All about ebooks

Making sense of ebooks
KosieEloff
Department of Information Science
University of Pretoria
kosieeloff - tweet any questions here

Worldreader.org

What is an ebook?
Any electronic document containing text?
An electronic document that is book-like?

Public domain books (Manybooks.net)
Manybooks isn't necessarily an eBook vendor, but a distributor of public domain titles.

Attaching eReader via USB cable

Directory with the eReader’s books

But what about getting books wirelessly?
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/turing/photos/feat-kindle-store-300px._V251568840_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200127470_k3land_gettingstarted?nodeId=200580340
Standard for connecting electronic devices wirelessly
Local area network.
Very fast!
Coverage limited (need Wi-Fi hot spots)
Need to connect manually
Wi-Fi doesn’t guarantee internet access
3G (i.e. mobile broadband)
Cellular network.
Can be very slow!
Wide coverage (e.g. at the beach, or on the train)
Connected automatically
3G often guarantees internet access

Selecting a Wi-Fi network

Managing already purchased books (via your browser)

Kindle for PC

Kindle for PC opens your browser for purchases / browsing

Select device (up to six / account) to which book is sent & registered

Kindle platforms

1. eReaders

E-ink
CRT – flickering display, strain on eyes
But crisp image
LCD – backlight, viewing angle
This is being addressed
“a sheet of paper that can be electronically reconfigured instantaneously to display any page from any book, article or document”

Electrophoretic display: rearranging charged pigment particles.

Popular ereaders
Though there are dozens of devices, these are the ones that feature the most in literature.
The Kindle and Sony Reader are probably the best bets for South Africans (though if you see an iRiver HD in your electronics store, check it out too!)

Sony Reader range

Kobo Reader (Wi-Fi)

Kobo Touch (Wi-Fi)
~R1100, excl.

Original nook (Wi-Fi only $120, Wi-Fi & 3G $170)

Nook color ($249)

Nook Simple Touch ($139)

Kindle 1 (left), Kindle 2 (right)

$189 Wi-Fi & 3G Kindle
$139 Wi-Fi Kindle without ads

Kindle DX Graphite (24 cm display, ~R2 600)

$114 Wi-Fi Kindle with ads (not available in SA yet)

Mobileread Reader Matrix
http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix

E-Reader Info, another useful source of information
http://www.e-reader-info.com/products

2. Tablets

Accessing the Kobo eBook store via the Readers Hub application on the Galaxy Tab.

Tablet or ereader?
Choice often depends on operating system (software)

Barnes & Noble also caters for various platforms

Read while sitting...

3. Smartphones

4. PC/laptop/netbook

Operating systems
A device’s operating system has a significant effect on the user experience.

What influences purchase decisions?

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1764714

Which device should I choose?
eReaders
Long battery life
Low cost
(R800-R2,000 excl. S&I)
E-ink display (typically)
Low functionality
Media tablets
Limited battery life
Expensive
(R2,000-R10,000 excl. S&I)
LCD display (typically)
High functionality
One can include smartphones in this comparison; however, lower the price range and display size (significantly).

File formats
PDF
Still used a lot.
Great for print preparation and exact layout (e.g. brochures)
EPUB
Becoming the standard for ebooks
Great for reflowable content and whatever else HTML offers
MOBI
Basically HTML; becoming a dated format.
Only really applicable to Kindle users

Some reading communities
www.goodreads.com
www.feedbooks.com
www.manybooks.net(free public domain titles)

Some places to self-publish
www.smashwords.com/
(In March 2011, Smashwords published its 40,000th ebook)
pubit.barnesandnoble.com
kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin
www.scribd.com/
(More of a doc-sharing web site, but tremendously popular)

Some useful resources
Mobile read - a large community of people interested in electronic reading
www.mobileread.com
Ebook search engines:
http://inkmesh.com
http://ebooks.addall.com

Other places to get ebooks
From a list of 100+ possibilities (http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/50-places-free-books-online.htm)
http://www.baen.com/library/titles.htm (SF & Fantasy)
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://librivox.org/ (Audio books)
http://manybooks.net/ (Popular, many formats)
http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/ (Oxford text archives)
http://www.wowio.com/ (Includes comic books)

Thank you!
kosie.eloff@up.ac.za
kosieeloff

All about ebooks

by Kosie Eloff on Sep 06, 2011

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