Day 5 – Live Testing eReaders – The iPad

Do you remember the tests in elementary where you had to choose the one thing that didn’t fit into the category?

Well, in a category of eReaders, the iPad would be the one you’d circle:

 

 

Although the iPad has been labeled an eReader device, it’s actually a mini computer, or to be more accurate, a huge Ipod. I was surprised that there was no iBook or 3D Bookshelf on the main log at the bottom of the screen. That would make reading books part of the main focus of the device. But instead, I had to search through the countless apps all happily floating on screen to screen….but wait is that a flashlight app? And Scrabble? And bubbles?

To say the least, evaluating the iPad as just an eReader was difficult, because it has so much to offer. Instead of reading, if found myself checking my email, listening to music, looking through my photo albums, checking out the game apps, and restaurant apps, and flight apps, and checking movie reviews on apps, and game scores on apps, and oh yea…..I was trying to find the Great Gatsby book on the numerous Bookshelf apps. But then I found an art studio app, and a history maps app, and a currency converter app (how many Rubles does it take to equal one US dollar anyways?), and Skype, Shazam, Groceries, Twitter, the BBC, and Facebook!

….What was I doing again?

Oh right, the Great Gatsby.

Well, we all know the end right? Gatsby is assumed the driver and is shot, while Daisy and Tom move away with no forwarding address, and young Nick decides city folk are crazy and moves back to the Midwest where things are simpler. This is how I feel about the iPad, although it is a wonderful machine that can do so much more than any of the others, and a useful way to get everything and nothing done in an hour, I’d prefer one of the more simple eReaders. The innovation that makes the iPad such a cool device/computer/Ipod is the same thing that makes it hard to just sit down and read a simple book. But don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have one!

 

written by, M.E. Franchini

Please comment and share your thoughts or experiences on any of the eReaders.

Day 4 – Live Testing eReaders – iPhone

The iPhone.

Touch screen.

Music.

Apps.

Phone calls.

Book?

Reading on the iPhone was different than reading on all the previous eReaders for a few reasons. First, it doesn’t use the E ink technology, so the screen is much more colorful and interactive. Second, it’s tiny. It’s the size of a phone, not a book. Therefore, I used a much smaller font size to read the pages, instead of having to turn the paged every 3 sentences. Small font is ok, as long as my eyes stay good! And third, there are so many other things to do on the iPhone when I had a few minutes to spare, that opening up an eBook to read wasn’t my first choice.

As Gatsby and Daisy profess their love for each other, I realized I had to be honest with myself. It would be hard to read a full book on the iPhone. One or two chapters I can do, but a whole book on a tiny screen using my phone battery is another thing entirely. I got through the chapters as fast as I could, so I could get to playing games, searching the internet, and looking at all the apps….

There are so many Bookshelf Apps to choose from, and each one is a little different. Some of them shelve the books like a library, and to read the titles I had to look sideways at it. Others present the books front facing on the shelf, so the cover picture and title are showing. This  is my favorite way of looking through the eBooks.

Reading on the iPhone is a great way to stay entertained if you have a few spare minutes, especially if you have something short and simple, like an Essential 10 book, to read!

written by, M.E. Franchini

 

Day 3 – Live Testing eReaders – B&N Nook

Well, I tried to turn on the Nook, but the screen froze at: “the device is starting up” page. I took out the battery and tried to restart it, but no results.

I’m off to figure out how to fix it – I will return when the Nook is working!

Hang on!

Day 2 – Live Testing eReaders – Kindle 1

I’ve just finished reading Chapter 2 and 3 of the Great Gatsby on Amazon’s first version of the Kindle. Unlike Nick and Jordan, who were fascinated by Jay Gatsby and his stories, I was not-so-fascinated by the Kindle 1. Now, I know this Kindle was the first of it’s kind and was groundbreaking when it was released. Therefore, I’m trying to get my hands on a Kindle 2, so my evaluation will be fair and balanced.

 It’s much easier to stay focused on reading with the Kindle 1. It just opens to a list of all the books I have on it. There’s not even a menu screen. It doesn’t ask me, ‘what I want to DO’, it asks me, ‘what do I want to READ.’ The Kindle 1 keeps it simple.

