I'm seriously considering getting an e-reader to use for some of the files I may or may not have pertaining to Japanese. I've considered the Kindle, but it seems like it has issues supporting PDFs, which is what a lot of these hypothetical files might be in. I would want to be able to zoom into PDFs to get a better look at kanji.
Something like Plastic Logic's Que (http://www.que.com/) would be perfect, as it's designed to handle a wide variety of documents, rather than e-books. However, its price puts it well out of my price-range.
Does anyone have any experience using their own files on e-readers? I know it's a rather new market and I should probably wait until the technology gets better and the prices come down, but I have the money now and I won't later as a student.
yo6shi9 wrote:
I mean, who need flash to study Japanese?
I don't like Flash, either. I usually have it turned off. But it's just something to keep in mind when making a decision since I know most people who aren't me like to use at least one site that uses Flash. If you told my mom that the iPad won't play Farmville she'd...well, she'd probably not hear you because she'd be playing Farmville. But still 
Doesn't smart.fm use Flash? I know there is a smart.fm app for the phone but I don't think it's as good as the full site. I guess you could just export to Anki, though.
Edit: just tried it out. No Flash on smart.fm.
Last edited by Captain Kanjipants (February 16, 3:10 pm)
liosama
Member
From: sydney
Registered: 2008-03-02
Posts: 760
I'm waiting till e-paper comes out (maybe +2/3 years?). They'll probably run for hours off 1 button battery, be thinner than a button battery, be lighter than a button battery, be much easier on the eyes than lcd.
Last edited by liosama (February 16, 3:32 pm)
Jarvik7
Member
From: 名古屋
Registered: 2007-03-05
Posts: 3175
I don't plan on getting an ereader until epaper has color and a reasonable refresh rate. I doubt the platform will ever take off though. Heavy readers aren't a big enough market to really drive innovation in a single purpose device. Most heavy readers I know never want to lose dead trees anyways.
Basically I want an iPad with responsive color epaper and running osx instead of iphone OS. It'll never exist 
Skiff looks nice as a stopgap, but I wouldn't be willing to drop more than $150 or so on it. The ridiculous obsession with cramming 3G and their contracts into these devices (and thus their prices) is seriously crippling the market imo. I don't even need wifi in a dedicated ereader, let alone 3g.
Last edited by Jarvik7 (February 16, 9:25 pm)
Jarvik7
Member
From: 名古屋
Registered: 2007-03-05
Posts: 3175
Using an SD card costs nothing per month and takes less time/effort to transfer. How often do you REALLY need to pull down new books while you're driving? I'd rather they dropped $100+ off the price of the ereader. The 3G service is not there for user convenience, it's there to push users to the marketplace where they'll spend money. That is why the 3G isn't optional.
The ereader market will never take off ever. They crippled it from the beginning by overpricing the devices, then continued kneecapping it by keeping the price up with 3G radios and lifetime contracts, and charging almost the same price for an exploding DRMed ebook as the re-sellable dead tree copy. Their greed (using 3G service to push users into the marketplace) is limiting the device from becoming mainstream, and within a few years the market will be absorbed by tablets, cellphones, and netbooks. The entire concept was a no-go from the beginning since casual readers won't drop more than ~$150 on a device, and hardcore readers prefer dead trees.
The iPad is a different story since it is a tablet and not a single purpose device, the 3G radio is an option, and the contract's cost isn't built in to the device. If I ever got one I still wouldn't buy the 3G model though, I'd just tether it to my iPhone over bluetooth or wifi.
Last edited by Jarvik7 (February 17, 12:06 am)
chamcham
Member
Registered: 2005-11-11
Posts: 768
The worst part about this whole "closed 3G bookstore attached to e-reader" problem is that we really don't need anymore online bookstores other than Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Apple iBooks.
Frankly, I think B&N and Amazon could eliminate all e-bookstore competition if they opened up their bookstore software to all e-readers (I don't ever expect Apple to open their store to anyone).
It would make everything easier for publishers, since they could chose B&N, Amazon, iBooks, or some combination of the three.
Really, I feel like the e-readers market should be a battle of hardware (not software).
The big three can provide all the content we really ever need.
Last edited by chamcham (February 17, 8:48 am)
