Ebook enhancements I would like to see

Ebook has certainly gained much grounds over printed books. There is no doubt that ebooks will replace most of printed books in time to come. With modern technology, I see no reason why ebooks cannot be further enhanced, other than simply imitating conventional books in electronic form.

For starters, how about including music and sound effects at various points in the book? I remember that as a child when I was reading children's books, I loved the illustrations. They helped to bring the story alive. If the ebook author could include a clickable music icon or a sound effect icon here or there, one could bring the sound to live as he continues to read.

Even video clips would add to the reading thrill. Say you are reading a book after a movie has been made or released. A video clip at selective points in the book will further bring the story to live. Or, if you are reading a biography, a video recording of the subject will bring the person to life. You will be able to see the person and hear his voice.

I would also like to see at the end of the book, a list or recommended readings by the same author, or of the same genre. This is already available in the back cover of many books. However, it can be enhanced now that it is far easier to include a far richer content in an ebook without being intrusive.

The technology is all available now. It is just a matter of taking advantage of it to re-invent the book.

Kobo Mini vs Kindle

I have been using the Kindle Keyboard e-reader for some time. I simply love it. So I found it hard to justify buying the Kobo Mini, but the sale price of $48 (down from $109) was too good to resist. I caved in to this temptation. So what if it doesn't have the latest "glo" to illuminate the screen in the dark. (Oh, I might be tempted by that someday and buy my 3rd e-reader and become a collector)

Anyway, now that I have used the Kobo Mini for a few days, here is what I think of it. First, the physical size. One official review I read says the 5" touchscreen is neither big enough for reading at home, nor small enough for carrying around. Hence, it will not be very popular. I beg to differ. I love the size. I wouldn't want it any other way. Plus I love the aspect ratio.

Overall appearance. I think it looks really great. There is only one button, which is the power button. Everything else is touch screen. This gives it a charming simplicity. I chose white over the alternative black because it seems to go better with the simplicity theme. The silver backing on the white model is really nice.

The built-in 2GB of memory can store about 2000 books; much more than I can ever read. It has a built-in dictionary. I just need to tap on a word to see its meaning. The page turn is fast enough for me. The fonts are as crisp and clear as I can tell. Font, font size and line spacing are customizable. This e-reader is capable enough to satisfy almost anyone's reading needs, providing even annotation and bookmark capability. Page turn can be customize to touch on left edge or right edge to flip pages right or left.

Adding epub books to the Kobo is simply a matter of dragging from the PC to the Kobo when attached through USB cable. There is built-in wifi to sync my Kobo to other Kobo readers on the PC or a tablet. I don't really care about the wi-fi synching bit. I am not in the habit of reading any one book on several devices.

What I really like about the Kobo Mini over my Kindle is that the touch screen makes no clicking sound when I read in bed. Of course, the better featured Kindle has other bells and whistles, but for pure reading enjoyment, the Kobo pretty much has it all (save for LED illumination). I am sure the sale price I got indicates this model will soon be supplanted. Oh well! It is still a marvelous gadget.

The Feature

I stumbled upon a strangely named publication in The Calibre (the software which I use to download papers and magazines to my Kindle). The name of this publication is called "Give Me Something To Read". While trying to google for the website, I discovered that it has been named The Feature. So here it is; you can visit the website at: http://thefeature.net/

What is unique about this publication is that it is a compilation of articles and essays picked up from Instapaper. Instapaper is an app created for people to store articles on their mobile phone for later reading. There is a rich spread of good articles, which are organized into categories such as Science, Technology, Politics, etc.

Check out The Feature. It is good! The essays make excellent reading.

