>
A new chapter for books..?
- 12 Sep 07, 12:21 PM
With the much-anticipated Amazon e-book reader 鈥 called the Kindle - expected to , I thought it was time to take a look at some of the ways you can access e-books.
The Kindle is an electronic handheld device with a 6鈥 screen designed for reading e-books. It is in direct competition with the . Both these devices let you read on the go, and are easier to read from than a conventional computer screen.
Arguably, the biggest issue for e-book readers to overcome is a lack of e-books to use them with. Previous attempts to successfully market electronic book readers have floundered on that particular rock. So to support their reader, Amazon are expected to make more books available. Sadly, they won鈥檛 be supporting open standards, and instead will be using their own proprietary format. So unless you have the Kindle, you won鈥檛 get to read the books. Disappointing news that, and a lesson not learnt from when music went digital.
Certainly, the Sony Reader can play MP3 files, and in all likelihood, so will the Kindle. One difference between the two is that with the latter, users will be able to surf the web, and download books directly on to the device. That鈥檚 pretty handy if you are on the move, and looking for something to read.
Another device about to hit the market is the , from HumanWare. It is an MP3 player that supports a number of audio formats including DAISY 鈥 a format that makes navigating through an electronic book much easier than a regular audio file. It has plenty of features, including bookmarking, variable speed feedback and a microphone for recording notes. The VictorReader Stream鈥檚 most notable party piece is that it converts text to audio so that users can listen to anything written, in, say, MS Word. It is small and lightweight and also looks pretty cool. Way more cool than the typical blind-friendly device usually is.
None of these devices are cheap, however. If you are on a budget, or thinking of trying audio books for the first time, you could do worse than simply getting an MP3 player. Websites like let you download ebooks to listen to with them. We鈥檝e previously taken an in depth look at some of the MP3 players on the market.
As with e-books, however, there just aren't as many books in alternative formats as there should be. In fact, according to the , 96% of books do not have accessible versions.
It is very much up to each person to decide what is the best way to get electronic books. But what is great to see is that there is plenty of choice in this area. Indeed, with devices like the VictorReader, there is probably a wider selection to choose from than for sighties. Poor sighties鈥
The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
颁辞尘尘别苍迟蝉听听 Post your comment