I could list a tons of benefits eBooks offer, from cost (zero for Gutenberg.org and other PD sites’ eBooks to very modest for a book still under copyright) to readability (yes, readability: I read almost all the eBooks I download in my web browser, often at 200%-300% magnification, nice for older eyes), but one benefit stands out: Googling (or other search engine use).
Example:
Actually, it was a spread spectrum signal that worked a lot like 802.11b wireless data transmission protocol, only it was centered somewhere around 1.42 gigahertz. Roger could not place it but that particular radio frequency meant something to him.
[Edit] OK, what happened to the whole paragraphs following the blockquote? I dunno… Should have said something like,
1.42 gigahertz? Sounded familiar to me, too, so… highlight, right-click, choose my search engine and… SETI. Of course.
Now, how easy would that have been were I reading a dead tree book? Not very.
Fun stuff.
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e-Books are great. I find that I read books on paper more than e-books though, unless it’s reference material. I prefer e-books as reference material simply because it’s easier to search and find what you’re looking for.
In addition to e-books from Project Gutenberg I’ve found that there are some reasonable quality audio books available on-line. Librivox.org has a good collection, although you might have to do a bit of work to put them into a usable form (some of the ID3 tags could use updating). I’ve downloaded several of them and synced them to my MP3 player to listen to when I’m away from the computer and away from steady sources of light (such as when I go camping). It’s occasionally odd doing this because all of the readers are volunteers, and getting a complete book read by a single reader just doesn’t happen.
For a good example of a librivox audio book, how about this? A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke.
You know, Perri, I have tried listening to audiobooks, but I’ve never found one that I could really enjoy listening to. “Listening is for music,” seems to be deep channeled in my head. Oh, I managed fine with listening to lectures in college, but there I almost always managed to interrupt lectures with questions (or arguments with the prof’s points–*heh*), making the format more endurable. Oh, some were utterly fascinating to the point that they held me (one archeology prof made the dry wadis and deserts he’d worked come alive with his descriptions. So vivid was his descriptive narrative, that he rarely even used finds from his extensive collection–property of the institution, really–as props), but just listening to a tape or CD or mp3 (tried them all) of a book has never grabbed me. Heck, I never really found talk radio of any kind to be much of a hook, except for Carl Haas’ music history show, but then that was talk about a piece he’d just played for listening. Lotsa folks are different to me in that regard.
I’ll give your suggested (linked) material a shot, but I may end up rereading it instead (let’s see… Locke is two feet to my right, one foot down, six inches over… :-))
hey there guys..I’ve done the audio thing but love the page turning and comfort of a real live book!..:)
Oh, Angel, I too enjoy the tactile and auditory (and olfactory!) pleasures of holding a dead tree book in my hands and immersing myself in the thoughts of its author. And dead tree books have their own sets of advantages for readers apart from the simply sensual pleasures they afford. They do, however, take up an enormous amount of room. I’ve added, bought, built bookcases in nearly every room of the house save for bathrooms (and one bathroom does have a couple of bookcases–and my office has four), and yet still the garage, a storage shed and basement storage are filled with boxes of books, boxes I periodically go through to bring out already read treasures for re-reading.
And then there’s my set of eBooks, hundreds and hundreds–thousands by now, rivaling or perhaps even surpassing my “dead tree” collection–stored on a few CDs and DVDs, a ready library of which I’ve only read about 25% so far.
That’s an advantage to eBooks.
And I do print out copies from time to time (easier annotation, for one thing especially if I don’t duplex the print job and have a blank page evey other), or often simply excerpts, or, as in a recent case, an essay from a collection, for sharing and discussion, after passing around twc central.