the Kindle does -- because, let's be honest, eventually DRM *IS* going to start to bring the efforts of organizations like PG to grief -- one might argue that the most recent "Mickey Mouse" Copyright Laws *ARE* already a response to DRM and publishers wanting to maintain a royalty flow "forever" instead of for the constitutionally mandated finite period of time. So, anyway Santa brought me a netbook for Xmas and I tried using it as an e-book reader but I rapidly found after trying to read a book on it more than a few pages I would want to transfer that book to the Kindle and read it there. Why? Primarily because of the difference between LCD display technology and e-Ink technology. And why does that matter? As far as I can figure out, it is because LCD display technology is lower resolution than e-Ink technology, causing the eyes and the brain to tire more quickly. Also LCD display have the "screen door" effect, where the fine-line horizontal and vertical separating line between each LCD pixel leads one to the feeling that one is reading a book through a "screen door." Now clearly some people care about these issues more than others -- for example I just borrowed a hard-copy of My Antonia for comparison and I am now struck at just how poorly that paperback book is printed! There are too many words per line, the font chosen is too light, the paper chosen is too yellow, etc.... One might propose that one needs a hybrid machine with a fast LCD display and fast wifi connection in conjunction with a separate e-Ink display to read the books on -- such is what B&N made in their Nook, except they poorly implemented it, and totally hamstrung the device so that you can ONLY get books from B&N, basically. Or you could "make" such a device for yourself by connecting a netbook to a Kindle for example, using the netbook to browse the web and then connect the Kindle to the netbook and transfer the e-book files to the Kindle to actually read them there. Which is in fact what I am doing, except now one has a netbook and USB cable laying around while one reads on the Kindle. Or if you take the Kindle on the airplane with you, then presumably the netbook stays home. And after a while, connecting a Kindle to a PC with a USB cable every time you want to transfer an e-book because tiresome.