The first thing I noticed was the little scroll button and the silver lines that resemble the liquid in a thermometer. This is how you select things from the menu, and then the two silver lines do their little dance signifying the completion of the task I just asked it to perform. It’s cute, but it took a while to get used to. Since there it isn’t a touch screen, the scroll button does make sense I guess.

I really liked the long tabs on each side that turn the page. There’s even a Next Page tab on the left side if held by only that hand. It makes it easy to shuffle through pages quickly, but beware not to hold the buttons down or it’ll skip to pages way ahead!

Reading on it is clear and easy (it uses the E ink technology), but I ended up wanting less keyboard and more screen. I didn’t use the keyboard for reading at all. The Kindle 1 cannot be read horizontally, which is ok because of it’s shape; the left side is thicker than the right. It’s easier to hold with just my left hand because of that rounded thicker side. Holding it with just my right hand, was not difficult, but not as comfortable as the other hand. This shape would make it awkward to hold horizontally.

I appreciated the screen saver that comes on after a few minutes of inactivity, especially after what happened with the Sony Reader! (see Day 1) Once this screen saver comes on, none of the buttons will bring it back on except  the on and off button. 

The Kindle 1 is easy and simple. I like this because it keeps me focused on reading, and is perfect for someone who has little experience with complicated electronics. I keep reminding myself that this was the device that changed the way we are all reading books now. How cool!

written by, M.E. Franchini

Please comment and share your thoughts or experiences on any of the eReaders.

Day 1 – Live Testing eReaders – The Sony Reader

The Sony Reader Touch is my first effort with any sort of eReader device. Just as Nick, in Chapter 1 of the Great Gatsby, finds himself in a brand new environment of West and East Egg, I am suddenly reading a book without paper pages – what a new experience!

The Reader is small, and much thinner than any regular sized book. It slips perfectly into my purse and is so light, I carried it around all day without noticing. A potential problem with this, as I found out, is forgetting to turn the Reader off….so the touch screen went wild! I lost the page I was on and most of the battery power. Too bad there’s not a screen saver or off button for the touch screen.

The home page is simple to navigate. Learning when to push the physical buttons on the Reader or touch the buttons on the screen didn’t take too long to figure out. The “E ink technology” that’s used to light the screen was really easy on my eyes, and reflections were minimal too. It’s nothing like staring at a computer screen.

I also found the hidden touch-screen pen. This must be for underlining words and “writing” in the eBooks, or avoiding finger smudges all over the screen? It reminded me of the Palm Pilot from years ago, which made me laugh.

By the end of the day, reading on the Reader was like second nature. There were a few quirks I had to get used to: such as, the screen flickering black every time it changed, the horizontal text only facing one side, and swiping my finger along the screen the opposite way a page turns. That would have to be my largest complaint with the Reader. It goes against my trained instinct of how to turn a page.

The Reader is a great idea. Although I have a few complaints, I love how simple, easy and straightforward it is.

written by, M.E. Franchini

Back to Part 1: Live Testing eReaders – An Introduction

For this experiment, I was NOT sent to Long Island’s North Shore to mingle among New York’s most affluent peoples, but instead given the next best thing: all 5 eReaders for two weeks to read the Great Gatsby. 

Like many people, I have always been a lover of books. I can still remember my favorite smell of freshly printed-paper every time I walked into bookstores when I was young. Through books, I was taken away to distant lands across the world or made-up places, existing only on the precious pages I held in my hands. These stories are what sparked the travel bug within me. Since then, I’ve carried paper books with me all around the world – and they are heavy!

So, having no previous experience with any sort of eReader device, I was the perfect candidate for a “first timer” analysis on: the Sony Reader, Amazon’s Kindle, Barns&Noble’s Nook, and Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

 This week is all about learning what it’s actually like to read from each mobile device because I’m ready to start traveling lighter with more books – or should I say eBooks!

My schedule for the week looks like this:

 Day 1 –  Intro & Ch. 1: Sony Reader

Day 2 – Chapter 2 & 3: Kindle

Day 3 – Chapter 4 & 5: Nook

Day 4 – Chapter 6 & 7: iPhone

Day 5 – Chapter 8 & 9: iPad

M.E. Franchini

 A Founding Author of Essential10

Please comment and share your thoughts or experiences on any of the eReaders.