9 weeks into the Kindle

It has been 9 weeks since I received my Kindle. I have not missed one day of reading on the Kindle since. And since then, I have helped Amazon sell two more Kindles to my friends who really loved it. I have finished reading 2 full books, some short stories, weekly magazines, and daily newspapers. I find that my reading enthusiasm has improved. I can pick up a news bulletin and read it with the words sinking in, and my mind clearly focused in the richness of the text. It is as if the writer is actually speaking to me and using words to evoke emotion and feelings. The words are no longer just a bunch of information to be quickly filtered and processed. I have come to enjoy reading once more.

I hope the Kindle doesn't changed into a colour ereader soon. The black-and-white screen actually helps to free me from any distractions. My mind has less information to process (no colour). There's no strong temptation to click on the links, as internet speed is much slower than on a desktop. Overall, the reading experience is very pleasant and positive.

My digital collection

Today's digital age makes it possible for people to collect many things for free. With the low cost of hard disk drives, storage is practically unlimited. With digital storage, there's no dust, no mould, no silverfish and no deterioration.

I have a collection of my own photos and a collection of music in MP3 format. I am now building a collection of e-books on photography. I certainly will not attempt to read all the photography books (there's about 150 now, and counting), but I just wanted to have a reference library on photography. In the past, building such a library would be prohibitive in cost and storage space. With digital technology, this is just a cinch. I am also enthralled with downloading e-books of other genre. It is like looking for treasure on the internet.

Here's a great website for all kinds of books: http://www.freebookspot.in/
Here's one for Christian literature: http://www.plough.com/ebooks/index.html

Notice that most of the free books are in pdf format, which doesn't go well on an e-reader, but opens up alright on a normal computer screen. I usually look for mobi or epub formats to use on my Kindle e-reader.

How fast can DHL deliver?

I am amazed by the speed of delivery when I bought a second Kindle from Amazon. This is the sequence of events:

27 Sept 2010 at 11:30pm
- placed order for Kindle. Within minutes, an email arrived to confirm the order.

28 Sept 2010 at 8:32am
- email came from Amazon saying item has been shipped.

30 Sept 2010 at around 9:00am.
- DHL delivered the item to my doorstep.

The total time taken is only slightly more than 2.5 days, all the way from America. Kudos to Amazon and DHL!

Why a 9.7" screen is better than a 7"

The iPad has a screen size of 9.7", while a slew of iPad competitors are emerging with a screen size of 7". Here is one good reason why you may want to consider the larger screen size: you are likely to run into many free ebooks that are only available in pdf format. As you know, pdf is usually in the size of an A4 paper (after all, that is how pdf originated - as an electronic version of the printout from your printer). Naturally, if you try to read pdf on a smaller screen, you will either have to deal with a miniaturized page, or move the enlarged page around to see everything.

However, the 7" or 6" screen size is quite suitable for an e-reader (e.g. the Kindle). That is assuming you are interested to read novels and other regular paperbacks. The smaller screen is lighter and easier to hold and simulates a regular paperback quite well. You might think an A4-size screen would be better if you want to use the e-reader to read a newspaper. That is not quite the case, because an e-newspaper is specially formatted for reading on a small screen, and it is neither like an HTML web page, or a physical newspaper layout.

So there you go; horses for courses.

Why I am ditching the newspaper

Like many people, I enjoy reading the newspaper in the morning over a cup of coffee. It has become a ritual that I have grown accustomed to over the decades. I look forward to picking up the newspaper in the morning (hey, even my neighbour's dog enjoys doing that!), and spreading it open to see what is happening all around the country and the world. So why am I ditching the newspaper?

Of course, you would have guessed that I am merely turning to the e-newspaper. I think it is time for me to move on and see what it is like to be one of the early adopters of the new medium. There are several Australian newspapers that I can download automatically and transmit to my Kindle everyday, including The Age, The Australia, etc. They are free, at least for the moment, and so are hundreds of other newspapers all over the world. I can even find The New Straits Times of Malaysia, but for some reason it fails to transmit properly. Oh well!

