Reading books digitally versus physical copies.

[SpAmRaY]

Any tips or tricks to transitioning to reading digital copies of books?

Would a 7" tablet be better than a 17" laptop screen?

I'm having a hard time, I just like paper better I guess.

[demik]

kindle e-book readers.

then start reading. not rocket surgery.

[jdcarpe]

Get an e-Ink reader. I recommend the Kindle. It's just like reading on paper.

I do prefer the physical feel of a book, but it's far more convenient to read on a device.

[SpAmRaY]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

My wife has an older kindle somewhere, maybe I should try it out.

[jdcarpe]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

[tp4tissue]

What you want to do is use   a large monitor or a TV set..


If you're using black txt on White.. you want to turn the brightness and contrast all the way DOWN  until basically the White looks a dull yellow (similar to recycle paper)..

The bright WHITE light is what's making reading on the computer screen uncomfortable.


Dull white light is the ideal way to read...



The reason you don't want to go Hand held.. is because you have to LOOK DOWN at anything hand held..  neck has to be bent pretty far to do this.. 

the alternative is to hold the tablet up higher,  which is even less possible to maintain..



I've never used a tablet and not regret it within 30mins..


Stick with the computer monitor with the bright ness turned DOWN as low as possible...

[SpAmRaY]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

[tp4tissue]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

NO all garbage..

don't bother with hand helds..  dem' fking noobs don't know wtf they're talking about..

I've spent my entire life reading...

the paper esque platforms may be nostalgic,  but it is FAR from ergonomic.

[jdcarpe]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

Some of the reviews say the adaptive backlighting doesn't work well. At least they did when I read them a few months ago. They could have fixed it with a FW update by now, I dunno.

[nubbinator]

I own a nook and have played around with Kindles.  I still hate e-books compared to physical copies.  There's something about holding a real book and reading it.  That and I've also noticed that it feels like there are a lot more errors in e-books than in physical books, be they weird formatting issues or spelling and grammar issues.  Not only that, but the screen of the standard Kindle and nook is just too small for me.  It feels like I read a page faster than it takes to flip the page.

[jdcarpe]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

NO all garbage..

don't bother with hand helds..  dem' fking noobs don't know wtf they're talking about..

I've spent my entire life reading...

the paper esque platforms may be nostalgic,  but it is FAR from ergonomic.

Good luck with your large screen or TV on your train commute.

[demik]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

NO all garbage..

don't bother with hand helds..  dem' fking noobs don't know wtf they're talking about..

I've spent my entire life reading...

the paper esque platforms may be nostalgic,  but it is FAR from ergonomic.

Good luck with your large screen or TV on your train commute.

or in the ****ter.

[tp4tissue]

PPI,  good looking fonts,  etc.. all of that doesn't matter in the end..

You want to extract the information as efficiently as possible...


Some fonts are more legible such as segoe UI  due to various key elements that make each letter more different from each other ..

For example   Helvetica is amongst the WORST legible font.. because it was designed to make all the letters look very similar and uniform..


all the Round letters in helvetica look like perfect circles..  it becomes hard to distinguish e, o , c, a

[tp4tissue]

Is the kindle paperwhite a good choice?

Awesome choice. It's the best one. I don't know what that Voyage is about.

Seems like the highlights are better PPI, thinner, adaptive lighting, etched glass that feels more like paper and the ability to put pressure on the bezel to turn the page.

NO all garbage..

don't bother with hand helds..  dem' fking noobs don't know wtf they're talking about..

I've spent my entire life reading...

the paper esque platforms may be nostalgic,  but it is FAR from ergonomic.

Good luck with your large screen or TV on your train commute.

Don't read on train commutes..

If you have a long commute.. try audio books,  or perhaps solving a math problem, or finishing small program solutions in your mind..


Life is about optimizing the TIME and PLACE..    people often relinquish control given their urges..

But just because they CAN read where-ever, or browse face-book where-ever,   is that really the best time and place to do it..


Can you optimize it in some other way to do it quicker and faster ?


I've noticed many of my buddies tend to use Commute as an excuse to slack off and waste the time playing cell-ph games..    but if they used that time to learn something,  then, finish their work quickly,  then GO HOME, and play actual FUN games, rather than stupid time-burner games.. 

[tp4tissue]

I can sense very distinctly  that this thread is  SpamRay giving into Consumerist addiction..

He wants to research and buy YET ANOTHER gizmo that he doesn't need..


