I’ve been using the Sony Reader Library via Windows 7 for a while now, and today I found a new bug: while attempting to sync to my Reader, the application would hang on a particular book.  After trying a number of different things, I found out that it was not the book which was listed that was causing the problem, but the next book in the library.

For some reason, the link to the location of the book on disk was corrupted; it showed up just fine in the Reader Library, though clicking on the book resulted in an error saying that it could not locate the file.  I removed that book from the library, added it in again from its location on disk, and then the Sync operation worked without a hitch.

I haven’t had too many problems with the Reader Library software from Sony, though clearly what they need to do in this case is to alert the user that there is a problem, and what that problem is.   Hopefully this will be fixed at some point, though the pace of updates is currently very slow.

Today, however, Amazon revealed their third version of the 6″ Kindle, with a Wi-Fi only version for $140.  Notably, too, the battery is larger, reportedly lasting up to a month; and they also are packing in a new e-ink display which is supposed to garner better contrast and faster page turns.

DRM improved?

Perhaps I’m a bit late to the party, though I did find on Amazon’s website a certain section labeled “Downloading to Multiple Devices,” which reads in part:

Content purchased from the Kindle Store can be downloaded to your Kindle, or Kindle compatible device, as long as you’ve registered the device to the Amazon.com account that purchased the Kindle content. There is no limit on the number of times a title can be downloaded to a registered device, but there may be limits on the number of devices (usually 6) that can simultaneously use a single book.

That means you can download and read your books on any Kindle device you own as long you’ve registered each device to the Amazon.com account where your Kindle Library is stored.

Personally, this sounds like a big upgrade.  A year or so ago, it was the case that certain titles would only be allowed to be downloaded a certain number of times.  That meant that with multiple devices, generations, etc., the content which you paid for would no longer be yours. Tying the purchases to the account, and having the with “no limit” to the number of downloads sounds like a great step up.

Closing remarks

I personally have no reason to want to stray from my Reader.   It serves me well, is still great for my eyes, and still does have a touch screen which the Kindle series lacks.  Even so, it seems as though Amazon is slowly getting their act together, and I can see that the case may be that they win this e-book stuff in the end, especially if they keep good hardware at such low prices; as well as a reasonable system of DRM to allow your content to actually be your own.

Today, Apple announced their new product, dubbed the “iPad.”  It’s the first Apple product release in the past few years that made me laugh out loud.  I’m still occasionally pinching myself in order to verify that everything went down the way that it actually did.  The iPad, while certainly rather slick in a number of ways, is largely a big iPod.  It isn’t going to be a great machine for work; it is too bulky to be reasonably portable; and the choice of a standard LCD-based backlit display obliterates its use as a legitimate reading device.  I’m sure there will be plenty of people who will buy an iPad or two despite these shortcomings; though I’d argue its a rather big waste of money that could instead be spent on a whole variety of better options.

I don’t know that now is the time for Apple’s debut into the space developed by the emperor’s new clothes; though I do feel that there are some visible cracks in the armor built up around its own empire.

Reading

Reading books seems to be only one small part of the larger uses for the iPad.  Where this is most evident is by Apple’s choice in display technology, opting for an LCD display in lieu of Pixel Qi or other emerging e-ink like technologies.  I’m looking at an LCD of one sort or another for a massive part of my daily life: at work, and then at home on my computer or on my TV.

I also have a Sony Reader Touch (model PRS-600) which I got a few months ago.  The difference in reading on an e-ink or a similar display which is not backlit is rather astounding.  Eye strain drips away, and the low power draw makes for much more infrequent charge cycles.  No matter how much I read, I can get about two weeks before I need to charge the Reader.

As Steve Jobs has said in the past that no one reads anymore, it seems clear enough that this viewpoint took place in part of the design of the iPad.  ”iBooks” may be one feature of the device, though it is certainly not a central component.  Pixel Qi, on the other hand, seems to be perfectly suited for the iPad form factor and use case; and that’s just one technology.  Mirasol and Liquavista could also occupy this same space, with slightly different approaches to about the same problem.

On the other hand, Apple does seem to have gotten behind the EPUB standard for electronic books.  What they did not reveal, of course, is the type of DRM that will go along with their EPUB titles sold by their store.  Already there are a few different systems out there, namely by Adobe, now augmented by Barnes and Noble with their Nook.  Fundamentally, the EPUB bandwagon is what I’d hope to be the standard for the future; though with Amazon having their own format, there is still heavy fragmentation in this space.

