Sunday, September 27, 2009

Which reader is right for me?

I was doing some research on this and was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of matterial on Ebook readers. However, there is a guide to help you to sort through the sales pitches and glitter of these products to find the "right one for you".


Here are the key point

1. What does it look like? Readers are fairly large while others ar small and sleak. It is something to consider depending on where you might be carrying it.

2. Screen size. Have a screen size about the size of an Ipod and others are almost the size of 8 x 11 sheet of paper.

3. Greyscales. Is there difference in grayscale or just one. This could make reading colored print more difficult if just one.

4. Connectivity. How does the reader connect and with who. Most have a WiFi connection which means you need a wireless service. Others will take a download from your computer through a cable. It pays to check.

5. Memory. Some readers can hold several hundred books. Others you can swap memory cards like in camaras. Again it depends on what you wish to do with it. Also bear in mind that some of these can receive emails and documents send electronically. so the person who is very moble can keep up.

6. Ability to edit. Some are now offering these feature as an option.

7. Battery. How many pages can you view before the battery goes dead. Also remember you have to charge witrh a computer and a USB connection.

8. Weight. Some readers are very lightweight others are not. Think about where you will be carrying this device.

9. Audio. Some readers will read you books to you if you buy them that way.

10. Input device. Most readers require a computer to recharge and upload or download information.

11. Screen refresh. How often does the screen refresh and how long. Blinks can be annoying when you are trying to read something.

12. File formats supported. Some readers handle as many formats as an computer does. again thing about how you are going to receive the material on your reader.

13. Release Date. This technology is changing fast so you really need to think about getting the "latest" release.

14. Cost. This I put last because there is a world of difference in cost of these devices, More features and memory, the more dollars.




In my next post terminology of ebook readers

Friday, September 25, 2009

Opps

I am way behind because I thought I had this set up up I did not. Some how it went to a previuos blog I had been using

To start I am talking about Electronic books( E-Books) and E-book readers. There are thre major ways to access e-books.
1) through an e-book reader (self contained device)
2) through PDA, I-pod, or cellphone
3) through a computer

As name implies the books are in a electronic format with encyrped code to prevent sharing or alteration of the printed material.

How this is done is the printed text is scanned then processed by optical charcture recgonition (OCR). The OCR then converts to a format of the creators choosing to deliver the book. Proofing,coding is added to prevent sharing of the material and altering the text and images on the page.

The major formats available are Microsoft e-reader, Adobe's digital editions. Amazon's Kindle.
I will discus these this weekend.