We did some comparisons. Didn't include the iPad, but the iPad is very
different from the dedicated book readers. While it's more flexible as
far as being able to do other things, and it offers a color display, the
iPad is a bit larger and heavier for long-term reading. It requires more
frequent power "fixes", it's subject to the usual glare problems when
you read outdoors (obviously that doesn't apply to computer geeks, who
shrivel up and die in the sun, unlike the sparkly vampires). And there
is generally more eyestrain when reading a backlit text. Although not
all that much these days as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, I think the current "top 3" dedicated readers at the moment are
Kindle, Nook, and Sony. Kindle has Oprah's blessing, but I didn't really
see that much wonderful about having a keyboard on a book reader, and
that whole "1984" thing put me off. Nook I was kind of ambivalent on,
and Sony's not been on my Most Favored list since they started handing
out free rootkits.
More importantly, however, was what the options for content were. I am
categorically opposed to dissolving property. If I "buy" something, I
want it to STAY bought. That pretty much meant that at a minumum I
wanted a file format that could be dissected and recycled when the
reader hardware was just a distant memory and not just a "Plays for Sure
[TM]".
Also I wanted to be able to take advantage of the wealth of free books
out there such as Project Gutenberg and the Baen Books Science Fiction
resource.
Finally, I wanted the ability to create my own publications, but from
magazine articles, blogs, and other sources, and from my own writings.
PDFs go a long way in that regard, but a PDF is designed preserve a
fixed page layout. Some publications I care less about the page layout
than the content, and while the ebook readers are pretty decent about
PDFs, I also wanted the ability to port documents to things like my
phone, where the miniscule screen size makes reading PDFs something I
prefer to avoid. Better to reflow the text and go light on the graphics
for that kind of stuff.
Kindle's native format is proprietary. Sony had its drawbacks. The
second-tier readers were generally not easy to get hold of. However the
Nook started looking real attractive.
The Nook's native format is PDF, but it also supports epub format pretty
well. And not only is it fairly easy to create epubs, there's even a
very nice epub reader plugin for Firefox.
Plus, it's based on Android, which I've developed apps for. And Android
sits on top of Linux.
SOLD!
OK, it's far from perfect. I'd rather have a true touch screen. That
tiny little color LCD down at the bottom is really annoying. However,
apparently touch and non-glare don't come together easily. More
objectionable is the lack of support for "bookshelves" a/k/a folders, so
if you have 150 books on 15 subjects, you have to scroll through them
all, and that's just silly when you consider it's a Linux filesystem
holding them all. The web browser doesn't support downloads, so to get a
Gutenberg book you have to go through some contortions. And, perhaps
most vexing at the geek level, the current model will brick itself if
you attempt to root it.
Still, it's a good start.
Tim
On Sun, 2010-10-17 at 13:39 -0400, Kyle Gonzales wrote:
> How about an iPad? :-) eBooks from O'Reilly are sans DRM, and I read then in
> PDF on my laptop and iPad.
>
> --
> Kyle Gonzales
> Sent from my mobile
>
> On Oct 15, 2010, at 3:07 PM, "William L. Thomson Jr."
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 2010-10-15 at 14:19 -0400, Kyle Gonzales wrote:
> >> William L. Thomson Jr. wrote:
> >>>
> >>> My bash skills improved the most when involved with Gentoo. Aside from
> >>> Python, Gentoo's portage relies heavily on BASH. Any Gentoo ebuild is a
> >>> glorified bash script ;)
> >> As are the init scripts for just about every Linux distribution out
> >> there.
> >
> > Going one step further, just about everything related to init is done
> > via scripting. Once the kernel is done booting, and init takes over, it
> > uses a shell and scripts for all the rest of the magic to take place.
> >
> >> If no one else wants to present, I might be able to put together a
> >> presentation on Bash scripting,
> >
> > That would be great, but three in a row? Probably best I or another
> > steps up, though its really up to the group. Topics at the moment seem
> > to be an into Bash or C the GNU way :)
> >
> >> tho honestly, buying and reading the "Learning the Bash shell" book
> >> from OReilly would be better for most people.
> >
> > Bash is probably a safe topic to buy a book on. I am very skeptical of
> > buying books. Having spent tons of money on them over the years. Having
> > shelves full of books covering out dated technologies. With the book not
> > having any value even to paper shredding companies....
> >
> > That said there is a ton of stuff covering bash on-line just the same.
> > Much easier to copy and paste code from online examples, than to re-type
> > from a book. Unless it comes with media, which isn't as common as it
> > used to be. Another thing I have a useless pile off, outdated cd's that
> > came with the now outdated books ;)
> >
> > Unless the book can serve as a reference for years to come, and not be
> > outdated. Or if I really need it for some certification or reason. I try
> > to not buy books as much as possible. Maybe a Kindle (made of plastic
> > which comes from oil) some day to save trees :)
> >
> > --
> > William L. Thomson Jr.
> > Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
> > http://www.obsidian-studios.com
> >
> >
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