It's ok Spam, stay strong.. Tp4 has 99999x gizmos already..  And can tell you , , that the majority of tablets and all e-readers are a  waste of damn time..


you'll use it maybe for a whole week, get bored of it, because it's just not that practical a device for consuming information... and leave it at home..

[ideus]

When available, the best experience to "read" in digital form are to listen to audio-books. Reading e-books is not like reading them in print, unfortunately. Of course, certain materials cannot be listen to, like technical books. For those you have to choose the digital format or the paper and ink one, I prefer this last one myself.

[tp4tissue]

Books that you have to LOOK DOWN to read are dumb...   they should survive for archival purposes only...

If anyone was to actually  need the INFORMATION......   read it off a screen.. with low brightness...

[demik]

+1 on audio books.

[tp4tissue]

When available, the best experience to "read" in digital form are to listen to audio-books. Reading e-books is not like reading them in print, unfortunately. Of course, certain materials cannot be listen to, like technical books. For those you have choose the digital format or the paper and ink one, I prefer this last one myself.

The audio-books debate comes down to how fast can you read...  and what detail level you wish to extract from that text..


Audio books doesn't allow you to skim the text and ignore unimportant detail..


For example..     Twilight...  I read the cover,  the first page.. a page from the middle, and the back cover with the comments of people who liked it..

Then I was done..    you can't get that kind of efficiency on audio books..

[ideus]

A good option could be to have digital books with charts, images, pictures and graphics ready to be display in the screen, along audio that explain them. Something similar to the courses at coursera, or edx, where you can see the slides in the video and hear the explanation. The slides have bullets points or images and you listen to their explanation.

[noisyturtle]

I listen to audio books at 4x speed. Started out at 2x and gradually worked my way up so I am able to retain and understand the information at 4x. You can easily get through a book a day like that

[Belfong]

The problem with paper book is that once you are done with them, you need storage space to store them. And then the book gets yellowed over time. Or the paper get hardened and the spine gets all hard and difficult to manage.

Kindle e-books on the other hand does not degrade. And there is the beauty of search and ability to highlight and see what are the popular highlights.

My only issue is that reading too much ebook spoil the eyes. Dem backlights cannot be as good as proper reading lights on a book.

[noisyturtle]

The problem with paper book is that once you are done with them, you need storage space to store them. And then the book gets yellowed over time. Or the paper get hardened and the spine gets all hard and difficult to manage.

Kindle e-books on the other hand does not degrade. And there is the beauty of search and ability to highlight and see what are the popular highlights.

My only issue is that reading too much ebook spoil the eyes. Dem backlights cannot be as good as proper reading lights on a book.

Well that's just insane. Paper books will outlast any piece of technology 100x over. I have books that my grandmother gave me from when she was a kid that are over 100 years old and are perfectly fine except for some yellowing. ****, there's books out there that are over 1000.

[Belfong]

The problem with paper book is that once you are done with them, you need storage space to store them. And then the book gets yellowed over time. Or the paper get hardened and the spine gets all hard and difficult to manage.

Kindle e-books on the other hand does not degrade. And there is the beauty of search and ability to highlight and see what are the popular highlights.

My only issue is that reading too much ebook spoil the eyes. Dem backlights cannot be as good as proper reading lights on a book.

Well that's just insane. Paper books will outlast any piece of technology 100x over. I have books that my grandmother gave me from when she was a kid that are over 100 years old and are perfectly fine except for some yellowing. ****, there's books out there that are over 1000.

While it is true that paper books do last for years, I kinda disagree that they will last longer than technology 100x over. That would be untrue especially with the way we are also digitizing many of the books, even text book now. You gotta admit that technology made it so much easier to work with these text - e.g. old eyes like mine will forever be grateful for the ability to increase font size in Kindle, not something you can do with paperback.

[noisyturtle]

The problem with paper book is that once you are done with them, you need storage space to store them. And then the book gets yellowed over time. Or the paper get hardened and the spine gets all hard and difficult to manage.

Kindle e-books on the other hand does not degrade. And there is the beauty of search and ability to highlight and see what are the popular highlights.

My only issue is that reading too much ebook spoil the eyes. Dem backlights cannot be as good as proper reading lights on a book.

Well that's just insane. Paper books will outlast any piece of technology 100x over. I have books that my grandmother gave me from when she was a kid that are over 100 years old and are perfectly fine except for some yellowing. ****, there's books out there that are over 1000.

