nicomachus.net

UPDATE: I have since sold the Reader and moved on to the Kindle. Read why.

While living in Ecuador last year, I realized the appeal of ebooks. To play on ZipCar‘s motto, ebooks are books when you want them, where ever you are.*

We’re spoiled in the US by the relative omnipresence of cheap paperbacks, whether used or new. By comparison to the US, hardbacks and paperbacks are difficult to come by in Latin America, even if you are looking for books in Spanish. Books in English are not only more rare, they are much more expensive as well. But, when I had finished reading the books I had taken with me — including Bolaño’s 898-page tome 2666 — and had a hankering to re-read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, I fired up my laptop and purchased the Kindle version. I read it on the Kindle App on my iPhone. It was my first ebook experience.

While I would have preferred not to read it on a backlit screen, after setting the page color to a paperback-esque yellow and the font to a size that would neither strain my eyes nor require me to change pages every few words, I sat back and accepted Nick Carraway’s invitation to the cloistered, vapid, monochrome parties of the 1920′s unrestrained materialism. “Turning” the pages by swiping my thumb to the left felt oddly natural, and by the time I was a few chapters in, I was simply reading, with little to no attention paid to the medium.

So after returning to the US, I considered picking up a Kindle Wireless. Several family members and friends have Kindles, and I held them, read a few pages of what ever they were reading, and played around with their features. Eventually, however, I decided to pass. I was happy to be back in the land of cheap paperbacks, and I wasn’t yet convinced that I would be able to find everything I would want to read in an ebook format.

My mind returned again and again to the convenience of carrying (not just a book, but) a library in my hand. I remembered the ease with which I called up the book I wanted to read. And so, I started looking again at Kindles. This time, however, I needed to learn more about how it all worked. And by the time I was ready to buy an ebook reader, I had talked myself out of the Kindle and into getting a Sony Reader Touch edition, the PRS-650 model. Here’s why; for me, it came down to three things.

First, and most importantly, the Sony supports more formats, including epub. epub is becoming the industry standard as well as the standard that libraries are adopting as they roll out digital lending programs, it’s one of the formats in which you can buy books through the Google eBookstore, and it does not necessarily have DRM (the digital rights management lock on books). In fact, “the official EPUB standard does not include any specifications for DRM, however, most EPUB distributors at this time are using the Adobe ADEPT DRM system.” Amazon will be forced to adopt epub at some point, and they will likely just “turn on” epub support through a firmware update. But so far, they have not. Kindle books must come from the Kindle store. Which means that most of the books you will be reading on a Kindle are books you pay for.

Specfically, epub is the format that public libraries are adopting. Many city libraries already offer patrons the option to check out ebooks, but you have to have an ereader that supports the lending formats. Kindles do not currently support book lending, so some of the more clunky iterations of ebook lending require patrons to check out library-owned Kindles on which the ebooks reside. At the end of the two week lending period, patrons are required to return the Kindle to the library. With epub books, however, libraries are able to offer ebook downloads (without requiring the patron’s presence in the library) via the patron’s library account.

And in 2012, we should see the first large-scale roll out of academic press ebook programs. “Large-scale e-book platforms organized by JSTOR, Project MUSE, Oxford University Press, and a consortium led by several midsize presses are all on the verge of going live, ” says Jennifer Howard in a January 2011 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. While JSTOR and others have not yet committed to a format, academic presses are more likely to adopt a platform that serves a greater number of ereaders (i.e. .epub) than a format that serves only one (i.e. the Kindle’s proprietary .mobi and .AZW)

So, getting an ereader with epub support was a no brainer for me.

As for the issues surrounding DRM, while necessary to ensure artists can make a living from their work, the technology of enforcement always feels a few steps behind – morally and technologically. I am more than a little irritated that I can not transfer the Kindle version of The Great Gatsby, purchased to read on my iPhone, to my Sony Reader. I have read about software scripts that crack the DRM, allowing you to strip the DRM’s lock, then reformat the azw file using Calibre. Considering that I own two paperback copies and a hardback of The Great Gatsby in addition to the ebook, I will feel no qualms transferring a “cracked’ copy to my Sony Reader once I figure out the nuances of the KindleUnSwindle. The relative ease with which you can crack the DRM on ebooks seems to be bark with no bite.**

Second, I wanted my ereader experience to preserve what’s best about the book reading experience and build on it. I think books are already based on fantastic technology. But as I said above, I also see the advantage of being able to carry a library with me – to the café, on vacation, or when I travel.

I knew that I was looking for an ereader with eInk. I spend enough hours of the day looking at backlit screens. And the touch-screen finger swipe feels natural for turning pages. I had gotten used to it on the iPhone, and I felt that it would have taken me a long time to get used to clicking a button to turn a page. Buttons are characteristic of devices, and I wanted my reading experience to remain as closely connected to turning pages as possible.

I also wanted to retain the ability to highlight passages and take notes, but I didn’t want to be distracted by the endless possibilities of what I could do with the ebook reader. On my new Reader, I’ve got highlighting and bookmarking pages down, but the Sony Reader does not have any internet connection — a blessing and a curse. I wanted something that is designed for the reading experience only, and none of my paperbacks have WIFI. But, I see, too, the advantages of being able to sync highlighted sections with something online. Something I recently noticed is that, if I buy books through Google’s bookstore, then in addition to the epub file I download, I have the option to read the books online. I would never want to read the book on my laptop, in a browser, but it’s great to have laptop access to the books when I need to search through them.

All Things Shining, my first book on the Sony Reader

Third, aesthetics. The Sony Reader is the only ebook reader I looked at with an aluminum (rather than plastic) body. It feels more solid and more sturdy in my hand without feeling any heavier than the Kindle or others. My sense is that the Sony Reader’s body will be more durable over time. And frankly, I think the brushed aluminum body looks better than the plastic framing the Kindle, Nook, or Kobo.

So far, I’m very happy with it. The pages may “turn” a fraction of a second more slowly than the Kindle, but there is less lag-time than with the Nook or Kobo. Sony makes a smaller version of the touchscreen Reader, called the Pocket, but it felt too small in my big hands. If I had smaller hands, the Pocket would indeed have been more attractive, as I am already inclined to leave my messenger bag at home and carry only my Reader with me to work. The Pocket could slip in a jacket pocket, whereas my PRS-650 Touch Edition is a bit too large for that. Instead, I just carry it in a protective case of its own.

No doubt, hyperbole is the BEST form of argument. In the last few years, I was one of those people who said many times that I would NEVER use an ereader. I’m too much a bibliophile; I like the feel, the smell, the low-tech, off-line nature of the classic book. But, all things in moderation… ereading is an experiment for me. The eInk screen is beautiful and simple, I am getting used to the ability to carry multiple books with me, without having to carry an internet-connected device (i.e. a tool of distraction). The black and white screen, the lack of wifi, and the simple, unadorned look of the Sony Reader Touch edition all appeal to the closeted and confused luddite buried in my soul.

*I realize that the “where ever you are” is a little more complicated than I’ve presented it. Many vendors won’t sell ebooks in certain countries, measures they enforce by blocking IP addresses from those countries. Given, however, the ease with which one can set up proxy servers or VPNs to make one’s computer appear as though it is within a country that’s selling the book (or service) you want, I don’t consider this a real restriction. Like DRM, it’s bark with no bite.

** The problem with easy-to-crack DRM is piracy. Skud, someone I met at THAT Camp SF, has two great posts on ebook piracy.
http://infotrope.net/2011/02/01/ebook-discussions-flying-under-the-radar/
http://infotrope.net/2011/02/05/more-on-those-ebook-discussions/