For a change, now I won't be seeing newspapers all over the house. I won't be having that tinge of guilt every Saturday when I only read my regular sections and leave 90% of the weekend volume untouched. I have the liberty of carrying my e-newspaper, as well as all magazines and books in my e-reader and take it with me wherever I want without inconveniencing myself or others around me. Think of holding up a newspaper in a crowded restaurant, in a park on a windy day, in your bedroom when your spouse is trying to sleep... I think you'll get the idea.

Why Kindle and not Nook

I am always on the lookout for the latest and greatest e-reader. When I found out about the latest Nook Wifi (cost US$149), I was very impressed by it. It is very similar to the Amazon Kindle Wifi (cost US$139) in terms of features and price.

Read about....
Nook Wifi: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/features/index.asp
Kindle Wifi: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_navbox_top_kindlelgi?nodeId=200503360

I can tell you all the pros and cons of each, but I'll list the most significant ones here. One deal clincher feature me is the fact that the Kindle allows you to rotate the screen in any four directions, while the Nook doesn't. This is extremely critical because when you are reading a pdf book, the landscape orientation makes the font larger and much more readable. You can find a lot of good free books in pdf, but not in other formats.

The Nook's greatest advantage over the Kindle, on the other hand, is the ability to read any epub book (with or without DRM - digital rights management). Kindle doesn't. This is not a problem for me because I can use Calibre (3rd party software) to do format conversion, but it may be a serious problem for non-techies. Epub is the predominant format among ebooks, hence opening up your choices if you are shopping for ebooks.

A Brother Like That

I have a bad reading habit. I fast and I read between the lines to try and soak up as much information possible in a short time. It is the result of many years of conditioning in a fast-paced world. Once a while or perhaps even more often, we all need to slow down and savour the words we read. When I was a kid and had the occasional treat of reading a new Enid Blyton book, every single word came to life as I slowly immersed myself into a make believe world where fairies and elves came alive. It was magical.

Here is a story that I pulled out from a book called "Chicken Soup for the Soul." Double click on it to enlarge it. Then read it slowly. I bet you will enjoy every word of it.

My opinion on iPad and Kindle

While many are oo-hing and aa-hing over the iPad, I have been totally besotted by my Kindle. When the iPad was launched, many people felt sorry for Amazon because they thought that the iPad spelt the death knell for the Kindle, which was launch just a few months prior.

Jeff Bezos (founder and CEO of Amazon) made a brilliant move; he did not give in or give up. He improved on an already great product (the Kindle 2), and dropped the price for the Kindle 3 (which yours truly immediately queued up to buy). Many companies were already making e-readers then, but few can achieve what Amazon did with the Kindle.

Back to the iPad. Many people are inclined to compare the Kindle with the iPad. Kindle is not iPad and iPad is not Kindle. The difference is not form or fit, but function. In my opinion iPad and Kindle can coexist. Use the Kindle if you want to enjoy the pleasure of reading. Use the iPad if you want to browse for information quickly; just make sure you keep your charger handy all the time.

Why I love the Kindle - Part 2

It has been many years since I have gone paperless. Every note that I keep, from income tax records to instructions, letters, memory joggers, schedules, etc, are stored digitally. Therefore it is only natural that I embrace ebooks so readily. I can add volumes to my collection without adding one single piece of paper to my cabinet.

Amazon has a super built-in support for the Kindle. Any book you buy or download for free exists as an archive record in Amazon's database. You can choose to delete this permanently if you wish. As long as it is there, you can re-download your book at any time without making the same purchase again.

As for the reading experience, I think I can get used to reading from an electronic tablet. Some people might miss the feel of a book; I don't. I quite like the fact that the page I am reading is always there. The pages don't get accidentally turned or blown by the wind. I can change the font size if it is too small. The Kindle allows me to play music on its built-in speaker while I read. I can even get the Kindle to read to me, if I wanted to. I love the built-in dictionary and I have used it many times.

If everyone embraces ebooks, what will happen to the future of paper books? I think reference books will continue to be printed and sold. At the same time, fiction and news articles will probably exist better in bytes than in books.

