Comments on: The Future of Reading? http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/ Thoughts on financial independence, personal development, and small business Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:51:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Nathan Martin http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-259 Nathan Martin Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:10:25 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-259 I'm itching to use it... They're not winning points for speedy delivery! I’m itching to use it… They’re not winning points for speedy delivery!

]]> By: Nathan Martin http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-258 Nathan Martin Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:09:29 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-258 Seth, I share some of your skepticism and believe hard copy books will be around for many years. CD's still account for as much as 65% of all music sales in 2009. I'll tackle some of your questions about ebooks though... 1. As e-ink matures on these new readers, it is becoming much closer to the paper experience (at least for your eyes). 2. Some people have both an ebook and a pbook of the same content. They might collect first-run books or hardcovers yet do most of their reading on ereaders. The merging of other media with the written word (in a fun and seamless way) will be the card that trumps sentimentality. Also, the kids growing up right now are comfortable with technology as the go to source for education, entertainment, and communication. 3. BackUP! External hard drives are cheap and simple to use. You can also back up to sites online. Everyone should be doing this anyway so they don't lose music, pictures, financials, etc. 4. If you use a public wireless site (I'm sitting in a library typing this now), you can download the book to your device for the price of the book. Then read it at your leisure even without a connection. Already you can pick up a netbook for a couple hundred bucks that will give you the functionality of a PC with better portability and battery life than a laptop. Bottom line...this isn't the end of old-school books, but--for the first time ever--I am seeing legitimate challengers. Seth, I share some of your skepticism and believe hard copy books will be around for many years. CD’s still account for as much as 65% of all music sales in 2009. I’ll tackle some of your questions about ebooks though…
1. As e-ink matures on these new readers, it is becoming much closer to the paper experience (at least for your eyes).
2. Some people have both an ebook and a pbook of the same content. They might collect first-run books or hardcovers yet do most of their reading on ereaders. The merging of other media with the written word (in a fun and seamless way) will be the card that trumps sentimentality. Also, the kids growing up right now are comfortable with technology as the go to source for education, entertainment, and communication.
3. BackUP! External hard drives are cheap and simple to use. You can also back up to sites online. Everyone should be doing this anyway so they don’t lose music, pictures, financials, etc.
4. If you use a public wireless site (I’m sitting in a library typing this now), you can download the book to your device for the price of the book. Then read it at your leisure even without a connection. Already you can pick up a netbook for a couple hundred bucks that will give you the functionality of a PC with better portability and battery life than a laptop.

Bottom line…this isn’t the end of old-school books, but–for the first time ever–I am seeing legitimate challengers.

]]> By: Nathan Martin http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-257 Nathan Martin Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:52:50 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-257 Thanks Tob, I'll be watching for that release! Thanks Tob, I’ll be watching for that release!

]]> By: Seth Martin http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-254 Seth Martin Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:35:58 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-254 Nate, I'm skeptical of ereaders in general. Here are my issues: 1. I think my eyelids get tired faster reading a computer screen than a page. Is this legitimate or just a misconception? 2. The sentimentality thing. I have shelves full of paper. And I love that it. What's the prevailing public opinion of this? Is the sentimentality thing strong enough to keep ebooks at bay? 3. What if I lose all the books I have saved on my hard drive? Is this more likely than a fire that burns up all my paper books? 4. Suppose I can access these books from the internet. That's great, but I can't really afford global internet access on a handheld device yet (I'm still using Chris's old Toshiba). Is this going to get cheaper? So what do YOU think of the ereaders vs. old-school books? Will there be the end of a multi-millenia era soon? Nate, I’m skeptical of ereaders in general. Here are my issues:

1. I think my eyelids get tired faster reading a computer screen than a page. Is this legitimate or just a misconception?

2. The sentimentality thing. I have shelves full of paper. And I love that it. What’s the prevailing public opinion of this? Is the sentimentality thing strong enough to keep ebooks at bay?

3. What if I lose all the books I have saved on my hard drive? Is this more likely than a fire that burns up all my paper books?

4. Suppose I can access these books from the internet. That’s great, but I can’t really afford global internet access on a handheld device yet (I’m still using Chris’s old Toshiba). Is this going to get cheaper?

So what do YOU think of the ereaders vs. old-school books? Will there be the end of a multi-millenia era soon?

]]> By: Tobin Titus http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-252 Tobin Titus Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:04:38 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-252 Have you heard about the rumored "Microsoft Courier"? http://gizmodo.com/5369493/leaked-courier-video-shows-how-well-actually-use-it Might be worth checking out. Supposedly (according to that article) it releases in Q3 or Q4 this year? I've not even seen confirmation of the product, let alone its ship date, but Gizmodo seems to have a line on details. Have you heard about the rumored “Microsoft Courier”?
http://gizmodo.com/5369493/leaked-courier-video-shows-how-well-actually-use-it

Might be worth checking out. Supposedly (according to that article) it releases in Q3 or Q4 this year? I’ve not even seen confirmation of the product, let alone its ship date, but Gizmodo seems to have a line on details.

]]> By: Becky http://nathanmartinblog.com/2010/02/27/futureofreading/comment-page-1/#comment-239 Becky Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:09:43 +0000 http://nathanmartinblog.com/?p=263#comment-239 It sounds so neat...looking forward to seeing it in person! It sounds so neat…looking forward to seeing it in person!

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