E-Book Lust
At the risk of sounding like a commercial, here are my thoughts for the day…
So if I want to live in a tiny house someday, I’m going to need to get rid of all my books. I know! I know! That’s blasphemy-speak. HOWEVER, I am madly in love with the Barnes and Noble Nook and I plan to go try one out at my local Barnes and Noble. It can hold up to 1500 e-books and even more with a memory card. That’s way more than my measly 30 books (I used to have over 100; see how far I’ve come?) and it takes up the space of a magazine on the shelf. Plus, so that I don’t waste money, you can lend e-books with the nook. So if I want to read a book before I buy it, I can request that someone lend it to me on my nook. It’s all sent through those invisible 3G and wireless waves that magically send stuff through the air. Kinda like Willy Wonka’s TV chocolate.
Plus it’s not like I’m burning my books! Oh no. I’ve joined Paperback Swap an online free book club where you post the books that you’re done with and send them to someone else and earn a credit. Then you use that credit to have a book sent to you. It’s wonderful!
So you see, it’s not all bad news. When I’m in the mood for an old-fashioned book, I can have one sent to me. Or I can use my Nook. Whichever. Now how do I get around having a teapot while still being able to have tea?
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I like the Nook, but I was not willing to spend the cash for an e reader that isn’t backlit. I used to read lots of books on my Palm Pilots, my Palm Treo, and most recently, my Samsung Omnia. The backlight was especially nice when I was in the Navy, I could read without bothering anyone, and the screen doubles as a nice, soft flashlight. I actually don’t mind reading an entire book on my phone, I have read a lot of really long books, like Time Enough for Love, by Robert Heinlein. More than once. The convenience is amazing, even more so than the Nook, and I can also download books, or reread books from my collection.
Free libraries also include the Gutenburg Project, at http://www.gutenberg.org, and the Baen free book library at http://www.baen.com also has free books along with the newer stuff you pay for.
Google Free E Books, lots out there, like fictionwise. Have fun!
Lauren Neher - February 26, 2010 at 12:15 am
thanks for the feed back and the free library links!
lellewynn - February 26, 2010 at 12:28 am
You’re welcome. Whatever you get I hope you enjoy it. That makes all the difference. For me, having my phone/ebook reader/pocket computer/game platform/address book/photo album/mp3 player/internet browser/datebook/calendar/to do list/you name it, in one small pocket sized package with a rich, vibrant color screen, and I am in techno-geek nirvana, or in the immortal words of Dogbert, Nerdvana. : )I first downloaded the mobi pocket reader, then the peanut reader, so I could read my old books on Palm Database format. I even have a program to change a word document to a Palm Database format, which can be handy at times…
Please let us know what you decide on,
Take care,
Lauren
Lauren Neher - February 28, 2010 at 5:30 pm
One more thing. I have a HP Printer Copier Scanner. It allows me to scan paperwork and store it on my computer, instead of keeping the paper copies. So there is less stuff to store. Maybe a sorry idea for your backpack, but not a terrible one for a tiny house.
Cheers
Lauren
Lauren Neher - February 28, 2010 at 5:40 pm
I love good technology as much as anyone, and that Nook is a nice piece of kit. My only consern with many electronic technologies is DRM, which is short for Digital Rights Management. What this means is that everytime you get a new ebook or piece of music, your device contacts the distributor (amazon, itunes, whomever) to ask permission to use it. If there is any failure, then you’re locked out of what you bought.
This means among other things, a complete closing of the second hand market, no more used book stores, full price every time. You can often only use them on the device you bought it for. Want to read you book on your desktop or laptop instead, tough luck. There is also a fear that the makers are going to start getting greedy, and start things like “only good for 90 days” limitations.
That aside, there are already a number of internet libraries with tones of public domain or expired copy right electronic books, free (as in speach and beer) for all use.
Grant Wagner - January 5, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Those are good points Grant. I hadn’t thought about DRM or anything like that. But, on the other hand I’ve let fear of other people’s greediness and just plain not-niceness paralyze me for a long time and I’m just plain tired of it y’know? Plus I’m hard headed. We’ll see if I actually get around to purchasing this little device. I tend to talk myself out of buying things for me. Annoying habit but it’s really helped in my downsizing effort though!
Do you have any web addresses for the free internet libraries? I would love to check them out.
Thanks as always for the good comments!
lellewynn - January 5, 2010 at 6:32 pm
My favs:
http://manybooks.net
http://textbookrevolution.org
Also, as a person who generally likes to read for information as apposed to entertainment, I find that the Kindle’s free cellular based web access to wikipedia a very nice feature. I know the Nook has the same technology, but i don’t know what they let you do with it.
Grant Wagner - January 5, 2010 at 7:30 pm