Why I love the Kindle

The Kindle is not perfect yet. It could do with some built-in word games such as Hangman, Word Train, Jumble, etc. It could do with an even faster processor. This is the test of true love: I still love it despite its present shortcomings. Here's why.

Before getting my Kindle, I didn't think that the wifi feature was a big deal. I thought it was just as easy to use the USB cable to connect to my computer whenever I wanted to download anything. That was until I found that I could download lots of newspapers and magazines automatically using Calibre (another software), and setting up Calibre to automatically send the content to my Kindle. This is all done through wifi. Of course, with the Kindle you can also pay Amazon to deliver the content to your device, but I quite enjoy doing it myself for free. I have already downloaded Reader's Digest, PCWorld, US & World News Report, The Australian, and Daily Telegraph. There are lots more to choose from: USA Today, BBC, CNN, Business Week, Discover Magazine, Engadget, etc, just to name a few among the hundreds available.

I can always visit the Amazon bookstore through my wifi, choose any book to download, and go back to my reading. A few minutes later, the book is in my Kindle. If it is not a free book, I get to download the first chapter at no charge, with the option to purchase later if I like it. Just for fun, I downloaded the Koran.

As I read a book or an article, I can highlight it, add my own notes, and press two buttons to send it off to my Facebook (or to Twitter). This is particularly useful when you are reading a news article and you want to add your own thoughts to it and publish it in Facebook for all your associates to read. This is almost instant with wifi turned on.

Also thanks to the wifi, I can make use of Amazon's Whispersync to synchronize my reading on any Kindle device, be it on my computer, on my laptop or on the Kindle e-reader. This can be very handy, but I haven't really taken advantage of it yet.

I think Amazon did the right thing to put wifi and 3G into the Kindle. I think Sony made a mistake of not putting wifi into their entry-level e-readers. As for other e-readers in the market, some do have wifi, but they may not have the "ecosystem" (such as mentioned above) for the wifi to be used effectively.

Rediscovering reading

I find myself learning to enjoy reading again, thanks to my Kindle ereader. On the advice of a dear friend, I paid serious attention to why it is better to get a dedicated ereader than an all-purpose iPad. After writing the last blog (re: How the internet makes us stupid), I realized that my friend was right about the ereader being better for reading. Here's why.

I think perhaps the reason why the ereader works better is that it is free of distractions. All the colourful pictures, hyperlinks, advertisements in pop-up windows, instant messaging, etc, are huge distractions to serious reading. To be honest, I do miss the ability to quickly and easily jump from website to website. However, I find that I actually enjoy reading better, and I can focus on reading continuously without getting bored. It seems that my ereader has rekindled the reader in me!

On the practical side, I find that my eyes don't tire so easily when I read on the ereader, as compared to reading on my laptop. With the ereader, I could read for hours, while on my laptop I could feel eye strain in minutes (although longer on my desktop, which has a better screen). As a portable reading device, the ereader beats the iPad hands-down.

How to publish for free

I came across this article in The Good EReader website. See: http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/how-to-self-publish-and-market-an-ebook-on-amazon/ .

When I first came to Australia, I met some people who, in the course of casual conversation, expressed a desire to write a book when they retire. (That tells you I take people's words seriously!). That was what rekindled my desire to start a blog, which I did and held on to. It has become a pastime that I find very enjoyable. While I write, I also wish to read the writings of my personal friends; perhaps a holdover of the past letter-writing days when pen pal-ing was a hobby.

For the aspiring writers who want to eventually publish an entire book, here is your opportunity to gain an instant world-wide audience. There is no need to make countless visits, hat (and book) in hand, to any publisher to see if they will publish your book. You can do it yourself and place it in the electronic bookstore. You might even make some money if it becomes popular. So to the friends I met earlier who expressed a desire to write and publish a book, there is no better time than now to fulfill your dream.