.
Help! Stop me before I download again!
Last week I downloaded the ∩ook for PC app to my HP Mini laptop. That was OK. I could access my ∩ook library from the Mini. Groovy.
But today, I downloaded the Kindle app for PC to my HP Mini laptop. Then I immediately downloaded an ebook for Kindle. I did this because the Kindle (Amazon) price was cheaper (about 60% cheaper) than the ∩ook (Barnes & Noble) price.
My tiny, 4'11" Scotch-Irish grandmother would be proud of the savings. That is, until the bill comes due at the end of the month!
I have already exceeded last month's purchases.
I am doomed!
.
Showing posts with label e-readers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-readers. Show all posts
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
My "Download" Habit
.
Well, my gentle snowflakes (YIKES! how appropriate), I have received my first credit card statement that includes the ∩ook downloads of the past month.
I am pretty proud of myself, the total was under $11 for books downloaded. If that holds as the average for the year, I can certainly live with it. (Especially since reading is virtually my only form of entertainment.)
OK, there was also that $33 for gadgets--a light. Actually 2 lights. One for each end of the house--1 by the big chair and 1 by the bed. A fairly significant indulgence, I would say. Oh, well. They sure are handy and make reading in bed even easier than it was.
I love my ∩ook!
Well, my gentle snowflakes (YIKES! how appropriate), I have received my first credit card statement that includes the ∩ook downloads of the past month.
I am pretty proud of myself, the total was under $11 for books downloaded. If that holds as the average for the year, I can certainly live with it. (Especially since reading is virtually my only form of entertainment.)
OK, there was also that $33 for gadgets--a light. Actually 2 lights. One for each end of the house--1 by the big chair and 1 by the bed. A fairly significant indulgence, I would say. Oh, well. They sure are handy and make reading in bed even easier than it was.
I love my ∩ook!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
E-readers
.
Yesterday as I was going to visit my 92 year old mother in the independent living facility where she now resides, I passed by a woman (about 80), who used to live next door, sitting in a chair in the common area. Guess what? she was using an e-reader!
As she had a different reader from the one I use (which is a ∩ook), I stopped to discuss the various aspects of each and why we chose diverse models.
Turns out hers had been chosen for her by adult children. But she said she likes it especially because she could access her email from it. In fact, she said she likes it better than her laptop for reading/writing her email. I didn't take the time for her to show me how the email works on her unit. Maybe I will go back and ask for a demonstration.
The ∩ook I use has the capability for email and it would do in a pinch. I can read email OK, but I find it way too slow for me to use to write email--the keyboard has no tactile response and, therefore, I make a lot of errors! Either that or I just haven't found the magic yet.
Periodically, I am reading a booklet called Nook Survival Guide. Actually, "reading" is too strong a word. I dip into it when I can't do something. In this case, I must follow my own advice: "When all else fails, read the directions."
All in all, the ∩ook is turning out to be a lot of fun. I even downloaded the app to read ∩ook books onto my mini laptop. Now, no matter which portable device I have at hand, I can read my book.
.
Yesterday as I was going to visit my 92 year old mother in the independent living facility where she now resides, I passed by a woman (about 80), who used to live next door, sitting in a chair in the common area. Guess what? she was using an e-reader!
As she had a different reader from the one I use (which is a ∩ook), I stopped to discuss the various aspects of each and why we chose diverse models.
Turns out hers had been chosen for her by adult children. But she said she likes it especially because she could access her email from it. In fact, she said she likes it better than her laptop for reading/writing her email. I didn't take the time for her to show me how the email works on her unit. Maybe I will go back and ask for a demonstration.
The ∩ook I use has the capability for email and it would do in a pinch. I can read email OK, but I find it way too slow for me to use to write email--the keyboard has no tactile response and, therefore, I make a lot of errors! Either that or I just haven't found the magic yet.
Periodically, I am reading a booklet called Nook Survival Guide. Actually, "reading" is too strong a word. I dip into it when I can't do something. In this case, I must follow my own advice: "When all else fails, read the directions."
All in all, the ∩ook is turning out to be a lot of fun. I even downloaded the app to read ∩ook books onto my mini laptop. Now, no matter which portable device I have at hand, I can read my book.
.
Monday, December 6, 2010
A Christmas Toy
.
Ahhhh, my gentle snowflakes, I am a bibliophile. From the tender age or 6 or so, I have loved books. I love to hold books. I love to read books. I love the smell of books--both new and old. I love books more than a party. I love books more than clean sheets. I love books more than...well, you get the idea.
