Hard News: Music's emerging digital market
226 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 … 6 7 8 9 10 Newer→ Last
-
More on the Kobo from NBR.
-
I'll go to the workstation, which is much better set up with a proper chair, desk with notes laid out, dual monitors, mice, ergonomic keyboard, headsets, quiet room, telephones, printer, servers, router, fridge, coffee, library, strong lighting.
and don't forget the kayak
-
I've checked the website - seems to be an exercise in enticement but doesnt answer questions like "Can you scan on your own computer titles you own and then upload them to the KoBo?" (This would be the killer ability for me...)
It would seem so, the article says:
you can also copy your own PDF content onto a Kobo.
I think the appeal of the Kobo will be it's simplicity and price. If you simply want to read without luminescence, eInk seems to be the way forward. But if you wan to be amused then the iPad seems to be it.
-
It looks to be the same device I saw demonstrated in Italy last year and it really impressed me. They said at the time that one could upload one's PDFs on it, as Mikaere says. So once you're set up to scan your books you should be sweet, Keri. I'm considering it for Mum.
-
and don't forget the kayak
I deliberately only mentioned the things that aren't distracting. My grog cabinet doesn't really help me work....
-
Someone has probably linked to it already- but I re-read this New Yorker article last night, and it looks as if the ebook 'market' (and the publishing business) is going to change fairly sharply in the near future- especially when Google enter.
Amazon and Apple appear to be following similar strategies- especially in terms of trying to gain a massive market share; and seeing content primarily as a vehicle for selling hardware.
I tend to stay away from purchases that put hardware/software/content control all in the same hands- which the kindle especially, but also the ipad tend to do. Other options look likely to emerge fairly quickly.
(And I like the idea of the netbook, too. More for less always sounds good to this cheapo consumer :) -
(And I like the idea of the netbook, too. More for less always sounds good to this cheapo consumer :)
Fair call. But in the US, it appears that the iPad is laying waste to the netbook market.
A more recent survey shed some further light on why netbook sales fell of a cliff in January.
-
Islander
Can you scan on your own computer titles you own and then upload them to the KoBo?" (This would be the killer ability for me...)
Yes you can. It reads PDF. I looked at one of these today and it seems very functional for the job it was designed for. It is about 10 times lighter than an iPad. Current version is not touch screen which I think is a drawback.
You may also find this site useful for the Kobo: Feedbooks which can turn web content into content you can then read on your Kobo (and other devices). It also has Public Domain books.
Anyway, what are you, my mother?
No, that would be Steve Jobs' role in your life.
Sasha, the touch screen HP Mini's work just beautifully with Ubuntu Netbook Remix (10.4 anyhow).
-
Those interested in reading e-books -- and I don't include myself in that category yet -- should check out this local e-book store, mebooks, which is really an extension of Victoria University's Electronic Text Centre. Currently, it is about out-of-copyright titles for free -- Man Alone and original Katherine Mansfield titles included -- but it seems to be set up with the potential for actual sales of newer books. One to bookmark.
-
Gotta say, kobo looks neat. 800x600 is decent resolution for reading. My PDA on 640x240 is OK, but not really what I'd call pleasant. I think it's a bit short sighted to only have the controlling button on one side of the thing, though. I use my right hand for other things, and when I'm reading a book or PDA, I tend to swap hands a lot because it gets tiring holding it up. I mapped buttons on both sides of the PDA for the basic scrolling. Seriously, I do actually find the netbook more ergonomic for reading than a PDA or a book. For writing, it is pretty good to have a proper keyboard.
2 week battery life is fantastic, though. That's a big drawback of the PDA/phone and especially laptop solution. You really want the thing to last for a whole international flight.
-
Gotta say, kobo looks neat. 800x600 is decent resolution for reading.
It's not just the resolution, it's the lack of backlighting. The first time I saw it I thought it was off and they had put on some sort of display mask on it (I'm an idiot, I know). Anyhow it looked great - I've always been in the "until it looks as good as paper, don't wake me up" camp.
