Challies: 5 Reasons E-Books Are Better Than Books
…this one wants to burn up my computer every time I go on it. Some kind of an ad for Java something or other pops up, and things go downhill from there. :cry:
Anyone else have this problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Paul, are you talking about this site or the Challies site?
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
I bet he’s talking about Challies. My computer acts the same way - completely locks up explorer.
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
Yes.
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Use Chrome.
Faith is obeying when you can't even imagine how things might turn out right.
[A. Carpenter] Use Chrome.Who’dathunkit? Thanks - works like a charm.
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
OK, I will ask. What is Chrome?
More profoundly, is it not ironic that a thread on this topic would spin off into a discussion of such a problem… :tired:
More profoundly, is it not ironic that a thread on this topic would spin off into a discussion of such a problem… :tired:
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Browsers
- Chrome
- Explorer
- Opera
- Firefox
- Kindle
- IPad
- Or some other reader?
I own a Barnes & Noble Nook (received as a gift last Christmas) and see both advantages and disadvantages. Challies has covered many of the advantages well, but the disadvantages I’ve seen are:
1) Limited selection. I’ve been able to find enough books to read on the Nook to fill the time I use it (primarily my commute and when I travel), but many books I want are not available for the Nook or for any of the major electronic readers. Some are available only for Kindle or only on Nook. This will improve over time, but it may be a very long time before the large, valuable backlist of titles is fully available. Two other points: the selection of foreign language books is absolutely terrible and the quality of many of the books available through Google books is very poor (e.g., text from the reverse of each page bleeding through making the text barely legible; scans of old fashioned fonts making the text barely legible).
2) Cumbersome interface. Note taking and even some more basic functions are slow and difficult to use.
3) Format uncertainty. The lack of portability between BN and Amazon and others is a serious drawback at this time. Standardization will probably be achieved, but what if you back the wrong horse in the meantime?
4) Airline treatment. It’s preposterous that dedicated electronic readers with airplane settings are treated differently than dead tree books, but they are. Be prepared to stow your device until you reach cruising altitude or the crew otherwise determines you can pull it back out. Plan to take along an old fashioned book for the first and last 20 minutes of your flight.
5) Lending/Giving. Want to lend a book you enjoyed? You might be able to do so with your electronic reader, but only if the person you want to lend it to has the same device. And then for only a limited amount of time. Want to give a book away. Tough luck. The freedom to spontaneously give a book to a friend or a new acquaintance is something I hate to lose.
Don’t get me wrong. They’re not all bad. But I still prefer old fashioned books and don’t think I’ll move to primarily electronic books until most of the items above are addressed.
I’m interested in what others with electronic readers think. Are there advantages Tim missed or disadvantages I’ve missed?
1) Limited selection. I’ve been able to find enough books to read on the Nook to fill the time I use it (primarily my commute and when I travel), but many books I want are not available for the Nook or for any of the major electronic readers. Some are available only for Kindle or only on Nook. This will improve over time, but it may be a very long time before the large, valuable backlist of titles is fully available. Two other points: the selection of foreign language books is absolutely terrible and the quality of many of the books available through Google books is very poor (e.g., text from the reverse of each page bleeding through making the text barely legible; scans of old fashioned fonts making the text barely legible).
2) Cumbersome interface. Note taking and even some more basic functions are slow and difficult to use.
3) Format uncertainty. The lack of portability between BN and Amazon and others is a serious drawback at this time. Standardization will probably be achieved, but what if you back the wrong horse in the meantime?
4) Airline treatment. It’s preposterous that dedicated electronic readers with airplane settings are treated differently than dead tree books, but they are. Be prepared to stow your device until you reach cruising altitude or the crew otherwise determines you can pull it back out. Plan to take along an old fashioned book for the first and last 20 minutes of your flight.
5) Lending/Giving. Want to lend a book you enjoyed? You might be able to do so with your electronic reader, but only if the person you want to lend it to has the same device. And then for only a limited amount of time. Want to give a book away. Tough luck. The freedom to spontaneously give a book to a friend or a new acquaintance is something I hate to lose.
Don’t get me wrong. They’re not all bad. But I still prefer old fashioned books and don’t think I’ll move to primarily electronic books until most of the items above are addressed.