Name games

Where they get these names is beyond me. The Kindle has always made me think of kindling, which makes me think of fire, which makes me think that you’re throwing the Kindle into the fireplace / bonfire; or, throwing all your books away into said fire instead so that you can read on your Kindle. Then there’s the more realistic, secondary illustrations drawn by the name, such as the sense of warmth you get from the device, or that it will re-kindle your desire to read a book.

The Nook; well, you have “book” and then you cleverly replace the “b” with an “n” and then it becomes another word also associated with “cranny,” “nookie,” (most people do like sex), etc. This substitution also slightly suggests Barnes and Noble, also abbreviated B&N; i.e., B->N. All good ideas, though I imagine most people finding it sort of dumb as a name, overall. It currently evokes the idea that if you want to read on a Nook, you’re hiding yourself in a remote corner of some abandoned warehouse, since if you were to read in a more public, open space you’d be ridiculed: doubly so because you have an ereader and not an “actual” book.

Hardware

Names aside, the Nook is splitting, in some regards, between the current functionality of the Kindle, and the functionality of current touch-enabled ereaders, such as the Sony Reader Touch.

I recently bought the Sony Reader Touch, and I find the touch screen to be a really great tool for interaction. The Nook enters this touch-space by adding in a color screen below the e-ink display which you can manipulate with your fingers. This certainly is a novel approach, though I cannot help but think that the two screens isn’t quite the best solution.

With my Reader Touch, I can double tap on a word, where the word is on the page, and up pops a dictionary, the ability to highlight, and the ability to draw right on the screen. It is a direct interaction. I can also swipe anywhere on the screen of the Reader Touch to advance pages back and forth, which makes it rather easy in any orientation to, well, read the book. I don’t see those kinds of interactions as being quite as intuitive with two displays.

With that said, the second display is certainly looks great, and also will obviously refresh much faster than the e-ink displays. Navigating menus in the Sony Reader Touch, and any other e-ink only reader, can be a bit slow at times compared with refresh times on a computer or any other LCD-like display. I’ve never actually had a particular problem with my Sony Reader in this regard, though I also am not trying to navigate store content or potentially do the other sort of tasks that the wirelessly-connected Nook can do.

Finally, in terms of hardware, I do have to admit that the Nook does look rather wonderful from an industrial design aspect. This doesn’t change any of its function, though thumbs up to having a good team working on a look that works.

DRM

DRM is just one letter off from being a four letter word, despite being just a lowly acronym, and despite it deserving about the same negative reaction. My hope is that in the future DRM gets a better name: whereby it does not connote closed, unportable systems which are, eventually, unusable in a variety of different ways.

The general trouble with DRM at this point is that every company / brand / sub-company or brand has their own version, and it is a way to essentially lock the consumer into their solution. Buying an entire library of books that can only be read on one type of device, or, in some cases, one device at all, is still a bit absurd to me. The fact that all these ereaders can do about the same thing, yet content is inherently restricted to the one on which you bought the content.. I just don’t get it. It makes perfect sense for the company who sells the content, and about zero sense for the people who actually pay for it.

Barnes and Noble does not appear to be raising the bar all that much in terms of DRM with the Nook, but the reality is that no one else has done so, either. What the Nook does, however, is attempting to add a bit of flexibility to their systems which are allowing some new paradigms to the way content is managed.

First, it seems as though the files you buy from B&N can actually be downloaded. Once downloaded, you can then presumably back up those files, and, more importantly, use them using other devices or software. Currently, they have support for Windows and Mac, as well as some mobile devices. It’s still rather closed, since they’re all within the B&N ecosystem, and they are apps most likely built from B&N alone; though it seems to be a step up from the Kindle, whereby you are limited by the number of times you can download the material from their servers; or from the Sony content, where there aren’t mobile solutions for the downloaded content.

Second, and more importantly, is the LendMe capabilities of the Nook, whereby content you purchased can be shared to a friend for a certain period of time with no additional money changing hands. Both people have to be within the B&N system in order for it to work. There also was a clause in there which seemed to indicate that this particular functionality may be disabled for some content, depending on the publisher’s wishes. Even so, this is a step in the right direction, and is in a better way of thinking than I’ve seen from other vendors. It much more directly ties into the use case of a typical paper book, and, ultimately, DRM should be able to effectively emulate at least this level of functionality.

