Hi All, I'm just curious. How many people actually read e-books in the DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface? I'm at Stanford this year, which has lots of titles in electronic form. But many of them are unreadable past a couple pages. A .pdf that could be displayed on an e-reader device would be fine, but I can't see sifting through a web portal that lets me do a whole lot less than what I could do with a physical text. If I really want to read the book, I get the physical copy or see if there's a .pdf floating around. Best, --J
I don't read books off a screen (yet. Maybe one day I'll be mad for kindle like my dad). I usually find myself working with an interface that allows me to print 10 pages at a time. so I do that, and then often I scan it back into a PDF and save that on my computer so I can find it again. And with the printout, well I do a lot of reading on the train, with a pen in hand... and it all gets scribbled on. ;0) What do you mean by "unreadable" though? After a few pages? What changes after the first page or two? As an ex librarian, I know people often can't work out how to turn the pages... but that's not what you mean is it. n -- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Jonathan Sterne, Dr. < jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca> wrote:
Hi All,
I'm just curious. How many people actually read e-books in the DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface? I'm at Stanford this year, which has lots of titles in electronic form. But many of them are unreadable past a couple pages. A .pdf that could be displayed on an e-reader device would be fine, but I can't see sifting through a web portal that lets me do a whole lot less than what I could do with a physical text. If I really want to read the book, I get the physical copy or see if there's a .pdf floating around.
Best, --J _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney ¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .....,,.><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views of the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. Think. Green. Do. Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Just a reminder, maybe this discussion is forgetting that most of the worlds population do not have access even to printed books, countries were an a I-pad, or any other device like that is just a wanting, a desire in capitalist consumption society. Even when this debate pose an interesteing issue related with books prices, it seems to me that it still focus on first world countries. Mexican students in public universities, just an example I know, do not have access to new material (except the first tier institutes such as ColMex, FLACSO, CIDE, etc.), and private consumption through amazon or such, it is a privilegue of some few. Rafael Alarcon Autonomous University of Puebla-Mexico --- El jue 10-mar-11, natalya godbold <ngodbold@gmail.com> escribió: De: natalya godbold <ngodbold@gmail.com> Asunto: Re: [Air-L] e-books A: "Jonathan Sterne, Dr." <jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca> Cc: "air-l@listserv.aoir.org" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Fecha: jueves, 10 de marzo de 2011, 23:52 I don't read books off a screen (yet. Maybe one day I'll be mad for kindle like my dad). I usually find myself working with an interface that allows me to print 10 pages at a time. so I do that, and then often I scan it back into a PDF and save that on my computer so I can find it again. And with the printout, well I do a lot of reading on the train, with a pen in hand... and it all gets scribbled on. ;0) What do you mean by "unreadable" though? After a few pages? What changes after the first page or two? As an ex librarian, I know people often can't work out how to turn the pages... but that's not what you mean is it. n -- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Jonathan Sterne, Dr. < jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca> wrote:
Hi All,
I'm just curious. How many people actually read e-books in the DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface? I'm at Stanford this year, which has lots of titles in electronic form. But many of them are unreadable past a couple pages. A .pdf that could be displayed on an e-reader device would be fine, but I can't see sifting through a web portal that lets me do a whole lot less than what I could do with a physical text. If I really want to read the book, I get the physical copy or see if there's a .pdf floating around.
Best, --J _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney ¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .....,,.><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views of the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. Think. Green. Do. Please consider the environment before printing this email. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Hello, I would like to add my two cents to this subject. There are many websites proposing "shared" copies of academic resources, out the P2P network. For example, have a look at this link : http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/everest555 Regards, Yohanan Ouaknine Graduate Student Information science Bar Ilan University Israel On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 4:30 PM, rafael alarcon <tractatus91@yahoo.com>wrote:
Just a reminder, maybe this discussion is forgetting that most of the worlds population do not have access even to printed books, countries were an a I-pad, or any other device like that is just a wanting, a desire in capitalist consumption society. Even when this debate pose an interesteing issue related with books prices, it seems to me that it still focus on first world countries.
Mexican students in public universities, just an example I know, do not have access to new material (except the first tier institutes such as ColMex, FLACSO, CIDE, etc.), and private consumption through amazon or such, it is a privilegue of some few.
Rafael Alarcon Autonomous University of Puebla-Mexico
--- El jue 10-mar-11, natalya godbold <ngodbold@gmail.com> escribió:
De: natalya godbold <ngodbold@gmail.com> Asunto: Re: [Air-L] e-books A: "Jonathan Sterne, Dr." <jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca> Cc: "air-l@listserv.aoir.org" <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Fecha: jueves, 10 de marzo de 2011, 23:52
I don't read books off a screen (yet. Maybe one day I'll be mad for kindle like my dad). I usually find myself working with an interface that allows me to print 10 pages at a time. so I do that, and then often I scan it back into a PDF and save that on my computer so I can find it again. And with the printout, well I do a lot of reading on the train, with a pen in hand... and it all gets scribbled on. ;0)
What do you mean by "unreadable" though? After a few pages? What changes after the first page or two? As an ex librarian, I know people often can't work out how to turn the pages... but that's not what you mean is it.
n
-- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney
On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Jonathan Sterne, Dr. < jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca> wrote:
Hi All,
I'm just curious. How many people actually read e-books in the DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface? I'm at Stanford this year, which has lots of titles in electronic form. But many of them are unreadable past a couple pages. A .pdf that could be displayed on an e-reader device would be fine, but I can't see sifting through a web portal that lets me do a whole lot less than what I could do with a physical text. If I really want to read the book, I get the physical copy or see if there's a .pdf floating around.
Best, --J _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Natalya Godbold PhD Candidate (Human Information Behaviour / Health Communication) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences University of Technology, Sydney
¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .....,,.><((((º>`~.¸¸.~´¯`~.¸.~´¯`~...¸><((((º> .~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .,,.~´¯`~.. ¸><((((º>¸. .~´¯`~..
UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views of the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects.
Think. Green. Do.
Please consider the environment before printing this email. _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Quoting "Jonathan Sterne, Dr." <jonathan.sterne@mcgill.ca>:
I'm just curious. How many people actually read e-books in the DRMed format that publishers provide through a browser interface?
I've done both ... the PC/Laptop/Web interface is not fun, the DRM e-book is a bit easier, but still not fun, and PDF's don't do it for me either. A lot of the issues are, as you suggest, the limitations placed on "reading" - which is not just scanning and turning pages. Taking notes, marking up text, cutting and pasting for repurposing purposes, sharing, conversation - the e-book has a way to go. But, especially for some fields, the price is right. I just downloaded Google Reader for my iPad (which now has almost a dozen reading applications - more if you count the social apps :) and, when I logged in, Google suggested a new book for me : Half-hours in Japan - Google Books Result - Free :) Herbert Moore - 1900 - History - 254 pages http://books.google.com/books?id=jXoLAAAAIAAJ http://www.archive.org/details/halfhoursinjapa00moorgoog The book was scanned from the Stanford Library, and the Archive.org version has it available in several formats - a dedicated web reader, e-book formats, and PDF. If people want a quick browsed, this is a nice way to explore the topic. * * * That said, I still buy eBooks from the best seller list ... even some of the 99 cent "dime novels". * * * And, any day now, the Kurzweil reader will arrive and save the day ! :) Ciao Steve
participants (5)
-
Jonathan Sterne, Dr. -
natalya godbold -
rafael alarcon -
Stephen J Cavrak Jr -
יוחנן ועקנין