While it is true that paper books do last for years, I kinda disagree that they will last longer than technology 100x over. That would be untrue especially with the way we are also digitizing many of the books, even text book now. You gotta admit that technology made it so much easier to work with these text - e.g. old eyes like mine will forever be grateful for the ability to increase font size in Kindle, not something you can do with paperback.

Someday the bombs will drop and EMP signals will erase all relevant stored data. And while everyone is freaking out that they can't play GTA 27 on Steam Mindlink, I'll be hold-up in a bunker somewhere reading ****ens in hardcover and playing my Genesis

[Belfong]

I'll have my magnifying glass ready then

[tp4tissue]

Priority should be

BIG screen (low brightness) 27 inch+ >>

small screen (low brightness) 21 - 27 inch >>

large tablet >>

large paper >>

small tablet >>

small paper >>

ereader

[rowdy]

If you are reading at night don't use a smartphone or tablet.  The blue component of the backlight will confuse your brain and tell it to wake up instead of going to sleep.

+1 for Kindle.

[Dihedral]

I listen to audio books at 4x speed. Started out at 2x and gradually worked my way up so I am able to retain and understand the information at 4x. You can easily get through a book a day like that

Doesn't that take the fun out of it? I have the same issue with that as I have with speed reading; books should be read (or listened to) leisurely with time to think.

[Oobly]

tp seems to be ignoring the convenience of having a PORTABLE device for reading whenever you have a moment. I read a lot of ebooks on my "phablet" using the Kindle app. I use it at night before I sleep by setting the background black, "white" writing (which turns out kind of cream coloured, with reduced blues) and using screen filter to set the brightness, so it's low intensity. Works well for me.

I like to read physical books, but the convenience of having them on my phone and the lower cost means I have read a lot more ebooks recently (130 or so full length novels in the last 2 years).

[tp4tissue]

tp seems to be ignoring the convenience of having a PORTABLE device for reading whenever you have a moment. I read a lot of ebooks on my "phablet" using the Kindle app. I use it at night before I sleep by setting the background black, "white" writing (which turns out kind of cream coloured, with reduced blues) and using screen filter to set the brightness, so it's low intensity. Works well for me.

I like to read physical books, but the convenience of having them on my phone and the lower cost means I have read a lot more ebooks recently (130 or so full length novels in the last 2 years).

For the OPTION to exist is FINE..  I concur that if there were NO choice, and you just HAD to do it.. sure.. a phablet or ereader would be ok to carry..

But how often is that ABSOLUTELY true..   It's just not wise to choose non-optimal solutions for text intake..

[fohat.digs]

I am a major book lover and I own, and have read, thousands of books in my lifetime.

There is nothing that can compare to the entire experience of reading a real book.

Plus, for technical and non-fiction books, they are simply good to have around.

That said, I have read a few books on my phone, and it is not too bad. There is far less "enjoyment" involved, but the convenience of having a book in my pocket if I find myself with 20 minutes to kill between other activities is great.

[ideus]

To read and the variety of reading devices available are now populating the new age of literated people. The option to have a new breed of written material in digital formats is too practical to be ignored, even for us that growth using just ink and paper.

I have used the kindle app since 2010, first in my computer and more recently in my phone. It is very nice to have access to my library at any time, however the paper and ink books are still my preferred format to read, but the convenience of have access to some texts everywhere is just too convenient to be ignored.

The other app I use to access books is audible, and I have read books using it, that I may had not read otherwise, and I have been taking advantage of the commuting time, the otherwise is "wasted".

Any way or the other, I encourage you to take advantage of the many digital options to continue reading, or to start doing so, if you have not been an avid reader yet. They may be an alternative, a back up, or even a replacement of ink and paper books; either way they are here to stay, and we should wisely use them.

[Findecanor]

I often buy used paperbacks at flea markets for 25¢ to a Euro each. E-books can't compete with that.

[ideus]

I often buy used paperbacks at flea markets for 25� to a Euro each. E-books can't compete with that.

That is true: E-books cannot compete with disposable paperbacks. The paperback cannot read itself out loud  to you during your commuting time though. In the other hand the paperback needs some space in your book shelf and it could make an awesome home for fungus. Therefore you are right, a 25 cents papers back may fill a gap in the readers needs, that is not by all means the same gap an e-books or and a-book does. Are we not comparing apples to pears?

[Belfong]

If you are reading at night don't use a smartphone or tablet.  The blue component of the backlight will confuse your brain and tell it to wake up instead of going to sleep.

+1 for Kindle.

Good advice there.

[jdcarpe]

I often buy used paperbacks at flea markets for 25¢ to a Euro each. E-books can't compete with that.

