18 May 2009

OMG, WANT!!1!

So, recently I was helping a friend determine the best ebook reader for her to buy, as she will be spending a year in China and books are heavy and take up space. Like me, the thought of a year without many easily accessed books was completely intolerable. So the solution was clearly an ebook reader. I was helping her for two reasons - (1)several of the blogs I read have talked a lot about different types of readers and (2)due to the space issue my insatiable book habit creates, I am going to get a reader in the fall, when I once again have funding. (n.b. moving is expensive!!)

We were not liking the Kindle, due to outrageous pricing, no external storage, and the general suckitude of #Amazonfail and their recent attempts to monopolize publishing in a not cool way. With all that in mind, we had decided to go the Sony route. Not only does Sony not suck, they have the deal with Google where you get 500,000 free books. Yay! Free! Books! Turns out however, that Sony is not compatible with Macs - both of us have a Mac. We love our Macs. We will not ever buy PCs again, unless they somehow manage to be as cool as Macs. Or the Devil starts ice-skating on his driveway.

So, no Sony. There was much with the sad face.

But Kindle still sucks.

Our phone conversation got cut off, and while I was waiting for her to call me back so we could figure out what to do, I read my daily blog posts. Turns out Smart Bitches post was on an ebook conference. Turns out there is a European company called Bookeen. Turns out they have a reader called Cybook. And it's compatible. With everything.

Turns out I WANT it.

3 comments:

  1. I want one too! But does it do the studenty things we discussed?

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  2. Here is a link to the compatibility specs: http://tinyurl.com/yvelrn

    If it is available in mobipocket ebook format, pdf, txt, palm or html you can read it on this little wonder. It is not the device's fault if the publishers are too lame to make it available in one of those formats.

    So, for instance, Emile Durkheim's Suicide is avalible for 21.95, but Dr Holmes book would be harder to find.

    http://www.ebookprice.info has more pricing info, if you are curious.

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  3. And there is much rejoicing in Flock Hall and its former invader - me. Yay for mac compatibility! And boo/hiss to the Kindle with much sucking.

    Bookeen Cybook is now enroute from Paris to Detroit!

    ReplyDelete