If you follow this blog, you know I travel to Texas as much as I can to see some very, very dear friends. When I go, I take books with me--lots of books. Books tend to be heavy. Heavy luggage is not a good thing. Of course, the answer is an e-reader. Note, that I did not say, "The easy answer..."
I resisted getting an e-reader for a long, long time. Everywhere I looked someone was reading from a Kindle or some other e-reader that I did not recognize. (Well, not everywhere, but I did see a lot of them.) And I resisted because I thought I would only like holding an actual book. Turning the pages. Feeling the cover. Smelling the paper. You know, just holding the book. I thought, somehow, holding an e-reader would be a lot different.
I have friends who have Kindles. I have held them and tried to use them. The Kindle felt a little awkward--kind of big with a tendency toward too heavy for comfort and not well balanced in my hands. I had trouble remembering how to do whatever it was I was trying to do. (Maybe, I just didn't spend enough time using a Kindle.) Also, I found the controls at the bottom hard to manipulate. It just never felt comfortable in my hands.
Now, I know that Kindle has made several changes since I held one of them. And I know there are newer versions. And I almost had myself convinced to buy one of the newer Kindles, then I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the differences. That pretty much made me decide on the ∩ook. Then, I found a comparison questionnaire about how I planned to use the device and what I liked to read and where/when I read. And I settled on the ∩ook b/w--not the newer, more expensive color version. Also, I opted for a Barnes & Noble certified reconditioned ∩ook at a much lower price.
As we all know, the price of books--even paperbacks--just keeps going up and up and up. The e-books are much, much cheaper than books--even paperbacks. Then, of course, where I live, I have to drive 75 miles or so one-way or else order whatever I want online and wait for the delivery. E-readers will "run out there and get" the book through a wifi connection. The first book I bought was only $4.75--total--and, for want of a better word, "downloaded" in less than 3 minutes (I timed it). That was a 322 page "book. " That is faster than "check-out."
Also, I think what contributes to my satisfaction with the ∩ook is that I bought a real leather cover. I am sure that aids my tactile enjoyment. I can hold it open like an "open book." Or I can turn the cover back without "breaking" the spine. Then it feels much like a large paperback.
Another thing, since I have had to use reading glasses (in addition to my contacts), I can't read lying in bed anymore without a big hassle: the book is never in the right position; when I have to turn the page, I have to change hands and reposition the damn book; and as I have aged, I tend to drop the book occasionally and lose my place. I used to enjoy reading in bed so-o-o-o very, very much. Well, I took that ∩ook to bed with me last night and read and read and read. Didn't drop it once. Didn't have to change hands. (Pages turn at the press of a handily-placed, easily pressed "button.") The sensation of holding a book is surprisingly similar to holding the ∩ook.
Good day to stay home, stay in & read a good book (or a slightly trash book) on my new ∩ook. Yippee!
.
Ahhhh, my gentle snowflakes, I am a bibliophile. From the tender age or 6 or so, I have loved books. I love to hold books. I love to read books. I love the smell of books--both new and old. I love books more than a party. I love books more than clean sheets. I love books more than...well, you get the idea.
If you follow this blog, you know I travel to Texas as much as I can to see some very, very dear friends. When I go, I take books with me--lots of books. Books tend to be heavy. Heavy luggage is not a good thing. Of course, the answer is an e-reader. Note, that I did not say, "The easy answer..."
I resisted getting an e-reader for a long, long time. Everywhere I looked someone was reading from a Kindle or some other e-reader that I did not recognize. (Well, not everywhere, but I did see a lot of them.) And I resisted because I thought I would only like holding an actual book. Turning the pages. Feeling the cover. Smelling the paper. You know, just holding the book. I thought, somehow, holding an e-reader would be a lot different.
I have friends who have Kindles. I have held them and tried to use them. The Kindle felt a little awkward--kind of big with a tendency toward too heavy for comfort and not well balanced in my hands. I had trouble remembering how to do whatever it was I was trying to do. (Maybe, I just didn't spend enough time using a Kindle.) Also, I found the controls at the bottom hard to manipulate. It just never felt comfortable in my hands.
Now, I know that Kindle has made several changes since I held one of them. And I know there are newer versions. And I almost had myself convinced to buy one of the newer Kindles, then I watched a couple of YouTube videos on the differences. That pretty much made me decide on the ∩ook. Then, I found a comparison questionnaire about how I planned to use the device and what I liked to read and where/when I read. And I settled on the ∩ook b/w--not the newer, more expensive color version. Also, I opted for a Barnes & Noble certified reconditioned ∩ook at a much lower price.