-
I read quite a few PDFs in my line of work so Kobo sounds good from that perspective. I'm attracted to the multi-plaform-ity of Kobo - multiple sources of reading material is attractive.
-
I can't see anywhere that Kobo would be able to play other media like videos, if it could that would be neat, but I guess it would be on the premium version.
It uses an e-ink screen, which is greyscale and not back-lit. That's the reason why battery life is so good. Power is only used to change the screen image, rather than flashing at around 60 times a second, as a display on a notebook or an ipad would do.
I have heard that efforts are being made to make colour e-ink displays, but that's a couple of years away -
Anyhow it looked great - I've always been in the "until it looks as good as paper, don't wake me up" camp.
0ld 5k00l? I find reading off paper harder now. I guess it's what you get used to, but books held in the hand are just not my bag any more, unless they bring something more than mere text. Picture books, for instance, are still nicer - I'd still rather read a Tintin off paper than a screen. But that is, after all, a work that was designed for that medium.
It would be pretty neat, though, to have your entire stack of comics sitting there in the iPad. In fact, I'd just as soon not have the actual comics, obsessively stored in their little plastic bags in dry room. Reminds me too much of my teens.
But the kobo isn't really for reading graphic novels, is it? Black and white.
-
This isn't really an e-book, more an app for the ipad, but it's pretty clever. I won't be in the market for one this year, but it does have a lot of scope for innovation in delivery of content.
-
But the kobo isn't really for reading graphic novels, is it? Black and white.
And the iPad doesn't work in the sun. The two technologies will have to overcome their shortcomings at some point. Meanwhile, those who don't mind the backlighting will opt for netbooks or iPads, those who do will opt for Kindle or Kobo-like devices.
-
This isn't really an e-book, more an app for the ipad, but it's pretty clever. I won't be in the market for one this year, but it does have a lot of scope for innovation in delivery of content.
That's brilliant and coming close to the Stephenson's vision of the Primer in the Diamond Age.
-
And the iPad doesn't work in the sun.
Sure, but the Kobo doesn't show color in any light. I couldn't use it to read graphic novels unless I was happy for black and white only.
-
Sure, but the Kobo doesn't show color in any light. I couldn't use it to read graphic novels unless I was happy for black and white only.
It would lose one of its main advantages (battery life) if you made that change. They tend to work by having thousands of tiny metal balls, white on the default up side, black on the other. To make part of the screen black you activate an electromagnet underneath the balls you want to roll over (turn black). Because most of a printed page is white, you don't use any power on most of the screen.
Comic books are different colours all over, so you'd have to power the whole screen, so the efficiency would probably largely disappear. And I don't know how they'd do more than two colours.
-
A fairly basic review of the Kobo from Australia, where it was launched a week earlier by Borders rather than Whitcoulls (same owners), is here.
The price difference: A$199 or NZ$295.
-
Sure, but the Kobo doesn't show color in any light. I couldn't use it to read graphic novels unless I was happy for black and white only.
I understand. And I wouldn't read a graphic novel on a backlit screen on any light - I'd do it on paper. So what's your point?
-
Many thanks all who provided links for Kobo info, and helpful comments. Especially good to know that the thing will accept pdf files (I have a lot of these and normally park them on a thumb-drive but it would be so much better to have them immmediately available -like a very very fat notebook in a slim format:)that, and the battery life have sold it for me. Now, to wait a little while for 'Whitcoulls' to bring the NZ price in line with Oz's
(or for one of my Oz-based siblings to return home with an Oz-bought Kobo...) -
I understand. And I wouldn't read a graphic novel on a backlit screen on any light - I'd do it on paper. So what's your point?
But Mum! You haven't seen the gorgeously vivid Marvel Comics app on the iPad!
Seriously, it's great. Better than paper, even.
-
And I wouldn't read a graphic novel on a backlit screen on any light - I'd do it on paper.
I suspect for some graphic novelists, the interactive possibilities that an ipad or similar create are exciting. Creating bridges between comic, film, computer game etc.
-
But Mum! You haven't seen the gorgeously vivid Marvel Comics app on the iPad!
Bring it next time you come to visit, dear, along with the soft nougat.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.