eBooks on slashdot today
"It seems that the readers of Slashdot are the most likely early adopters of electronic books, but from posts I've seen here, it doesn't appear that many on Slashdot are e-book fans. In the hopes of sparking a discussion, I'd like to ask what keeps you personally from reading e-books?" Here are some of my guesses as to why people haven't taken up e-Books: 1. Form factor: They just prefer the feel and 'interface' of a paper book. 2. Lack of a compelling device (or perhaps lack of convergence): They don't own a reader (other than a PC or notebook) and can't take them with them. 3. Lack of content: Books they are interested in aren't available in electronic format 4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings. Maybe lively discussion from a prospective set of customers might spur the creator of the next generation of electronic book devices. Too bad the name 'iBook' is already taken." What reason do you have for not taking up e-Books? Are they listed above or are there other reasons that you would like to add?" http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/10/1555203
My reasons are 3 and 4 below. I'm blind so I'm very interested in electronic books. I read them almost exclusively. However, as much as I like PG, I get tired of only reading pre-1923 books so I look elsewhere. I am very greatful to the people who are getting 1950's science fiction cleared. I assume this falls under rule 6? I'm greatful, those books aren't generally available except from PG. I don't like DRM anyway, but especially since it usually locks out screen readers from reading the text. Often PDf files are encrypted or have passwords preventing copying text. MS Reader is generally not accessible at all. Even if reading aloud is turned on, you don't get a choice of what voice you want and are stuck with horrible software speech. Even the new DAISY format for the blind has restrictions but I can convert it to plain text so I'm happy. Post this to slashdot if you want. At 04:07 PM 3/10/2006, you wrote:
3. Lack of content: Books they are interested in aren't available in electronic format
4. Distribution model: They don't like the DRM scheme their favorite publisher offers, or are otherwise unhappy with current offerings.
On Sat, Mar 11, 2006 at 12:43:00AM -0800, Tony Baechler wrote:
My reasons are 3 and 4 below. I'm blind so I'm very interested in electronic books. I read them almost exclusively. However, as much as I like PG, I get tired of only reading pre-1923 books so I look elsewhere. I am very greatful to the people who are getting 1950's science fiction cleared. I assume this falls under rule 6? I'm greatful, those books aren't generally available except from PG.
Yes, the Sci Fi from 1923-1963 falls under our Rule 6. The new HOWTO is under testing, at http://copy.pglaf.org . Thanks to Greg Weeks for being one of the pioneers with Rule 6! There at least 1 million books published from 1923-1963 that were not renewed, and are therefore public domain in the US. This is a huge number, and I hope PG can make a dent in it. However, the risk of erroneously claiming public domain on a copyrighted item is higher, so we're trying to start cautiously. -- Greg
participants (2)
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Greg Newby -
Tony Baechler