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I read this article detailing why e-books are better for the environment, cheaper, easier for eyes to read, convenient... My question is if anyone has an e-book reader and how they like it. I'm considering one of my own.

I have a Kindle and I LOVE it. I will admit that I hate that I cannot share my books with my friends as this is something that I used to do all the time. The Nook has that capability and there are rumors that Amazon will push through software that will allow this capability and I really hope they do. The Kindle has done amazing things for my book shelves and I think my husband is thrilled that we no longer have to keep adding. It is a dedicated ereader so it is limited to what I can do compared to an iPad but when I just want to read something the Kindle (or ereader) cannot be beat. While you are reading the iPad you are looking a computer monitor and that really strains my eyes. The Kindle is exactly like reading a book and there is no eye strain. Plus, the Kindle is a lot lighter than a book so it is much more comfortable to hold for long periods of time. It is great when I travel because I have a ton of books loaded onto my Kindle and I am set to go and I do not have to worry about their weight or carrying them around. Dessi mentioned that she liked having the old-fashioned paper in her hands and I thought I was going to be that way as well but I got over it real quick! I will admit that I do not like it for my school text books because I like to be able to visually see my books and I place notes all over the place with post-its and an old-fashioned book is just better for me in that respect.

They all seem to have advantages and disadvantges... I agree one problem with the ipad is the screen - it's better than a typical computer screen, but not as easy on the eyes as a dedicated e-reader. I am still attached to the physical experience of reading and writing, but that's cool that has really worked for Heather. One of the reasons why it might have not worked for scholarly reading is that the tools still seem limited for engaged reading, marking up texts, highlighting, etc. I am hoping there will be good apps for this with the ipad (i just got it and haven't had a chance to look). Beestel, you have to read through the details of each device to find out what is best for you and your reading needs.

From the article: "Still, books are one of the last ad-free zones, and by showing ads on an e-reader, Amazon risks alienating some users, he said. " Libraries too are one of the last ad-free zones.

They may try to release a tablet. "An Amazon tablet could tie together the seemingly disparate parts of the company's business, Mr. McQuivey said, including e-commerce, e-books, video and audio."

Ok, this is exciting, however, we don't know the details yet: "The company did not say how long the lending period for Kindle e-books would be, or if there were any restrictions on the number of checkouts for any books."

There is a lot of back and forth about this news in the library world. I have yet to give the Amazon annoncement the fine tooth comb treatment, but there are plenty of questions. Chief among them for me would be: What is a library's financial incentive to promote the Kindle (free or exceeding cheap content to loan would be a fine answer for me). Another issue has come up on public library list serves regarding Harper Collins' policies. It has come out that part of the agreement is that Harper Collins will have access to patron information. Although I have yet to see anyone explain the details of this aspect of Harper Collins' agrrement, would that be something Amazon would want as well?

Has anyone read this? I think I will have to get this book. His lecture in the early weeks stuck with me and I keep poking around on his "kk.org" site.

No I havent read it but am thinking of dowloading it if it is available.

I am really skeptical of Kevin Kelly even since we viewed that TED lecture, but I have been going to his blog weekly anyway. He had a post earlier this week about the price of e-books - he thinks they will inevitably fall to $0.99 per book and nick carr responded and tore apart his logic.

Good review of the issues with DRM in ebooks.

Sherry Turkle has a new book out...

interesting: in the new book, turkle, "takes a considerably darker view, arguing that our new technologies - including e-mail messages, Facebook postings, Skype exchanges, role-playing games, Internet bulletin boards and robots - have made convenience and control a priority while diminishing the expectations we have of other human beings."

I'm surprised that this NYT story doesn't have any better reasons for why teenagers are a new surging market in ebook sales. My guess, which I posted on eCollege was that they're used to having tech gadgets in their hands and that maybe a book seems antiquated to them. But that's just my guess.

This article is on the editorial process of putting together David Foster Wallace's unfinished novel, which was several hundred pages of manuscript without a clear order. I thought this was interesting: ___ "It's my version of the novel," [Michael Pietsch, editor of the novel] admitted, adding that he talked to Little Brown's e-book staff about creating a version that would enable the reader to arrange the chapters in any order, but was told that was technically unfeasible. __ This is surprising to me - is the ebook form that inflexible? Or did the publisher not want to deal with the idea of so many versions circulating?

This site documents the public response to internet phenomena (e.g., smiling dogs, phrases, viral videos).

This is fascinating to me. Some years ago I have read Richard Dawkin's The selfish gene (http://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary----Introduction/dp/0199291152/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296232952&sr=1-3) and the Idea of Memes, using us, humans, to reproduce and evolve was quite amazing. I would also recommend Susan Blackmore's The meme machine (http://www.amazon.com/Meme-Machine-Popular-Science/dp/019286212X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296232884&sr=8-1), it was interesting for me. Yes, it falls under the "popular science" category, and her pseudo)scientific style could be a bit irritating; but overall there were some interesting ideas. P.S. I did not get the hyper-linking to work for me. I would appreciate some clues :-)

scientismic - a new term?

Article looks at the ebooks business in Europe, where it is still in its infancy. Not many readers available, and very little content in other languages besides English. There are legal and economic issues for pricing and licensing of ebooks.

I was just going to add this here. I debated whether to cite it on one of my pages. They also mention the example of the music industry.

This NPR story shows how an etextbook can be more contextual than a standard 2-D book. Imagine being able to watch an example of cell division and not just read about it?