As a writer I am keenly interested in knowing what readers experience. Therefore I want to use my new palmtop for reading ebooks and ezines. I plan to accout for whatever I learn from the experience in my writing. Perhaps I will love the experience and never go back to killing trees. Perhaps not.
If anyone has any experience reading from or writing for a palmtop I'd like to know about it. Which palmtop did you use? Do the controls of the palmtop give a significantly different reading experience?
http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/7135-smartphone/
It took a bit of getting used to, but I am now enjoying it and am able to lose myself in the work in e-format just as in any book. I particularly like being able to take a few minutes here and there to read without having to carry a book around.
I find that, as a writer, having the document in electronic format makes me more likely to move into critique mode, and I am a more critical reader.
I think the biggest factor in the experience, other than human preference, would be the reading program interface, and not necessarily the technology. The Quickword interface is clunky, but then it's meant to read Word documents and not just as an e-book reader.
This book, and about 20 more, were on a CD that was attached to a library book I checked out.
Thanks, BAEN! Thanks, David!
See more here: http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm
mikemunsil
quote:
I think the worse part about it is when you tell someone something from it and they ask what page you got that from. No such thing as pages.
Ah well, then. Better stick to scripture.
The biggest drawback for using a reader is the small screen, on average about 1/3 the text of a paperback page visible at any time.
Lately I picked up so many real paperbacks that it will be a long time till I need to go back to the reader.
One last quip. I personally think e-books haven't taken off for the same reason that music downloads (legal ones) have been slow to become popular, the publishers refuse to admit that 95% of their distribution costs have evaporated when they go to an electronic format, and they still price them as though they were printing, shipping and stocking them. If e-books were priced at $3 a piece with $1.50 going to the author, I think they would be much more popular.
I'd recommend getting WordSmith, from Blue Nomad. It's fully compatable with MSWord and is great for reading and writing. I wrote sizable portions of a novel on my PDA.
But then, I'm a geek.
MaryRobinette, are you saying that you write in a Palm Zire 72? Is the interface adequate for that?
I was thinking about asking for one of the Zire or Tungsten models. I thought the Zire 72 didn't have a keyboard. How do you write? Do you click each letter on the display?
LOL MaryRobinette's a puppet mistress! She's all over those PDAs. Much easier to work than a puppet. Unless, of course, the puppet has smaller fingers? I can see her now, puppet-writing her next novel, in Dallas, trapped there on her way home from Reykjavic.
Have you considered a Clie? I was looking at them for a present for my wife and some models have keypads.
I personally shudder at the idea of writing extensively on my PDA. MaryRobinette must be an alien if she can do that. (A nice one, but still an alien.)
I have a Palm Tungsten E, and I absolutely love it. I got it on a holiday special which threw in a miniature folding keyboard. It's the best thing I've ever gotten for myself.
I do a lot of writing on Gregorian (I was told I had to name all of my electronics with a scifi characters theme after I named my computer Jane), and it's really convenient. The PDA and keyboard fit in my purse (although that might not be a concern for you), and whenever I have a spare moment I pull them out, set them up, and do some writing. I use it to write in the car, in waiting rooms, on trains, and before classes. And even when I don't feel like writing, I use it to read the books that I download.
I don't know what other models have it, but the Palm Tungsten E comes with a version of WordToGo, which interfaces very easily with Microsoft Word on your regular computer. I've always been a WordPerfect user, but this is just so convenient that it made me switch over to using Word.
After having Gregorian for about a year, I am completely and utterly sold on the model. I'd definitely recommend it. I'd be happy to answer questions if you have any...
Wow, do I sound like a salesperson or what? Ha!
The down side...it isn't a book. I still love my overflowing bookshelves of dead trees. I have absolutely no intention of slowing my collection either. But once you get used to it, they aren't bad. Still not like a real book.
Just me though, I know several people who prefere the ebook to the real thing.
I've tried Documents to Go and WordSmith, and couldn't stand Documents to Go. The interface was clunky and doesn't handle formating as well. But that might just be me.
[This message has been edited by franc li (edited December 08, 2004).]
A wireless keyboard, eh? That sounds like it would be very useful for writing. But what's it like to carry these suckers around? I do not carry a purse. I would probably want some sort of holster.