I’m interested in what others with electronic readers think. Are there advantages Tim missed or disadvantages I’ve missed?
Chome is the new(ish) web browser from Google (see www.google.com/chrome). I had no problems with Firefox, and I’m using http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/beta/ the 4.0 beta , which I love.
I’ve thought about an E-Reader, but when Amazon released the Kindle app for Android phones, that killed any desire to buy a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle / Nook. I’m not really ready to embrace reading books on my phone yet, either. It is nice that the prices on books are less - and that you can get a lot for free - but I really don’t want to start reading books on a computer. I do enough computer work, thank you very much :).
I’ve thought about an E-Reader, but when Amazon released the Kindle app for Android phones, that killed any desire to buy a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle / Nook. I’m not really ready to embrace reading books on my phone yet, either. It is nice that the prices on books are less - and that you can get a lot for free - but I really don’t want to start reading books on a computer. I do enough computer work, thank you very much :).
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
I might eventually get an iPad, but we have enough iDevices already in our house, and all of us are using them for reading eBooks now. I have iBooks, Kindle, nook, and a few other free e-readers installed, so I can use any of the most popular formats, and I have books in all of them. I’m glad I don’t have a specific Kindle or nook device because of the compatibility problem, but using a non-specific device with software takes care of that issue.
As an aside: We have been using these devices for Bible reading and light study for a couple years now. I agree that e-Readers as they currently exist are not that great for real study. (If I want to do serious study, with notes, etc., I still use one of the e-Bible computer programs. I personally favor MacSword, but I have a couple others as well.) However, I love being able to switch scriptures quickly, use other translations, look up Strongs and other study notes, and even get definitions of words, all very quickly, and with no noise and fuss, if I’m using my device during a sermon or other class. The only time I’ve gotten out a paper Bible for my own use in a couple years was for a scripture reading at an Easter sunrise service where the pastor asked me specifically to use a “real” Bible!
I agree that we can’t easily give eBooks away or share them in this format, but on the other hand, all of us in our family can have a copy and can use them simultaneously, so there is a definite advantage there. We also have a small house and too many books already. I would love for eBooks to eventually get to a point where they can be shared or given away easily, but that is probably only a matter of time.
DRM does give me some concern, but that problem eventually went away with music, and I have no doubt that at some point the same will happen with written material as well. And currently, I can still use my eBooks, even if I don’t have a network connection at all, though I don’t know if that is temporary.
In short, I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for me. I want books to read the contents. Not as collector’s items or something similar, which is what many of the disadvantages spoken of above amount to.
As an aside: We have been using these devices for Bible reading and light study for a couple years now. I agree that e-Readers as they currently exist are not that great for real study. (If I want to do serious study, with notes, etc., I still use one of the e-Bible computer programs. I personally favor MacSword, but I have a couple others as well.) However, I love being able to switch scriptures quickly, use other translations, look up Strongs and other study notes, and even get definitions of words, all very quickly, and with no noise and fuss, if I’m using my device during a sermon or other class. The only time I’ve gotten out a paper Bible for my own use in a couple years was for a scripture reading at an Easter sunrise service where the pastor asked me specifically to use a “real” Bible!
I agree that we can’t easily give eBooks away or share them in this format, but on the other hand, all of us in our family can have a copy and can use them simultaneously, so there is a definite advantage there. We also have a small house and too many books already. I would love for eBooks to eventually get to a point where they can be shared or given away easily, but that is probably only a matter of time.
DRM does give me some concern, but that problem eventually went away with music, and I have no doubt that at some point the same will happen with written material as well. And currently, I can still use my eBooks, even if I don’t have a network connection at all, though I don’t know if that is temporary.
In short, I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for me. I want books to read the contents. Not as collector’s items or something similar, which is what many of the disadvantages spoken of above amount to.
Dave Barnhart
I’m probably going to get a Droid X and use it as my e-reader. I like the portability and convenience of having some of my favorite books available at all times. But I’m infatuated with books, and I don’t care how sentimental it sounds-reading a real book is an experience that digital media can’t duplicate. They are also beautiful to look at, and I find their presence very soothing.
Discussion