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E-Readers 

November 2013


A little history & background

  • According to Wikipedia:

    An e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals.

  • When most of us think of e-readers, we probably think of the Amazon Kindle.

    • While the Kindle was one of the early e-readers, it definitely was the most widely-marketed e-reader of its time.

    • But it was predated by the Sony’s Libré by three years.

  • The technology that made the e-reader feasible is known as e-ink (or, more correctly, electrophoretic ink).

    • Either dark or light e-ink particles are pulled to the surface of the display in response to an electronic charge.

    • Once positioned, the pigment particles stay where they are, even though the charge is removed from the display.

    • This means that e-ink displays only require electricity to change the displayed text or image, and require no electricity to keep text or an image displayed.

  • Are there any downsides to e-ink?

    • Because of the technology behind them, successful e-ink displays of today are gray-scale, with the capability of displaying, say, 16 shades of gray.

    • Like their paper counterparts, you must have an external light source to read using an e-ink reader.


How does e-ink compare to LCD?

  • An important family of the newest e-readers uses LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) rather than e-ink.

  • How do the LCD readers compare to the e-ink readers?

    • Price: LCD reader e-ink reader

    • Color and resolution: LCD reader e-ink reader

    • Weight: LCD reader e-ink reader

    • Battery life: LCD reader e-ink reader

    • Memory capacity: LCD reader e-ink reader

    • Video capability: LCD reader e-ink reader


How do books get onto an e-reader?

  • All e-readers can download e-books and periodicals from a computer using a USB cable. 

  • Many e-readers (LCD and e-ink) have wi-fi capability.

  • Some e-readers have free 3G cellular connectivity. (Free, that is, for downloading e-books and periodicals.)


How many books fit onto an e-reader?

  • That all depends … :)

  • First, let’s look at the sizes of some larger e-books (for Kindle):

    • The King James Bible ..............................3.0MB

    • Ender’s Game .............................................2.5MB

    • Atlas Shrugged...........................................2.3MB

    • Wizard of Oz (14 books)........................2.3MB

  • “Average” book size used for calculations: about 1.7MB.

  • Now let’s look at the capacity of several e-reader:

    • E-ink:

      • Kindle Paperwhite ..........................................2GB (1,200 books)

      • Barnes & Noble Nook Glowlight ...............4GB (2,400 books)

      • Sony prs-t2.........................................................2GB (1,200 books)

    • LCD:

      • Kindle Fire..........................................................8GB (4,800 books)

      • Nook HD+ ...........................................................16GB (9,600 books)


E-readers vs. tablet computers

  • One of the disadvantages of the dedicated e-reader is that it is (more or less) a one-trick pony.

  • By comparison, tablet computers can serve not only as e-readers, but also as “general purpose” computers.

    • Seeing a new market in tablet computers, the big three e-reader manufacturers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony) all have released e-reader apps for Apple, Android, PC, and Mac.


Free e-books, anyone?

  • Classic books that have fallen out of copyright can be downloaded freely from the internet.

  • Two of my favorite sources for free classics:

  • Also, if you visit the Kindle and Nook book sites, you can find books by new authors for free.

    • Sometimes, they also will offer popular books for free, but only for a limited time.

 

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