As we all know, the price of books--even paperbacks--just keeps going up and up and up. The e-books are much, much cheaper than books--even paperbacks. Then, of course, where I live, I have to drive 75 miles or so one-way or else order whatever I want online and wait for the delivery. E-readers will "run out there and get" the book through a wifi connection. The first book I bought was only $4.75--total--and, for want of a better word, "downloaded" in less than 3 minutes (I timed it). That was a 322 page "book. " That is faster than "check-out."
Also, I think what contributes to my satisfaction with the ∩ook is that I bought a real leather cover. I am sure that aids my tactile enjoyment. I can hold it open like an "open book." Or I can turn the cover back without "breaking" the spine. Then it feels much like a large paperback.
Another thing, since I have had to use reading glasses (in addition to my contacts), I can't read lying in bed anymore without a big hassle: the book is never in the right position; when I have to turn the page, I have to change hands and reposition the damn book; and as I have aged, I tend to drop the book occasionally and lose my place. I used to enjoy reading in bed so-o-o-o very, very much. Well, I took that ∩ook to bed with me last night and read and read and read. Didn't drop it once. Didn't have to change hands. (Pages turn at the press of a handily-placed, easily pressed "button.") The sensation of holding a book is surprisingly similar to holding the ∩ook.
Good day to stay home, stay in & read a good book (or a slightly trash book) on my new ∩ook. Yippee!
.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Problem With Textbooks
.
Thank God it is the Texans making fools of themselves--keeps the Nation's eyes off Oklahoma for a while.
The problem, of course, is with the Conservative view-point being crammed into the social studies, history and economics textbooks.
Answer: Instead of physical text books, purchase the eDGe, a 2-screen e-reader or even laptops (maybe minis), one for each student. Buy as many as are needed for any state and the price should fall through the floor. After all, newspapers and novels are moving to electronic format, why not textbooks? Bonus: The students can not physically write in the "e-books" and thereby render ordinary paper books unusable. It happens.
Next, say, New York should tell the publishers that it will only pay for the electronic version of the textbooks WITH the offensive passages (read Phyllis Schlafly) left out and Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Alva Edison put back in. This should not be a problem in an electronic format.
The electronic versions will be priced at about 40% of standard print versions--no paper, no binding, minimal shipping. (Added bonus: less paper means fewer trees sacrificed, less toxic processing of the paper, less toxic glues used in the processing of the cardboard covers, less money flowing off-shore--as I am sure text books are no longer printed and bound in this country.)
Or look to some enterprising, innovative, intelligent instructor with some practical experience who has a good text book that could not pass the Texas Board of Education. He or She will be pleased to see her/his work "published" and educating students. It was probably written in an electronic format to begin with: one less step in the process removed.
Macmillan and DynamicBooks already offer interactive textbooks. Macmillan even allows college professors (why not all instructors, no matter what grade?) to alter the content without prior permission.
This could get interesting.
.
Thank God it is the Texans making fools of themselves--keeps the Nation's eyes off Oklahoma for a while.
The problem, of course, is with the Conservative view-point being crammed into the social studies, history and economics textbooks.
Answer: Instead of physical text books, purchase the eDGe, a 2-screen e-reader or even laptops (maybe minis), one for each student. Buy as many as are needed for any state and the price should fall through the floor. After all, newspapers and novels are moving to electronic format, why not textbooks? Bonus: The students can not physically write in the "e-books" and thereby render ordinary paper books unusable. It happens.
Next, say, New York should tell the publishers that it will only pay for the electronic version of the textbooks WITH the offensive passages (read Phyllis Schlafly) left out and Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Alva Edison put back in. This should not be a problem in an electronic format.
The electronic versions will be priced at about 40% of standard print versions--no paper, no binding, minimal shipping. (Added bonus: less paper means fewer trees sacrificed, less toxic processing of the paper, less toxic glues used in the processing of the cardboard covers, less money flowing off-shore--as I am sure text books are no longer printed and bound in this country.)
Or look to some enterprising, innovative, intelligent instructor with some practical experience who has a good text book that could not pass the Texas Board of Education. He or She will be pleased to see her/his work "published" and educating students. It was probably written in an electronic format to begin with: one less step in the process removed.
Macmillan and DynamicBooks already offer interactive textbooks. Macmillan even allows college professors (why not all instructors, no matter what grade?) to alter the content without prior permission.
This could get interesting.
.
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