 

Part 2: Live Testing eReaders—Finding and Loading a Book

I decided to read Catcher in the Rye in honor of J.D. Salinger, who died recently. However, I ran into my first surprise. Catcher is not available on Sony Reader. So I needed to find another book. I kept with my theme of “America author I read in High School” and choose The Great Gatsby.

Amazon Kindle
I must admit up front that I have been an Amazon.com user forever and shop in the store frequency. I also have a Kindle 1, which I bought when they first came out. So, searching and delivering the book was natural and familiar to me.

For those of you new to Kindle, you go to the regular Amazon.com website and start typing a book name. A menu appears below your typing with a guess at your book. I barely started typing Grea… when Great Gatsby appeared with several options including “In the Kindle Store.” I went there and bought the ReadHowYouWant publisher’s book for $3.99. I bought with 1-Click, and it delivered it to my Kindle (a default delivery setting). I turned on the Kindle, went to Archived Books, and selected Great Gatsby. It downloaded. Finished!

Barnes & Noble Nook
I received the Nook on Thursday, and set it up today. The entire process to set up an account and buy and download a book was about 20 minutes. Searching works much as Amazon with books displayed during typing Great. The eBook costs $7.93 from Simon & Schuster, and I bought it online.

When you turn on the Nook, five icons appear on the bottom of the screen. Simply touch my library and a list of your books appears. Touch Check for new B&N content, and your new book downloads.

Sony Reader (PRS-600)
I have the Sony Touch Reader, which requires downloading software and books to a computer, and then transferred to the eReader. The software was easy to download and install on my MacBook Pro. I received an error message on a missing file extension that I ignored.

I then started the program called Reader Library. I received the message: File Association: Some file types associated with EPUB files are not associated with eBook Library. Do you want to associate them now?

I was not sure what to do, so I clicked Don’t ask again” and “Yes.” The reader software then opened.

The software layout is simple and understandable. I clicked the eBook Store and searched for The Great Gatsby, and I purchased it. A search for Great Gatsby found two versions: ReadHowYouWant publisher charges $4.74 and Scribner $12.60. I choose the ReadHowYouWant to match the Kindle version.

The only trick to the process was when I tried to create my account. I was informed that the email address I selected for my user ID was already in use in by Adobe. Hum, did I create an account previously somewhere? I decided to guess my “Adobe” login and password, and it worked. Purchasing the book was simple, and I enabled a Buy Now, which looks like a 1-Click feature.

Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to get the book on the Reader, so I had to read the user’s guide. I then found an explanation of the Adobe password question I had:

To download Adobe DRM-protected files
When you download Adobe DRM-protected PDF or EPUB files for the first time, you are required to enter your Adobe ID. Enter your Adobe ID by following the on-screen instructions. If you do not have an Adobe ID, create it by following the on-screen instructions, or refer to Sony support web sites.

Note that DRM is an acronym for Digital Rights Management.

I then reconnected my Reader. Note here that the Reader MUST BE turned on before you connect it. I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to turn it on after I had connected it. This is noted in the Reader’s User’s Guide, but it didn’t make sense that there was a sequence of steps to follow.

I tried to transfer my book, but I had considerable difficulty in authorizing my computer. I needed to enter in my Adobe ID yet again, but this time it did not accept my information.

After dinner, I tried again with no luck. So, I logged directly into my Adobe account on the Adobe website and then tried again from within the Reader Library Program. I was then able to login and authorize my Reader.

Once authorized, all you have to do is drag the book to the Reader icon. I found that I had ten books there already, but half of these were in German or French. I had to delete these one by one.

While this exercise was long and painful, it is a one-time setup to get the Reader authorized and loaded.

In any event, The Great Gatsby is now on my Reader.

iPhone
For the iPhone, it was just too easy to pick the Kindle Reader for iPhone. You download it for free from the iTunes store. I did take a quick look through a few of the Book Apps I have including Classics and Classics2Go, but it was not included either of those Apps. I turned on the iPhone, started the Kindle Reader App, went to Archived Books, and selected The Great Gatsby, and it downloaded. Finished!