Finally, the last interesting step I found from the description of the Nook services is that buying the device is also a hook to try and get people to come to the brick and mortar B&N stores. Supposedly, in buying the Nook you can then go to a Barnes and Noble store and read books from their collection, unrestricted, without having to pay. Again, in the vein of emulating what can happen with paper books, this is a very sensible move. Being able to properly look over a book before buying is a rather important part of the book ecosystem, and currently the digital systems are greatly lacking. This move is also interesting in that it is actually attempting to move customers into the stores rather than out of them. In theory, Best Buy and other similar stores have the devices and gadgets that you want to see in person before you buy; in reality, most of the floor models are broken, not on, etc., and it’s rather easier to just buy online than deal with this kind of letdown. I’m not sure what this will do to a typical B&N store, though if successful then it’s a very interesting business model that hopefully will repeat in other variations.

Conclusion

What’s most interesting to me about the ebook and ereader space as of late is that there’s been a hell of a lot of development in the past year or so, and it looks to me that this will only get more intense over the next couple years. The Nook is not a device that particularly appeals to me. I’m very happy with my Sony Reader, and there’s not any reason for me to want to switch. I don’t particularly know that DRM is ever going to go away, or that any decent interoperability standards are going to evolve. I do, however, hope that the Nook succeeds, and there’s a number of legitimate advancements that B&N is contributing towards this space which ought to be followed by its competitors. Eventually, of course, only time will tell.

Perhaps the above iss just an all-too-general pre-roll which can be copied into any sort of tech I’m talking about.. but I’m keeping it there for now.

Case in point, this month I went ahead and purchased a Sony Reader Touch Edition from B&H, and the long and the short of it is that I’ve been really, really pleased with my decision.

Is the PRS-600 the most fantastic device out there, and the best that will ever come out for a time to come? No. I’m generally not interested in the “best” option, though, because it bumps into a law of diminishing returns of some sort or another. I generally shoot for 70% of best, and this generally makes me pretty happy. I haven’t broken the bank, if said device / object I have breaks or crashes and burns then it isn’t quite as much the end of the world, and, generally, when I’ve picked such an option there’s at least some reasonable user base of other people who have the same types of problems and, hopefully, solutions to those problems.

The Sony PRS-600 is one of the first more affordable electronic paper ereader devices which has a touch interface. There is an upside to that in terms of usability, and a slight downside in that the screen is a bit more reflective and less strong in contrast than non-touch models. I personally have had to shift the device around a bit in certain circumstances in order to see the screen properly, though as an amputee (my left arm stops a few inches after the elbow; been like that since birth, doesn’t hurt, etc.) this slight manuevering is still much more of an easy compromise when it comes to often needing two hands to properly hold a bound book.

Amazon‘s Kindle is certainly the big player in this market right now, and for good reason. The Kindle library is certainly more comprehensive, and in certain cases cheaper than alternatives out there. With that said, the Amazon solution is also largely a closed system. I like the model of the Sony Reader in that I can download the file, back up that file, and use the file with whatever Reader devices to which I authorize my content. Sony does have their own store, though you can also go to other content providers as long as they support the proper format. The newcomer to this space is Shortcovers which in two words, looks crazy promising. There’s also Project Gutenberg, whatever PDFs I want to throw into the device, and, hugely, the ability to rent out books from local public libraries via Overdrive.

So first off, I am new to these forums, though I got my PRS-600 last Thursday and have been really, really happy with it. I ordered the red version from B&H which had v. fast shipping. They’re a great vendor, have bought a lot of other equipment from them with no issues.

I also grabbed up the M-Edge PRS-505 Excutive case when it was still $15 which is working out quite well. It does push on the volume button at the bottom right edge, but I haven’t had any problems with that so far. It also gets in the way of the power switch a bit at the top left, though not in a bad way. It’s rather bulky and is quite secure and well padded.

As to the below, no, I have found that you cannot trim the edges off of the PDFs, sadly. This means it’s pretty hard to read in certain files, though if you have the orientation in landscape then it helps a fair amount. Each page is then two pages, and while the fonts are rather small and the margins are pretty large even at this point, it’s been doing the job for me lately.

You cannot keep the zoom, so each page you’ll have to re-zoom in. For some files, the re-flow (Medium, Large, etc. fonts) does work rather well, though in others it’s not quite as great: I have a couple PDFs that preserve line breaks, so you get crazy ragged edges (i.e., every other line is about three words). In all cases w/ PDFs, page breaks are always preserved, which is rather annoying: that is to say that even when there is just one paragraph/sentence/word that goes into the next page turn due to re-flow, the rest of the page is blank, so you have to turn the page again to start the the next page in the PDF.