Ebooks: forays into the 21st Century (re-blogged, updated & edited from 2007)

Last year, I blogged several times about my adventures in the 21st century: listening to downloaded audio books, reading ebooks. I made this blog entry last May (2007). I've updated it some but not much. Mostly I'm re-posting it b/c so many of you got new eReaders or PDAs or PPCs on which you are also reading eBooks. And some of you have blogged about not getting a device. So, here's another perspective.

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Last year (2006) a discussion thread appeared in the then-Harlequin discussion threads called "Harlequin e-Books: Are YOU Ready For Digital?" (It's now under "Forums : Book Buzz : Digital Media : eBooks - Enjoy Effortless Entertainment".)

Before I saw the "are YOU ready for digital?" question, I hadn't even thought about it. Honestly, I wasn't really aware of eBooks. Those of you who have been reading books on your phones, computers, PDAs, Pocket PCs, whatever, are probably thinking hmmm, I don't know what. "Welcome to the new millennium!"? "You don't know what you've been missing!"? And there are others of you who are curious as I was and still others who know what you're missing and know that it's not for you.

I posted a few questions and got some very nice answers. I know that if we got really technical, audiobooks (esp. the ones that play on MP3 players) are also digital technology but my brain divides the digital books into audio and eBook -- eBook being something I read with my eyes on a device.

Living on one income, I didn't really pursue the eBook until last fall (2006) b/c I don't want to be tied to my computer, don't want to print the book out if it's allowed (that seems to vary from publisher to publisher but mostly not allowed, esp with protected books). When I read an eBook, I want it portable, just like my regular old-fashioned printed-on-paper books.

But then my mom treated me to a long weekend in Quebec late summer 2006 and one night at dinner eBooks somehow came up. The woman grabbed at the idea. I honestly don't know why. But as I thought about it, I thought that getting her a dedicated eReader would be a good idea. She likes to travel. It would be nice to have lots of books on one small device.

So, I asked dh (my sexy nerd <g>) to do the research on devices, including pocket PCs.

Basically you have two types of devices -- dedicated eReaders and devices that are also other things (computers, cell phones, PDAs ummm can't think of what else). Many of the dedicated devices only read books that are available in their own/proprietary formats, or those formats plus some unsecured ones -- which limits what you can buy for them and where you can buy them from.

About the time we started researching, Sony announced its eReader. We didn't consider it b/c of price and I also didn't think I/my mom would want something that wasn't backlit. I've since seen both a Sony and a Kindle and wow! that screen is really neat. I've been told by Kindle users that you quickly get used to the screen blacking out every time you "turn" the page. I assume it's the same with the Sony. Someone needs to develop a light that can be placed on the device to light the screen at night . . .

So, anyway, we didn't consider the pocket PCs, or the Sony b/c of price. If we were made of money, we would have. Maybe. And for ourselves, we might consider a PPC. But remember, we were shopping for my mom. And as a SAHM, I can't justify a PPC for me and dh can't use one for his work, so for us it would really be a toy. A fun toy, but a toy all the same.

While researching, DH found some dissertation papers online written by people who had researched the industry or technology for their Master's degree or PhD. Interesting. We settled on the eBookwise for my mom and bo't one in March for her birthday and Mother's Day in May. I wanted to have some books loaded on it for her, which means that I got to play with it for about a month.

I loved the eBookwise. The only reason I didn't buy one for myself is that at that time, it didn't read any of the formats that I can get my H/S books in and wasn't selling H/S books at its store -- and that's the bulk of my reading. Beginning in June or July, though, eBookwise has added quite a lot of H/S books: it looks like over 850 now but that might include the subscriptions and bundles. At any rate, eBookwise does sell H/S books. And now and then they do have sales (but I'm not sure they ever offer H/S books as inexpensively as the eBoutique here).

eBookwise also has a great selection of books at its own WEB site, including Tess Gerritsen and Sharon Sala. The device has a nice-sized screen, not much smaller than a Harlequin book and you can choose one of two font sizes. You can turn the text upside down if you want to hold it differently (I'm left-handed and I did flip the page). It remembers where you were in each book you're reading, even if you've got several books going at once. You can "write" on "pages" (make notes) and/or highlight. You can bookmark passages and search for things. I love love loved the font and the backlight and the ease of loading books for my mom. My mom has loved it, too.

ChrissieSue bo't one at the end of the year and her first impressions weren't as good . . . maybe she'll come by and tell us how she's liking it now. One thing that she commented on was its weight -- it is bigger and heavier than the Sony, Kindle or PDA (quite a lot). But it has its place -- my folks travel a lot and my mom doesn't have to share hers with anyone and it can hold about 100 books.

But it wasn't for me. So, I hijacked dh's Palm. I like it. It works fine and when I'm reading I don't really have any problems with it. It's just that after writing all the above about the eBookwise, I realize how much nicer the eBookwise is. One thing that I loved about both of them was the backlight -- I love being able to read in bed with NO other lights on; just turn the device off, roll over and go to sleep (and don't disturb the dh with the bedside lamp).

I downloaded two free eHQ reads (to find the electronic books, go to the "Books by: Alternative Format" dropdown menu up above and select eBooks). It was very easy to download them. I had to register the device. I can't remember how many devices you're allowed to have but there is a limit and that makes sense, b/c H/S needs to protect it's copyrighted materials from being shared. Since then, eHQ has emailed me several coupons to use at the eBoutique and between Xmas and New Year's they had a free eBook every day. I missed the first day but got the rest.

Some libraries have eBooks available for download -- I've seen them for Mobipocket and Adobe. If you're looking for free books to try out eReading, there are also several WEB sites that offer books for free: some are totally free, others are free if you also purchase a minimum. My point is that there are places to try eBooks out without a big investment.

Will I be buying lots of eBooks? No.

Am I an eBook convert? Well, it depends on what you mean. Yes, I like ebooks. Yes, I will buy them. Yes, I will "borrow" them from the library if my library ever makes them available. But I will always love my printed books -- an my favorite authors will always have space on my physical book shelves. There's nothing like curling up in a chair with a book. Another point -- as so many people have pointed out -- you don't have to worry about the technology changing and leaving your books unreadable or your batteries dying in the middle of a great passage or any of that with a print book.

Do I think there's a time and place for eBooks? Yes, absolutely. eBooks don't sell out, so if I miss a book I can buy the eBook version. Not all the H/S books released in the UK or Oz/NZ are made available in NA and there are a few that I would buy in eFormat but not print -- no shipping charges (they're not available as eBooks yet but I'm waiting!). If I traveled as much -- heck, if I traveled half as much -- as I wish I could, it would be sublime to have 100 books along for the ride taking up next to no room: just the device and its charger. We are not from Texas so we do travel at least once a year -- generally, going with books is not a problem but it was nice last summer to pack fewer print books and still have 10 or 20 on the PDA (it's up to waaaay more than that now LOL). And since I've resolved to buy and borrow fewer books next year, there is some comfort in knowing that the ones that y'all recommend to me when the printed version is no longer available will still be around for the PDA.

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