Note there is no additional charge to download and read a Kindle book on your iPhone.

Now, off to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Part 1: Live Testing eReaders: Experiences of Reading One Book on Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, and iPhone.

Our most recent post was a combination of technical specs and a top 10 list of how to compare eReaders and perhaps decide which one win. We have decided to take this a step further and find, buy, and read a single book across each eReader.

As a digital publisher, we, of course, have a Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, and Nook. Next week, I will choose a book, load/download it and read approximately 1/4 of the book on each eReader. I will post notes, observations, and any surprises found during this Live Test.

The Blog will begin next week. Stay tuned.

Mike
CEO and Founder
Essential10

Which eReader Will Win?

January was a big month in the word of eReaders. The Consumer Electronics Show saw a host of announcements of new eReaders and interesting technologies. Apple unveiled its iPad and the new iBookstore, which may or may not revolutionize the market. Barnes & Noble has started shipping Nooks again. So how do we digest this information and predict which eReader will win?

One common analysis we all seem to like to the standard compassion chart. Here is one we put together for the “main” players in the market.

eReader Comparison

eReader Screen Size Weight Book Capacity Wireless Connection Cost Amazon Kindle 2 6″ 10.2 oz 1,500 3G Worldwide $249 Amazon Kindle DX 9.7″ 18.9 oz 3,500 3G Worldwide $489 Barnes and Noble Nook 6″ 12.1 oz 1,500 3G and WiFi $259 Sony Reader Touch 6″ 10.1 oz 350 None $299.99 Sony Reader Daily 7″ 12.75 oz 1,500 3G $399.99 Sony Reader Pocket 5″ 7.75 oz 350 None $179.99 Apple iPhone 3.5″ 4.8 oz varies 3G (fee) WiFi $199 - $299 Apple iPad 9.7″ 1.6 lbs varies 3G (fee) WiFi $499- $829

This chart seems to say that there is not much real difference in the readers “technically.” Sure there are minor differences in screen sizes and battery life. Maybe these are not deciding factors. So what will eventually lead to a winner in the market? We offer 10 ideas for consideration:

1)     Availability of books (recreational books, textbooks, professional books)

2)     Cost of Books (cheaper than traditional books)

3)     A new class of shorter, concise books for busy readers.

4)     Cost of eReader

5)     Availability of newspapers, Internet content, magazines, professional conference proceedings.

6)     Reader type/display quality and experience.

7)     Reader footprint—do readers want it “book-sized” (Kindle, Nook, Reader) or do they want something new (iPad).

8)     Synchronization ability with personal data on computer (business documents, pdf files, etc.).

9)     Seamless connectivity to new media content (Blogs, Twitter, traditional media outlets online).

10)   Seemingly random user experiences such as: Can I read while my plane descends? Can I read in the dark in bed next to my spouse/partner? If I drop it, does it break? Any software maintenance?

Please comment and give us your thoughts on this list or make up your own list.

Does New Apple iPad Require New Type of Book and New Type of Authors?

So what does one make of the new Apple tablet? I think one thing we know for sure is that a device like this will have an impact. We believe one of these will be to further accelerate the trend of digital publishing to eReaders.

While we have already stated that we believe a new kind of electronic book is required, we want to ensure we are clear on what we mean by that. While integrated multi-media content is sexy and may be the book of the future, we believe the more immediate need is for books of properly chunked information. Micro-targeted content is one term we have thrown around.

No doubt tablet-specific multimedia novels may soon blur the distinction between books and movies, but the printed word will likely survive. We also think printed books will continue on for a while too! However, there is already a demand for a new kind of book targeted to a specific topic for digital devices. (Think business how-to presentation essentials on an iPhone or Kindle for $1.99.)

In closing, think about the impact iTunes had on music. One could easily and cheaply buy any single if they did not want the entire album. In the eBook world, a new kind of author will create the singles and provide them as highly targeted, valuable and concise content for a small price. And that same author might write ten books instead of one “album-sized” book.

Feel free to comment by emailing us at Essential10.