Tech From an E-booker’s Viewpoint

Although this reminder is on other sites,  I decided to post on this anyway.  What’s wrong with a little overkill?  If you are one of the lucky ones that still have the $50 and 50 classic book credit, your time runs out today.  I finally finished up my $50 credit last night.  I still have about 19 more titles to chose in the classics. Blech!  I could just let it go, but I won’t.  I believe in getting what’s mine.  I think the offer of the classic books is much like rebate offers.  The manufacturer  is hoping that you don’t send it in and the retailer doesn’t care because he’s already got your money.  In Sony’s case,  they really have nothing to lose on this deal.  It’s all about perceived value on the customers’ end.  After all not everyone knows that they can get the stuff for free.  Also, they’re counting on you buying other titles while browsing.  For instance I wanted to get the Cantebury Tales.  There are more than one choice, but the lesser one counts as a free choice.  So if I wanted a better copy with cover art then I have to pay more.  From what I can tell they really haven’t cleaned up these classic titles nor have they added anything useful.  What is added is DRM, so you can’t even give it away to someone who could use the book. All it does is save you time in converting the text, assuming you wanted the title in the first place.  I wonder if Sony counts these free selections as part of books sold? Should they or does it seems like padding the books?

I had planned to post my initial review of my iLiad today, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I forgot to keep it on the charger and my battery died.  So I will have it up tomorrow for sure.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  It’s been a rollercoaster week with the start of the school year for my children and me taking a course.  To make life just a tad easier, I broke out my Alphasmart Neo.  It’s a great word processor.  The best thing about it is that it only does one thing, so I don’t get distracted like I do when I am on the computer.  I find that it really helps me to focus on the task at hand.  Mine runs on batteries, but you can also get a rechargeable battery pack for it.  I find that a battery pack is not really necessary for me.  The batteries last for what seems like forever on this thing.  I also never have to worry about saving anything that I type.  It does it automatically and it stays there until you delete the file.  I started out using the 3000 model back in 2002 when I started on my doctorate.  It was the best $200 I have ever spent.  These machines are light, durable, and a pleasure to type on.  Since it’s less than 2 pounds, I took it everywhere and whenever the mood would strike, I’d just whip it out and get to work.  Currently I am using it to take notes while I read my text book.  Then I just hook it up to my PC, press send and it inserts everything into Word (no sloppy handwritten notes).  Alphasmart also sells the Dana.  This is more expensive (approx $400), but also has built in WiFi and runs on the Palm operating system.  So in addition to a word processer you get a palm with a large keyboard and the ability to add more software.  The Dana also has 2 SD card slots.  It used to be a good alternative to a laptop, but now that laptop prices are so much lower, it may not be a great idea, but it is certainly a lot lighter. One more point:  The customer service at Alphasmart rocks. 

My Nokia arrived two days after I sent it on Aug 17.  As of Aug 20th, it is awaiting parts.  Speaking of Nokias, David Rothman  has some great tips on configuring your settings in FBreader on his Teleread blog. This is not just must read stuff, but must keep info for enhancing your reading experience. We need more stuff like this for the Nokia tablets in general.  I am not good at learning new software and I rely heavily on help files.  I really like tutorials that are easy to understand and don’t take things for granted.  There are some great applications for both the N770 and N800, but very little documentation in the form of help.  I end up just poking around and through trial and error I manage to learn a few things.  The problem is that I forget or I am not sure what I did to get something to work.  As a result I am not utilizing my N800 to its full potential.

Yesterday was not good. I have never taken a course at a community college before and it is a definite culture shock.  The instructors talk to students like they’re in kindergarten. The class is 90 minutes and 75 of those minutes were spent on rules and expectations.  These same topics were covered in the syllabus that was handed out.  My experience has been that after five minutes of administrative stuff, you jump right into the subject. Then there were the complaints of having to write a ten page paper due at the end of the course. Should have known better since many of the students were dreading the two page written assignments. I am bored to tears already.  At any rate, I can see my small experiment already hitting a snag.  The material for the first half of the course isn’t available as digital text.  My first reading assignment is excerpts from The Narrative of Cabeza de Vaca.  I did find information about the narrative and even a read online version, but it is a different translation.  So I will have to buy the book.  So, I paid $130 for the course and the book costs $76.00 plus tax (8.25%).  Although it is paperback it weighs a ton (It’s an anthology).  What I really don’t get is that the book comes with a CD, an interactive CD (oooh).  The CD is supposedly filled with study aids, quizzes, and more information on the authors and stories, but it doesn’t have the one file that it needs.  You guess it.  The book itself. When I got to the school bookstore, they were out of the book. So now what?  I went to EBay and got 2 day delivery (total cost $68).  In the meantime, I’ll use an older edition I have at the house.  So why am I buying the book when it is only one edition newer than the one I have at home?  Because the instructor said it was mandatory.

Blish:  This site is for selling and buying digital content. They sell e-books, but from what I can tell they are downloadable for a limited time.  That I don’t like.  They also offer photos, how-to guides, clipart, music, sound loops, video, design templates.  I have never bought from this site. If anyone has any info (good or bad) let me know.  Prices seem reasonable on the few e-books I looked at.

Ebook Mall:  This retailer has been around for quite a while.  They have a info page describing the various e-book formats and devices and another page that compares formats and devices. Ebook Mall used to be rather expensive back in the Gemstar days, but now their prices are more in sync with other sites.

eScholarship Editions:   Site has close to 2000 books from academic presses and covers a range of topics, including art, science, history, music, religion, and fiction.  Select books are available to the public.

Bartleby:  Site offers contemporary and classic reference works. Good for students and researchers. Also they have 20 volumes of the Harvard Classics in Adobe, Microsoft, and Aportis formats.