Friday 10 June 2011

Virtual or literal


These two stores are close enough to being opposite to each other in George St, Sydney's main drag (named after George III of England). And today I wanted to buy my grand-daughter a donkey, so I can delight her once again with its sound. You see the one she has at home (well, from the toy library) looks like a Japanese anime donkey.

But I digress ... I went into Dymocks and the bloody donkey cost me 84 bucks - together with 'Gruffalo', 'Madeleine', 'Tender is the night', and 'The Great Gatsby' (this latter 'cause it's too hard to read a book now only made up of single pages!)

So ... when I came out I though to myself, I thought: I really should investigate the economics of an e-reader. I suspect they are convenient. I suspect they are economic. But ... do they SMELL like a book?

14 comments:

Rae Walter said...

Have to say Julie that I love my iPad! It would not cut it for some books, but on the whole is pretty good.

Rosemary said...

I absolutely love my Kindle (and I'm on my 2nd one). I don't have a need for colour or pictures so it doesn't bother me to have outstanding blac and white resolution on the Kindle.

There are a lot of options out there.

Kay L. Davies said...

I have a Sony Reader. I like it, but I can't say I love it. What I do love is having 40 books on it.
No, it doesn't smell like a book. Doesn't smell like much of anything, really.
I've had it for about a year and, since then, a whole raft of new things have become available. I love books at home but, when I travel, my eBook reader is a godsend.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

brattcat said...

no e-reader in my life so far and i seem to be managing just fine. but they do have a rather siren-like effect on me when i pass someone holding one. you'll let us know what you decide.

Jim said...

Julie, the crowds at Vivid seemed to be bigger this year, and I think partly because it was all centred around Circular Quay and The Rocks again, rather than stretching all the way up Macquarie Street, as it did last year. I liked it this way but maybe they should extend it around to Walsh Bay, to show off that part of the city too and alleviate crowding. The fire/water display was certainly bigger and more dramatic in the past two years but I suppose they can't keep doing the same thing every year and are trying different things. I'd prefer it earlier in May when it's warmer but it wasn't too bad (until this week). I doubt they'll change it because their intention is to bring people into the city in winter when it's usually quiet for business.

Virginia said...

Julie, you may or may not know that I worked for Apple last year and loved it. I love the company, the people and the customers. I still go back for one to one sessions and just today got to hug a lot of necks of the many employees that I dearly loved. Apple has it figured out. Maybe more big companies will follow their lead.
V

Joe said...

The E-reader. Convenient .. at times. Economic .. probably. A book replacement .. unconvinced.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

So interested to know if you went further with your investigations Julie. I can't see me ever doing it, it's just so easy to pop a real book into your bag when traveling and I just don't think it would be the same reading stories to my great nephew. I really can see why some people would find it convenient, just not for me.

Endless Waterfall said...

I like my ipad but as an ereader...no. If you just want an Ereader, get a kindle. Or anything but an ipad. Ipads are uncomfortable on the eyes as it is like reading off a computer screen for hours on end. The kindle is much more comfortable. And seeing you have trouble with your vision, I would not recommend an ipad.

Just saying.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I've fallen in love with the convenience of ereading for commuting - I even read books on my iPhone. I'm still reading the plethora of free classics. Regarding economics .. I find the price of ebooks is not that much different from paper books so not great on economy (unless you like the free books) and if I am paying near full price than I am going to buy a real book which has the added pleasure of furnishing the library.

Apple products are amazing. The whole industry is still scrambling to try and produce a decent competitor to the iPad and iPhone.

Bergson said...

The language does not have to be a problem. You can comment in French on my blog. You will always speak better that I with English

Stafford Ray said...

Hi Julie, while not yet hooked on an e-reader, IXL loves her Kindle, but complains that books available are very limited. She says most, except for classics, which she has read, are not the best books being published. ???

Rosemary said...

@Stafford: There are a lot of sites with books that you can read on your Kindle. Just look for anything in MOBI or PRC format without DRM (Digital Rights Management). If you are in Oz, the number of books available for you is dictated by the publishing agreements with Amazon. There are a number of books that I, in the US, can't buy, but you, down in Oz, can.

Julie said...

Yes, he is in Oz, Rosemary and I email with him off-blog. I shall let him know. Thank you for this, it is most appreciated.