But there are tens of thousands of eBooks available for FREE at Project Gutenberg.

Plus, there are other ways of obtaining digital copies of most books, if you know where to look.

[SpAmRaY]

Some good info, thanks for the replies so far.

Today I bought a $0.99 e-book to check out and see if it was worthwhile to buy the book in paper back.  )

[tp4tissue]

I often buy used paperbacks at flea markets for 25� to a Euro each. E-books can't compete with that.

That is true: E-books cannot compete with disposable paperbacks. The paperback cannot read itself out loud  to you during your commuting time though. In the other hand the paperback needs some space in your book shelf and it could make an awesome home for fungus. Therefore you are right, a 25 cents papers back may fill a gap in the readers needs, that is not by all means the same gap an e-books or and a-book does. Are we not comparing apples to pears?

Any books worth reading is on Arrrghh-Publishing...  if it's n0t on Arrrgh-Publishing,  it's most likely not worth reading..

In which case... Large monitors are still the way to go...

[fohat.digs]

to check out and see if it was worthwhile to buy the book in paper back.

This is what the public library is for.

[SpAmRaY]

to check out and see if it was worthwhile to buy the book in paper back.

This is what the public library is for.

We don't really have libraries around here at least not anywhere close enough that it wouldn't cost me much more than $1 to drive to and then if you don't live in town they won't give you a library card and they wouldn't have this book anyway.

[tp4tissue]

to check out and see if it was worthwhile to buy the book in paper back.

This is what the public library is for.

public libraries aught to be retired for data terminals....

[SpAmRaY]

I haven't been in a decent library since I worked in one at college.

[jdcarpe]

I haven't been in a decent library since I worked in one at college.

But, you can check out audiobooks on CD for free!

I use public libraries all the time. Free WiFi.

[SpAmRaY]

I haven't been in a decent library since I worked in one at college.

But, you can check out audiobooks on CD for free!

I use public libraries all the time. Free WiFi.

I mean I'm all for public libraries but the closest one to my house is ~10 miles away and they won't give us a library card because we don't live 'in town', not to mention it is very small and they have a limited selection. The next closest one is at least 20 miles away and I'm sure it would be the same story.

[jdcarpe]

they won't give us a library card because we don't live 'in town', not to mention it is very small and they have a limited selection. The next closest one is at least 20 miles away and I'm sure it would be the same story.

That's just crazy to me. I currently hold library card in three libraries in different counties in this area. My local library, one 20 mi away, and one 140 mi away. The furthest one has a great selection of audiobooks on CD, and I travel there for work a couple times a month, anyway.

[SpAmRaY]

they won't give us a library card because we don't live 'in town', not to mention it is very small and they have a limited selection. The next closest one is at least 20 miles away and I'm sure it would be the same story.

That's just crazy to me. I currently hold library card in three libraries in different counties in this area. My local library, one 20 mi away, and one 140 mi away. The furthest one has a great selection of audiobooks on CD, and I travel there for work a couple times a month, anyway.

It is crazy when your kids school teacher gives them an assignment and tells them to use the local public library only to find out we really can't because they won't give us a library card.

[tp4tissue]

they won't give us a library card because we don't live 'in town', not to mention it is very small and they have a limited selection. The next closest one is at least 20 miles away and I'm sure it would be the same story.

That's just crazy to me. I currently hold library card in three libraries in different counties in this area. My local library, one 20 mi away, and one 140 mi away. The furthest one has a great selection of audiobooks on CD, and I travel there for work a couple times a month, anyway.

It is crazy when your kids school teacher gives them an assignment and tells them to use the local public library only to find out we really can't because they won't give us a library card.

fk the teacher.. that's a free google-pass on the assignment.

[fohat.digs]

I currently hold library card in three libraries in different counties in this area.

Do you use your work address?

Around here, you have to have a verifiable address to establish residence in the county, or pay a moderately hefty fee per year to a "foreign" county library system

They will do an "inter-library exchange" or something to that effect, but it is slow and cumbersome.

[tp4tissue]

I currently hold library card in three libraries in different counties in this area.

Do you use your work address?

Around here, you have to have a verifiable address to establish residence in the county, or pay a moderately hefty fee per year to a "foreign" county library system

They will do an "inter-library exchange" or something to that effect, but it is slow and cumbersome.

why bother.. i don't understand.. why would anyone do this..

The only reason any local libraries stay afloat is because of the rather limited Dvd rental section..

they're a huge waste of space..